Chervil plain - Anthriscus cerefolium
400 Seeds
Sow March - July
Hardy annual.
Height 30-60cm (1-2ft), spread 30cm (12in).
Prefers a moist, humus soil in semi-shade.
Sow in boxes or pots, in a cold frame, unheated greenhouse or directly into growing site.
Transplant seedlings into pots or trays and should be thinned to 5cm apart before planting out in the growing site. Outdoor sowing should be thinned gradually to 30cm apart.
The lacy, fern-like and light green leaves have a pale magenta blush in late summer. The stems are slender, hollow are slightly ridged and branching. The tiny white flowers grow in clusters, which appear from late summer or in late spring from over wintered seedlings.
Chervil - Plain
From the family Apiaceae.
Native to Southern Europe and Western Asia, Chervil was once called myrrhis for its volatile oil, which has an aroma similar to the resinous substance of myrrh. One of the traditional fines herbes in French cuisine; Chervil is valued for its light parsley-like flavour with a hint of myrrh. The Roman scholar Pliny described the benefits of chervil and during the Middle Ages it was used to treat various ailments and is thought to have blook-cleansing and restorative properties.