I’ve tried to grow parsley, it rarely worked out. I posted a query, here, I think, and was told by Harters, I think that “parsley likes our cold rainy weather”. So three weeks back I got some at a nursery and planted it in a new planter along with thyme and chervil, another herb that never worked. I planted it in “dappled sunlight” in a new planter, and they’ve all taken off like rockets. Our lows tend to be in the low 40s and the highs in the high 60s-low 70s currently. They’re doing splendidly. The parsley is like a weed! I go out and gobble down a few stems just to keep it from taking over. If it was you that clued me in, Harters, I’m grateful.
But what do I do with chervil?? It’s quite foreign to me except that it’s gotten enormous (for herbs in southern AZ ) so I have no idea what to do with my suddenly amazing patch of chervil
Chervil is great with many things, and also mixed with other herbs. It’s one of four herbs in Fines Herbes, it features in Herbes de Provence, and good on its own, especially with eggs or in soups. It has a fairly delicate flavor, but would be good in vinaigrette’s and salad dressings. I’m sure other HO’s have ideas too. How great for you to have success! Tarragon usually fails for me when I’m lucky enough to even find some seeds or starts. Maybe I should order seeds now. (Note to self)
Yay!
I don’t know about chervil ( I will next year), I only try to grow parsley and cilantro here in NorCal in the winter and it’s worth the effort.
@ewsflash , how is the thyme doing? I think of it as a spring and summer thing, but I can never have enough thyme.
@Lambchop I’m going to try tarragon too.
Chervil works well with fish:
In a covered frying pan steam-poach lightly salted & peppered salmon fillets (or a whole side) for 5 minutes in a little white wine. A quarter to a half inch depth is plenty. Remove the fish to a serving plate and keep warm in a very low oven, then add heavy cream and chopped chervil to the poaching liquid. Boil gently for a couple of minutes to thicken, and spoon over the fish to serve. Most fish fillets or steaks could be used.
If it was me, then thanks.
Parsley is certainly a cooler weather herb (whereas thyme needs a lot of sun, so you may have issues growing them together).
I don’t actually grow parsley. I only have a small garden so any herbs I do grow, have to work in with the decorative plants and shrubs. So, my rules for herbs are that they have to be perennial, look decorative and, of course, be ones we use in cooking.
Now you catch me on a morning when I am literally rethinking my herb area. We had new fencing installed last week along that side of the garden. The guys, who have done a great job with the fence, seem to have pretty much destroyed all the planting along there. There may well be plants that havent started to come to life yet - it is only January after all. But it does present an opportunity to reconsider stuff. Thoughts, so far, are not to have a defined herb area but to plant them in and amongst the decorative plants round the garden.
Re chervil
I like the taste of chervil so much I eat it in a plain salad (along with other greens). It’s so delicate I don’t want to ruin the taste so never cook with it.
- In German speaking countries they make a chervil soup on Maundry Thursday.
- They also use chervil as part of a “green sauce”.
- Some make a thick sauce (consistency of bechamel or hollandaise) for hard-boiled eggs, asparagus or other vegetables.
I wish it was easier to find chervil in my area. I enjoyed it in a potato dish only once but it really added a delicious flavor.
I love chervil but it’s not easy to come by either as a seedling or as a fresh herb. Have asked but never find it at the farmers markets either.
Chervil is a refreshing change up to ‘the usual suspects’ - and indeed it can be hard to find . . . the ‘big names’ don’t seem to carry it.
from my notes:
bearnaise sauce - chervil
beef dishes - chervil, sage
carrots - allspice, caraway seed, chervil, cinnamon, cloves, dill, fennel seeds, fennel, ginger, mint, nutmeg, rosemary, sage, thyme
cheese dishes - chervil, mace, rosemary, sage
egg dishes - caraway seed, chervil, chili powder, savory, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, watercress
egg salad - celery seed, chervil, horseradish, marjoram
fish - allspice, chervil, chives, dill, fennel seeds, fennel, garlic, mace, marjoram, sage, tarragon, turmeric
garnishes - chervil, watercress
green salads - chervil, chives
guacamole - chervil, cilantro, cumin
mushrooms, sauteed - chervil
peas - basil, chervil, dill, fennel seeds, mint, sage, savory, tarragon
roasted meat and poultry - chervil
sauteed mushrooms - chervil
spinach - allspice, chervil, mace, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, tarragon, thyme
squash, summer - basil, chervil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, savory
summer squash - basil, chervil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, savory
tartar sauce - chervil, dill, tarragon
tomato soup - allspice, chervil, dill, oregano, parsley, sage, tarragon, thyme
veal roast - bay leaf, chervil
vegetables - chervil, thyme, turmeric
vichyssoise - chervil, chives, nutmeg
Thyme’s doing well, finally. It’s getting a fair amount of sun and the herbs get covered if it’s going to freeze.
At the community garden at work I had a tarragon plant that I swear was six feet wide by the time summer was over. It’s several years old, freezes to the ground in winter, and comes back in the spring. It was the only plant I dug up and brought back home when I retired. Looks like crap right now, to my husband’s concern, I hope it comes back like it used to, it’s in a great big pot now.
Happy Onion- This definitely deserves a chart or spreadsheet- thanks for posting it. I’ll work on it tonight. 
I know, same here- that’s why I was so surprised to see it in with the other 2" pots of herbs at the local high end nursery. Couldn’t resist. Last year’s seedling didn’t do nearly as well as this one, I may have transplanted it too late, and it bolted.
Well, currently here it’s sunny and cool for the most part, and the parsley and thyme are in the same half barrel. Like you said, it’s January, only in southern AZ instead of the UK, so I expect the parsley to bolt at the first opportunity, but so far so good. It’s big and tender and tend to graze on it while I’m watering.
My parsley and thyme grow swimmingly in the same general vicinity in my yard, although the parsley is somewhat more shaded by a giant rosemary. However, I have literally tried half a dozen times, and never succeeded, growing dill weed. And I love dill weed.
FWIW, I grow rosemary, bay, sage, two varieties of mint, fennel, marjoram, three varieties of thyme, chives and garlic chives. Or, at least, that’s what was growing last year. The sage got trampled by the fence guys and will need to be replaced and who knows what else might be goners.
typically a “spice chart” lists the herb/spice and then the dishes/foods they ‘go well with.’
now, personally it’s rare that I pick up a jar of herb/spice and go looking for something to put it on… more often I’ve got a dish in the works and I’m pondering what herbs/spices might ‘kick it up a notch’ as the tv guy says . . .
so I wrote a program that reversed the listing order - first the dish, then the potential spices. it requires a bit of manual touching up - as evidenced by the “squash, summer” and “summer squash” entries on that extraction…
if you’d like, I’ll post the whole thing, if it fits, or perhaps it can be ‘stored’ as a resource file/data…
That would be most cool if you’re willing to share your program with us, I know I’m not the only one who’d like to see it.
I had a big sage plant in the work garden, but unfortunately, as much as I usually like sage, this one smelled like cat piss. And it wasn’t from cats, either. I did make a couple of smudge sticks from it, but when I light one up it’s going to be outside, just in case.
I wonder if it’s still alive.
A couple of cook/reference books come to mind that have helpful spice charts/suggestions for herbs and spices are: The HerbFarm Cookbook, and the Flavor Bible. I’m sure there are many more, I just happen to have these two, and can recommend them.
LOL.
I’ve not come across the cat piss issue before. I wonder if it’s a particular variety. Becasue of my need for the herbs also to be decorative, I’ve usually grown a variegated leaf sage.
