After an early morning service followed by hot cross buns at church, most of yesterday was spent toiling in the garden. One of the changes was the removal of the large parsley bushes (yes, they were getting that big) from the end of our raised bed to make space for some smaller parsley plants and room for some more herbs.

One thing I noticed was that the 2′-3′ high plants had relatively large roots that looked rather like parsnips. A bit of research informed me that there are varieties grown specifically for the root (Hamburg Parsley) and I didn’t see any warnings about the roots of other kinds, so that got cleaned and cooked up to go along with our dinner.

It was a little bit parsley-ish, a little bit parsnippy and perhaps a touch on the woody side. I can see why it isn’t a widely regarded root crop. However, it seemed edible (my foraging selfsufficientish friends like Nev would be proud of me) and I’m still okay today, although you might want to check back to see that I also blog tomorrow before trying it yourself!

I’ve also got parsley stock, parsley soup and, of course, we had a fresh parsley garnish to top the ratatouille. That is a lot in one go but some of it will keep in the freezer and I look forward to bumper harvests of other crops in the months to come.

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