Parsley Seeds

I have some Parsley that has been growing all winter, and has gone to seed quickly this spring.  The Parsley will quickly grow large stems, produce flowers, and then the flowers produce seeds.  I want to preserve the seeds, but also replant some of the small Parsley plants to repopulate this pot.

First I'll take the whole pot over to the compost heap, dump it out while protecting the stems, and then take the root ball apart carefully to protect the Parsnips (Parsley roots).  I want to replant the small Parsley plants for this year, while taking out the large plants that have gone to seed.

The large plants get screwed, literally to the fence, upside down, to get the last bit of juice from the plants into the seeds.  This is also to dehydrate the plant which will help liberate the seeds later.  There in the lower right center is a Cilantro plant that has gone to seed, it is the next on to get screwed, to the fence.

The small parsley plants will get repotted in a fresh pot of Compost Soil Mix to start a new year.  I try to be very careful with the roots, and preserve as much of the root fibers as possible.  The will go through some transplant shock, but it shouldn't last for more than a few days.

Keep them watered well and they will be OK.  I usually have three pots of Parsley.  I'll augment these with the seeds I harvested from the larger plants and we'll have an abundance of Parsley soon.

Here, a week later, you can see the transplanted Parsley has perked up quite a bit, and started to grow.