Petroselinum crispum 

Story: This Italian open pollinated parsley is an increasingly popular variety with large, uniform leaves and strong flavour. Slow to bolt and hardy throughout winter it is one of the best options for year round harvests with plants lasting outdoors in our London winters - we love it for pestos, garnishes and flavouring meals. It attracts pollinators in its second year when it flowers profusely before setting seed and makes a great ornamental with its strong bushy growth and deep green foliage.

When to sow: Indoors from late February indoors to April 

Requirements: Nutrient-rich soil, regular watering, warmth and lots of sun

When to harvest for food: Harvest as and when leaves are large enough to use, will keep growing back throughout the season

When to harvest for seed saving: Parsley is biennial so flowers in its second Summer

Seed contributors: Omved Gardens

Isolation Needed: Yes

Saving Seed: Parsley will cross pollinate with other varieties so only allow one to go to flower if you plan to save seed. Parsley is biennial so if saving seed, bring it into the greenhouse or windowsill to overwinter as it will flower and seed the following year. Processing: allow the seeds to form and ripen on the plant, cut entire seed heads as they start to turn yellow/brown but before they fall and bring them inside to dry fully. Crumble the dried seeds from their stems and winnow away as much of the chaff as possible by hand - don't worry about getting the seeds squeaky clean, we have a machine that can help. Package, label and date. 

Number of plants to save seeds from: five plants minimum, ten or more is ideal

Pollination: Self pollinated  

How to send seed back: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1 tablespoon of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.