Early Spring Vegetables 



of edible leaves the first year which in mild win- 

 ters or protected positions survives the winter 

 and starts into growth the following spring. It 

 soon, however, runs to seed and is of no further 

 value except to produce seed. If, however, one 

 wants a small supply of parsley without the an- 

 nual trouble of sowing and transplanting a small 

 bed of it may be allowed to go to seed and self- 

 sow, when it becomes, practically, a perennial 

 but does not attain the fine quality that the 

 specially grown plant does. A single row 

 through the garden will furnish parsley for an 

 entire neighborhood as the older leaves are gath- 

 ered as needed and the crown allowed to produce 

 new leaves; this should be done whether the 

 leaves are needed or not as the quality of the new 

 growth will be finer in every way, for leaving the 

 old leaves to mature checks the growth of the 

 crown leaves. Nine inches at least should be 

 allowed between the plants and twelve is better, 

 though when the tiny plants are first transplanted 

 it may seem a long and lonely distance between 

 them, but the plants soon fill up the space. 



107 



