Hamburg parsley
Key Facts
- Much thicker roots, used in soups, stews and casseroles.
- Easy to grow
- Takes about 5 months to grow
- Available from Amazon
Background
Hamburg parsley is also know as Dutch parsley or root parsley.
- Originally from Northern Europe (Holland or Northern Germany), and used in cooking since at least the 16th century.
- Claimed to have a flavour that is a combination of celeriac, parsley and carrot.
- Ideal as a snack or ingredient in Central & Eastern European recipes.
- Days from seed to harvest – about 150 (5 months)
- About 30 to 40 cm high
Example Hamburg parsley recipes
When you grow hamburg parsley you will notice that it has much thicker roots then either french or italian parsley.
Which is why hamburg parsley is used similarly as a parsnip. Although it tastes differently.
Very common in recipes in central and eastern European cuisine, often used in soups, stews and casseroles or simply eaten raw, as a snack.
Example recipes
- Historic German, Root Vegetable Soup (see video)
- Pumpkin, Parsley Root and Thyme Soup
- Parsley Root Fries with Roasted Tomato Ketchup
How to grow Hamburg parsley at home
The Harmburg parsley seeds are easy to plant and you can grow parsley either outdoors in spring / summer or indoors in pots any time of the year.
Outdoor Planting:
If you want to grow parsley outdoors or on the balcony you will need to
- Sow it between early spring and the start of summer
- In well-drained soil in sun or partial shade.
Please note that parsley tends to be slow to germinate, and can take anything up to 6 weeks.
If you are using pots then sow the seeds thinly across a 25cm pot filled with soil, cover with a 1cm (½in) layer of compost and water. Leave in a cool spot to germinate and make sure the compost doesn’t dry out.
Germination can take up to six weeks, then when they are large enough to handle, thin out seedlings, leaving about 2cm (¾in) between plants.
Aquaponic or Hydroponics Parsley
Parsley can be grow using hydroponics or aquaponics.
However do note that the flavour tends to improve with frost, and might be better for outdoor growing.
Starting aquaponic or hydroponic parsley
The most difficult element will be propagation from seed.
If you want to ‘cheat’ then an easy solution is to buy a ready made parsley plug – the problem (especially in places like the UK and USA) is that most plugs will be of the French or Curly Parsley variety.
Propogation from seed will take up to 6 weeks, and you can either use the option of growing parsley in pots (as above) or an easier option could be to use organic moistened propagation cubes like to ones available from Amazon
Transplanting Parsley plants
Once your seeds have germinated and are showing leaves, then you can move them into your hydropnic or aquaponic system.
Once you’ve moved them it will take about 20 to 30 days before you start using the parsley ingredients.
More information
Quite a ‘niche’ herb to grow – great for some recipes but limited use. Unless you eat those recipes often 🙂