9 www.SmallFarmCanada.ca Parsley is another biennial and can be treated in a similar manner as parsnip when saving seed. To resituate volunteers, move them when they are small or just after they have developed cotyledons and the first set of true leaves. Use a spoon or small trowel to dig deep underneath the plant to avoid cutting or damaging the taproot. SOIL MANAGEMENT: Try to keep as much of the original soil around the roots as possible. Cilantro also voluntarily appears in our garden and produces abundant seed known as coriander. They can be saved for replanting or used as a spice. I don’t see many cilantro volunteers, so I intentionally include it in the garden rotation and sow two or three crops each growing season. Keep in mind that parsley, parsnip, and cilantro seedlings all resemble each other and are related, although cilantro is an annual species rather than a biennial. The cotyledons of cilantro are like those of dill but wider and the true leaves are roundish in shape, serrated and light green. Another more prolific volunteer in our garden are tomatillos. For those unfamiliar with the crop, they are harvested for their fruit which is like cherry tomatoes but green in colour with a papery husk. We use them, combined with garlic, finely diced onion, and a splash of lemon, to make fresh, tomatillo salsa. Tomatillos can also be canned. The tomatillo approach that works for me is to leave a few of the seedlings in strategic locations where they are less likely to interfere with other crops. CAUTION: Once you’ve grown tomatillos, there is a good chance they will be with you forever. I know of one market gardener near St. Marys, ON who views the species as a weed and rues the day she added tomatillos to her gardening mix. Counted among the garden volunteers are a great many weed species. However, not all of them are unwelcome. I tend to discourage dandelions in our lawn but when they emerge in the spring in our food garden, the leaves become part of salads or are cooked like spinach. I have also been known to collect the yellow flowers to make dandelion wine. Dandelion leaves are mild in flavour and high in nutrition, packed with vitamin K, calcium, vitamin E, iron, and vitamin C. There are a host of other garden volunteers besides plants. Birds come immediately to mind, including a pair of house wrens, prolific eaters of insects, who once inhabited a birdhouse in our backyard. There are also a multitude of insects that are beneficial volunteers, including pollinators among them, and one cannot forget the biological creatures of the soil microbiome. Some volunteers for future stories in the Intensive Garden. While most people consume the leafy part, the parsley root is also edible. Parsley root is slenderer than a parsnip, and a staple in many Central European dishes. To roast it, scrub (not peel) and roast at 400 F until tender. Raw, it can be grated into salads, coleslaw, or sliced for crudité. Parsley root can also be boiled, mashed and combined with potatoes (one part parsley root to three parts potato) for a distinctive result. LEFT: JIRI HERA - ADOBE STOCK | TOP: NEW AFRICA - ADOBE STOCK
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