Tuesday 5 May 2015

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Yesterday I harvested a huge batch of Parsley:


I usually pick Parsley a few sprigs at a time, whenever it is required in the kitchen, but this was different. I needed to get my Brassicas planted, and the Parsley was in the bed where I had planned to plant them. My initial intention had been to cut as much useable Parsley as possible and then dig up the plants, but in the end I decided to leave the Parsley in place and plant around it. It seemed a shame to dig it up when it was doing so well.


So, the Parsley plants got only a severe trim, and I packed the crop into a couple of plastic "Stayfresh" bags and stored it in the fridge, where it will keep for a couple of weeks if necessary. I know that Jane is planning to cook Ham with Parsley Sauce, Tabbouleh, and various other dishes than need a lot of Parsley, so it probably won't hang around for long.


In keeping with the title of today's post, I would like to show you some photos of other herbs too...

This is Sage, just about to flower.


The young leaves are bright green at present. As they age they turn a greyer green colour.


This is Rosemary, which I have written about recently, but it needs to be shown in order to fit the rhyme!


And this is the Thyme. I bought these two pots of it at Morrisons, priced at a mere £1.20 each, which I think is really good value.


I have transplanted the Thyme into some larger terracotta pots, in which they will have room to expand a bit. Although they were sold as flowers, these plants are definitely going to be treated as culinary ingredients and cut as required, because we use lots of Thyme in our cooking.

8 comments:

  1. If you chop it up and put it straight in a bag in the freezer it stays loose enough to be just like fresh whenever you want it.

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  2. If you chop it up and put it straight in a bag in the freezer it stays loose enough to be just like fresh whenever you want it.

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  3. Have you even planted the living herbs that Morrisons sell? We grew some once but I can't remember which it was.

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    1. Yes, the ones I bought 2 years ago are still going strong.

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  4. My sage is in bud too right now. Or some of it is. I think some decided last winter was too hard and won't bloom. I love the parsley and wish I had it. I've been buying it from the market and oh is it expensive when I keep doing that.

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  5. My parsley is just sizing up and will be ready for transplanting in another week or so. I could probably get away with cutting a few leaves, even now, but I think I'll wait. My sage, unfortunately, didn't make it through the winter at all, so I'll have to purchase another this year.

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  6. I shall follow those hints about parsley! Do you find those stay fresh bags keep vegetables fresher for longer? It took sage cuttings following your post so time ago, I noticed today they have taken! Sarah x

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    1. Hi Sarah; Yes, I think those Stayfresh bags are brilliant. We use them a lot. They keep food fresher for much longer.

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