Parsley seeds for the kitchen herb garden, the windowsill, or the general project of improving things. Parsley germinates slowly, as though considering whether it is prepared to commit. Once it has decided, it is excellent.

Parsley is the biennial herb that is slow to start and then prolific for the rest of the season once it has made up its mind. Each packet is hermetically vacuum-sealed -- removing the oxygen that causes standard paper seed packets to lose germination viability within approximately one year. State law requires a 3-year viability label on sealed packaging. NASA research on hermetic seed storage indicates viability of up to 10 years under proper conditions. Every packet is non-GMO and germination-tested at independent third-party labs before it earns its Japanese woodblock print artwork.

How to Grow Parsley from Seed

Sowing and Germination

Sow directly 2-4 weeks before last frost. Germination slow -- 2-4 weeks. Soak seeds overnight to help.

Care and Harvest

Biennial. Harvest outer stems throughout season. Flat-leaf has superior flavour. Curly is more decorative.

Why Vacuum-Sealed Seeds Last Longer

Standard paper seed packets are permeable to oxygen and moisture -- the two primary causes of seed degradation. Most paper-packaged seeds begin losing germination viability after approximately one year, contributing to significant garden-industry waste: packets purchased, not planted, expired, discarded. Shido Seeds are hermetically vacuum-sealed. The packet does not expire quietly in a drawer. It waits.

About the Packaging

Every Shido seed packet is illustrated in the style of Japanese 1910s woodblock printing -- designed and drawn in-house by Chive, the Toronto ceramics studio that has been exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show in London every year and does not, as a matter of principle, sell to big-box retailers. Customers collect the packets as a series. This was not the original plan.