i have parsley (both curly & italian) which self-seeds about the place (i'm
too lazy to grow it in an organised manner, and also i find it really hard
to germinate whereas it germinates wonderfully if just left to do its
thing).

lately i have noticed that the curly parsley has almost entirely lost its
curl and is paler than it used to be! it doesn't quite look like italian
parsley, but it's really not tightly curly & dark like it should be. it
looks like a small version of italian.

do we think it is:
1: cross pollination (i don't recall them ever flowering simultaneously, but
who knows)
2: just the current curlies growing a bit straighter because of some sort of
weather thing & next time round they'll be curly again.
3: lack of selection on my part ( i just let all of them go to seed, good or
bad, as a general rule) so it's reverting to some sort of ancestral type
(??? i have no idea if this is even likely).
4: a weird side effect of the occasional razing by (presumably) rabbits

any thoughts?
kylie
p.s. i used to live across the street from someone whose curly parsley was
knee-high & fabulously lush. wow! my parsley never looks like that even if
it's not gone straight.

0tterbot wrote:
i have parsley (both curly & italian) which self-seeds about the
place (i'm too lazy to grow it in an organised manner, and also i
find it really hard to germinate whereas it germinates wonderfully if
just left to do its thing).


I do the same. Except when a WWOOFer weeded all the seedlings :-(

lately i have noticed that the curly parsley has almost entirely lost
its curl and is paler than it used to be! it doesn't quite look like
italian parsley, but it's really not tightly curly & dark like it
should be. it looks like a small version of italian.


How does it taste?

do we think it is:
1: cross pollination (i don't recall them ever flowering
simultaneously, but who knows)

My guess is that is quite possible.

2: just the current curlies growing a bit straighter because of some
sort of weather thing & next time round they'll be curly again.

Can't rule it out

3: lack of selection on my part ( i just let all of them go to seed,
good or bad, as a general rule) so it's reverting to some sort of
ancestral type (??? i have no idea if this is even likely).

Seem unlikely to me as I don't think parsley is highly selected and
conserved seed

4: a weird side effect of the occasional razing by (presumably)
rabbits

Why would cropping by rabbits do anything that cropping by cooks doesn't?


any thoughts?
kylie
p.s. i used to live across the street from someone whose curly
parsley was knee-high & fabulously lush. wow! my parsley never looks
like that even if it's not gone straight.

L iberal nitrogen fertiliser and water.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
0tterbot wrote:
i have parsley (both curly & italian) which self-seeds about the
place (i'm too lazy to grow it in an organised manner, and also i
find it really hard to germinate whereas it germinates wonderfully if
just left to do its thing).


I do the same. Except when a WWOOFer weeded all the seedlings :-(

Me too to a certain extent, but in the last couple of days, I've actually
harvested seed from one spot and spread it along the edge of two beds where
I was also putting in Silver Beet seeds. I had done that in very early
Spring with some other parsley seed and it is doing far better than in the
spot where most of my self seeded Italian parsley is.


lately i have noticed that the curly parsley has almost entirely lost
its curl and is paler than it used to be! it doesn't quite look like
italian parsley, but it's really not tightly curly & dark like it
should be. it looks like a small version of italian.
(snip
L iberal nitrogen fertiliser and water.

I too thought that when I read your description of the parsley being pale
and not lush. It really does respond very well to both but then these days
I only grow Italian parsley. I don't like curly parsley as I don't like the
mouth feel of it and it seems to catch in the back of my throat.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
0tterbot wrote:
i have parsley (both curly & italian) which self-seeds about the
place (i'm too lazy to grow it in an organised manner, and also i
find it really hard to germinate whereas it germinates wonderfully if
just left to do its thing).


I do the same. Except when a WWOOFer weeded all the seedlings :-(

it's enough to make you turn nationalist...! g

lately i have noticed that the curly parsley has almost entirely lost
its curl and is paler than it used to be! it doesn't quite look like
italian parsley, but it's really not tightly curly & dark like it
should be. it looks like a small version of italian.


How does it taste?

er, like parsley, really!
but i must say it doesn't seem as strong-tasting as curly would be. a really
curly curly can be powerful stuff! (but mine's not). tbh i'm not fussed
really, i think i prefer italian anyway.


do we think it is:
1: cross pollination (i don't recall them ever flowering
simultaneously, but who knows)

My guess is that is quite possible.

2: just the current curlies growing a bit straighter because of some
sort of weather thing & next time round they'll be curly again.

Can't rule it out

3: lack of selection on my part ( i just let all of them go to seed,
good or bad, as a general rule) so it's reverting to some sort of
ancestral type (??? i have no idea if this is even likely).

Seem unlikely to me as I don't think parsley is highly selected and
conserved seed

4: a weird side effect of the occasional razing by (presumably)
rabbits

Why would cropping by rabbits do anything that cropping by cooks doesn't?

well, rabbits leave a small pile of stumps without a leaf to be seen,
whereas i don't take much from any one plant (seeing as how there are so
many plants) so i thought this might be possible.

any thoughts?
kylie
p.s. i used to live across the street from someone whose curly
parsley was knee-high & fabulously lush. wow! my parsley never looks
like that even if it's not gone straight.

L iberal nitrogen fertiliser and water.

hmm, all right. i give it a dash of seasol now & then. one thing i've
noticed is it seems to love growing in poor areas :-) albeit small & slowly,
but my thinking is that if i have sufficient quantity, then quality doesn't
matter quite so much. those which have grown in better areas get much
bigger, yet there are fewer of them! (it's all quite fascinating to me,
really).

after i posted, i looked everywhere for a really curly one like they used to
be, but couldn't find a one!
thanks for thoughts.
\kylie