PARSLEY
THIS IS A HERB THAT YOU JUST CANT DO WITHOUT !
Apart from being fantastic to eat ........................with almost everything!
Parsley was a native plant in Southern Europe but is now very widely cultivated around the world. It is a biennial plant, often grown as an annual, as the leaves taste less bitter in the first year. It can be kept as a perennial in mild climates by cutting the flower stalks off when they first appear, or by allowing some plants to go to seed so they self-sow.
As a well-known culinary herb, the versatile parsley has suffered a somewhat ignominious fate, often doomed to use only in pasty sauces. Perhaps the low regard it has been held in explains why it is sometimes even used to flavour dog foods. However, parsley may well be ready for a renaissance, with modern cooks using more varieties of the herb in different and adventurous ways.
The herb is a rich source of vitamins A and C, iron and potassium. It also contains a flavonoid that reduces allergic reactions. As a culinary herb, it is best used fresh from the garden rather than dried. If bought, it keeps for several days if sprinkled with water and placed in a plastic bag in the fridge, or it can be chopped up and frozen so there is always a ready supply at hand.
Parsley has a wide variety of medicinal applications alongside its culinary uses. The dried leaves can be made into a tea for use as a diuretic. The seeds and leaves contain an oil which stimulates the menstrual process (it should be avoided medicinally during pregnancy). It is a carminative and eases colic, flatulence and rheumatic pains. It is also widely known in its use as a breath-freshener after eating a pungent herb such asgarlic.
THIS IS A HERB THAT YOU JUST CANT DO WITHOUT !
Apart from being fantastic to eat ........................with almost everything!
Parsley was a native plant in Southern Europe but is now very widely cultivated around the world. It is a biennial plant, often grown as an annual, as the leaves taste less bitter in the first year. It can be kept as a perennial in mild climates by cutting the flower stalks off when they first appear, or by allowing some plants to go to seed so they self-sow.
As a well-known culinary herb, the versatile parsley has suffered a somewhat ignominious fate, often doomed to use only in pasty sauces. Perhaps the low regard it has been held in explains why it is sometimes even used to flavour dog foods. However, parsley may well be ready for a renaissance, with modern cooks using more varieties of the herb in different and adventurous ways.
The herb is a rich source of vitamins A and C, iron and potassium. It also contains a flavonoid that reduces allergic reactions. As a culinary herb, it is best used fresh from the garden rather than dried. If bought, it keeps for several days if sprinkled with water and placed in a plastic bag in the fridge, or it can be chopped up and frozen so there is always a ready supply at hand.
Parsley has a wide variety of medicinal applications alongside its culinary uses. The dried leaves can be made into a tea for use as a diuretic. The seeds and leaves contain an oil which stimulates the menstrual process (it should be avoided medicinally during pregnancy). It is a carminative and eases colic, flatulence and rheumatic pains. It is also widely known in its use as a breath-freshener after eating a pungent herb such asgarlic.
However, next time you are chopping a sprig of parsley to throw into the pot, it is worth remembering that this common herb was once considered far too sacred to be assigned to the kitchen. In Ancient Greece, parsley was a holy herb by which to remember the dead and was planted on graves and other memorials.
In Ancient Greek mythology, there was a baby born called Archemorus, who was the precious son of the King of Nemea. He was left in the care of a nursemaid and one day they were sitting outdoors, when a thirsty army approached. They forced the nursemaid to show them where they could find a fountain and she had to leave the young child unattended on the grass. When she returned, she found that Archemorus had been killed in her absence by the bite of a serpent. When the limp body of the child was lifted, it was found it had been lying on a bed of parsley. Either the nurse had chosen to rest Archemorus on the parsley while she was away or, more poetically, the story goes that the parsley sprang from the blood of the bitten child.
The Greeks were so saddened by the death of Archemorus, that they instituted the Nemean games in his honour. A funeral oration was always given in memory of the death of Archemorus and the prize-givers wore mourning dress to give out the prizes. The winner of the games was rewarded with a crown of green parsley. Parsley therefore became a sacred herb associated with the remembrance of death and great honour. Parsley was also dedicated to Persephone, Queen of the Lower World in Ancient Greece.
Tothink that you can grow this plant so easily in your Hydroponic Garden.
Parsley was dedicated to Charon, the Ancient Greek god of hell, who acted as a ferryman, transporting the souls of the dead across the River Styx and on to the afterlife. There were a number of rules for getting Charon to take you, so the living would place a piece of money under the tongue of the deceased to pay Charon for the trip. Parsley was also dedicated to him and used in funeral rites and to decorate the tombs of the dead, in the hope that this would sweeten him into ferrying their dead to the afterlife.
