Parsley That Grows With Milk Thistle

Several varieties of parsley exist.

Companion planting often helps each plant in the pairing thrive. Gardeners and farmers interested in interplanting milk thistle and parsley may find that the milk thistle provides shade and attracts beneficial insects, while parsley increases soil health. Because growing conditions for all parsley types are so similar, your choice of which parsley to pair with milk thistle can be left to your own preferences, or those of the market to which you may sell.

Importance of Milk Thistle

Many herb farmers are now turning to milk thistle as a cash crop, notes Kansas State University (KSU). The herb's seeds, sold in extract form, may help fight liver disease as well as promote good liver function. KSU notes that milk thistle enjoys a reputation as an important medicinal herb in Europe and is now spreading to the United States. This increased interest may make it worth growing for sale to manufacturers of herbal medicines. Home gardeners may be interested in growing the flowering herb in the butterfly or ornamental garden.

Types of Parsley

According to the University of North Carolina, at least 44 cultivars of commonly offered parsley seeds exist. The three best-known types of parsley are Hamburg, also known as parsley root; flat-leaved, also known as Italian; and curly, often called common. While some cooks associate the curly leaved parsley with garnish and the flat-leaved type with actual culinary use, in reality the two are interchangeable, notes herbalist Lesley Bremness. Both are nutritious and are easily snipped or chopped into fresh and cooked dishes. The third type of parsley, Hamburg parsley, has flat leaves and an edible root. All three prefer similar growing conditions and methods.

Growing Conditions

Both parsley and milk thistles are biennials commonly treated as annuals. Although they may be viable in the second year, replanting each year is a more reliable method for high yield. Both prefer full sun, but parsley will take some shade. This adaptability makes parsley an ideal companion, because milk thistle may grow a foot or two higher than the parsley, depending on the varieties grown. Although milk thistle can grow in rocky, dry soil, it will also thrive in the type preferred by parsley -- well fertilized and somewhat moist.

Garden Culture

If you grow your milk thistle and parsley strictly for home use, choose the parsley that suits your own preferences. Common parsley, with its curly foliage, is more ornamental in the flower garden or as a border to a formal herb garden. If you're growing parsley for culinary use, choose either the common or flat-leaved variety -- or both -- which you prefer as herbs. If you grow the Harmburg type, leave enough room to dig up the parsniplike roots at the end of the growing season.

Field Culture

Grow milk thistle and the parsley of your choice in alternating rows. If growing for sale at local farmer's markets, consider growing both common and flat-leaved varieties. Plant the rows close together in areas with hot summers; parsley is less likely to go to seed if shaded by milk thistle.

References

• University of Nebraska: Growing Parsley
• Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University: Farming a Few Acres
• "The Complete Book of Herbs"; Lesley Bremness; 1994