parsley root

The roots are hardy and stay in the bed over winter, where you can harvest them until spring whenever the soil is frost-free. A loose cover of leaves, brushwood or straw keeps the soil open and protects the foliage. In the lowlands, though, it is not needed for survival; alternatively, you can harvest the roots in autumn and store them cool and frost-free in damp sand.

You propagate Hamburg parsley exclusively by sowing. Like all umbellifers, it forms no runners, bulbils or divisible clumps. Sow the seeds directly outdoors from March to mid-April, as soon as the soil is frost-free and at least 6 °C; it germinates fastest at a soil temperature of 15 to 20 °C. Row spacing 30 to 40 cm, sowing depth 1 to 2 cm, then press down lightly and keep evenly moist. Germination takes two to six weeks, so patience is needed. If you soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 hours beforehand, germination is more reliable and quicker. After emergence, thin to about 10 to 15 cm apart in the row. You obtain your own seed by overwintering a few roots and letting them flower in the second year: the umbels ripen in the following June/July. Only harvest them once the seeds are beige to brown, and dry them further. F1 hybrids do not come true from saved seed; with open-pollinated old varieties such as ‘Halblange’, seed saving works without any trouble.