When Christianity took a hold the old myths were often Christianised, so the parsley kept its ancient symbolism as it became consecrated to St Peter, as the Christian saint who stood at the gates of heaven and therefore had the power, like Charon, to accept or reject people hoping to go on to the afterlife.
Iam advised that they used hydoponics to grow this great plant.
In a very different role parsley, like the gooseberry bush, may well be the bearer of infants. Children asking where they came from in the Channel Island of Guernsey were told that they were dug up in the parsley bed with a golden spade
Growing the plant can be a tricky business; in common with several other culinary herbs, it is said only to flourish where the woman of the house is dominant. Another tale is that it grows best for whoever it is who dominates in the home. Old stories abound of people sabotaging healthy plants to prove their partners, who planted the herb, do not rule the household.
There is also some folklore to suggest that it grows well only for the wicked and for witches, perhaps a rumour spread by the unhappy saboteurs above. Perhaps in response and in contradiction to this, another superstition is that parsley will only grow well for an honest man. The drawback to this is that he will have barren daughters and no sons.
Good Friday is the most auspicious day for sowing the seeds, and before midday. This may avoid the seed taking its long trips to hell and back before germinating or perhaps more reasonably the ground temperature is sufficiently high to enable germination.
Growing parsley may be a complicated business, but not with Hydroponics once established, it is a herb that offers a generous supply of green finery for both garden, plate, and the medicine chest.
More about Paesley later..............
In Ancient Greek mythology, there was a baby born called Archemorus, who was the precious son of the King of Nemea. He was left in the care of a nursemaid and one day they were sitting outdoors, when a thirsty army approached. They forced the nursemaid to show them where they could find a fountain and she had to leave the young child unattended on the grass. When she returned, she found that Archemorus had been killed in her absence by the bite of a serpent. When the limp body of the child was lifted, it was found it had been lying on a bed of parsley. Either the nurse had chosen to rest Archemorus on the parsley while she was away or, more poetically, the story goes that the parsley sprang from the blood of the bitten child.
The Greeks were so saddened by the death of Archemorus, that they instituted the Nemean games in his honour. A funeral oration was always given in memory of the death of Archemorus and the prize-givers wore mourning dress to give out the prizes. The winner of the games was rewarded with a crown of green parsley. Parsley therefore became a sacred herb associated with the remembrance of death and great honour. Parsley was also dedicated to Persephone, Queen of the Lower World in Ancient Greece.
Tothink that you can grow this plant so easily in your Hydroponic Garden.
Parsley was dedicated to Charon, the Ancient Greek god of hell, who acted as a ferryman, transporting the souls of the dead across the River Styx and on to the afterlife. There were a number of rules for getting Charon to take you, so the living would place a piece of money under the tongue of the deceased to pay Charon for the trip. Parsley was also dedicated to him and used in funeral rites and to decorate the tombs of the dead, in the hope that this would sweeten him into ferrying their dead to the afterlife.
When Christianity took a hold the old myths were often Christianised, so the parsley kept its ancient symbolism as it became consecrated to St Peter, as the Christian saint who stood at the gates of heaven and therefore had the power, like Charon, to accept or reject people hoping to go on to the afterlife.
Iam advised that they used hydoponics to grow this great plant.
In a very different role parsley, like the gooseberry bush, may well be the bearer of infants. Children asking where they came from in the Channel Island of Guernsey were told that they were dug up in the parsley bed with a golden spade
Growing the plant can be a tricky business; in common with several other culinary herbs, it is said only to flourish where the woman of the house is dominant. Another tale is that it grows best for whoever it is who dominates in the home. Old stories abound of people sabotaging healthy plants to prove their partners, who planted the herb, do not rule the household.
There is also some folklore to suggest that it grows well only for the wicked and for witches, perhaps a rumour spread by the unhappy saboteurs above. Perhaps in response and in contradiction to this, another superstition is that parsley will only grow well for an honest man. The drawback to this is that he will have barren daughters and no sons.
Good Friday is the most auspicious day for sowing the seeds, and before midday. This may avoid the seed taking its long trips to hell and back before germinating or perhaps more reasonably the ground temperature is sufficiently high to enable germination.
Growing parsley may be a complicated business, but not with Hydroponics once established, it is a herb that offers a generous supply of green finery for both garden, plate, and the medicine chest.
More about Paesley later..............
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