Edible Landscaping
This post is a work in progress, and I will add to it now and then. See also Wild Edibles, Edible Wild Berries, Edible Garden Flowers, etc. :)
On this post, I plan to talk about plants that people commonly put in their gardens for show, not so much for eating. I think it's good to know plants you can use to supplement your other food in case of hard times. I also think it's fun and interesting to learn about. I often add things to my salads from the woods or gardens to make them more interesting like Trout Lily flowers and bulbs (I posted on those on Wild Edibles) and Violet or Pansy flowers.
I have to do a disclaimer here. ;) I'm not an expert, and you should check several sources and photos before trying something you have never eaten before to make sure you get the right plant. "If in doubt, throw it out." Some people have allergies to plants that they have never tried before, so it's good to start with a small amount.
Common Day Lily
Here are a couple good articles on harvesting and identifying Day Lilies. (click here) and (click here)
Young Day Lily shoots coming up in spring.
1 Day Lily, young shoots and the tubers on the bottom.
I used a potato peeler to take most of the
tougher skin off the tubers.
Sauteed in butter. Yum!
Dead Nettle, Archangel
(yellow, white, or purple)
I have the yellow one (Lamiastrum Galeobdolon), and it's called Yellow Dead Nettle, Golden Dead Nettle, Yellow Archangel, etc. Young shoots and leaves can be eaten raw or cooked,
boiled or sauteed. More mature leaves are better cooked as they will be
tougher. Some people make a soup, and they can be added to salads. The flowers
are edible.
Hops
These
are growing over an archway in my
backyard.
They really take off! :)
All varieties of Sedum are edible, but the ones with yellow flowers can have a mild toxicity that is taken away with cooking. The young leaves and stems are edible cooked or raw, and you can cook the older ones for a short time to make them tender. Sedum is good added to salads, stir-fry, soups, etc. Young tubers/roots can be eaten. Eating a large amount of raw Sedum is said to possibly cause an upset stomach. If the one you try is a little bitter tasting, stir-frying should take that away. There is also a Sedum that grows in the wild. I have them growing on my property.
This web site (click here) gives a recipe for relish. "Fry Sedum leaves
with slivers of sweet bell peppers and onions at a high heat in olive oil until
the onions are browned and bell peppers nearly translucent, then add pepper to
taste and use as a relish on hotdogs or gardenburgers. Refrigerate for use as
needed."
Update: I tried the relish above, minus the bell peppers, so really just Sedum and onion, and it was quite good. I was wishing I had a hotdog or hamburger to put it on. :)
Sedum "relish"
Sedum coming up in spring, Sedum leaf
This is a wild Sedum that I dug on my property that was growing under pine
trees and put in my garden. It didn't bloom pretty until I put it in the sun. The wild
ones are more scrawny looking than the tame ones but still pretty.
trees and put in my garden. It didn't bloom pretty until I put it in the sun. The wild
ones are more scrawny looking than the tame ones but still pretty.
I have sedum. I always wondered what it was. It's so pretty when fall comes! I've only ever tried nasturtiums in a green salad. Have you ever seen watercress growing? Hen
ReplyDeletehee hee that was funny! Prove I'm not a robot :)
ReplyDeleteYou're not a chicken robot? lol Yeah, had spammers leaving links on here. The blogspot people usually catch them and delete them or I do. I have Nasturtium seeds to plant this year. I have one growing in a peat pot already. :)
ReplyDeleteSedum is also a really great anti-itch mosquito remedy. You just crack a leaf and peel off the waxy skin and stick the leaf over the bite. Let it sit for a few minutes and your itching should subside.
ReplyDeleteI pick Autumn Joy leaves and use them whole in conjunction with sprigs of Lovage, parsnip, parsley root, celeriac, carrots, onions, leeks, celery, parsley as a vegetable base when making soup stock (beef or chicken). I also chop them finely and add them to ground meat when making hamburgers or meatloaf.
ReplyDelete:) This spring, I would pick some of those along with some Hosta shoots and Hops shoots or anything else I could find and cook them together. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteOk. A question in 2017...anyone there? Hello? Anyway, are the Autumn Joy sedum flowers edible? I want to put them on cakes. Maybe no one would eat them, but I don't want a toxic or horrible taste lingering if they touch other food.
ReplyDeleteThey would be beautiful! Sedums are edible, as are pamsy and violet and rose!
DeleteI haven't seen anything about the Sedum flowers being edible so probably not.
ReplyDeleteSedums are bitter but ediblr
DeleteWe love day lily buds sauted in butter. To me they have a taste between asparagus and green beans, delicious. Young violet leaves are also delicious cooked or added to a salad. Young hosta leaves are very tasty. I like to saute them in a little butter and season them with salt and pepper or add them to soup or salad. I use the violets and hostas like I would spinach and it is even more healthy than spinach.
DeleteI've tried Sedum flowers - they're very bitter. I wouldn't call them edible. The leaves are excellent in salads, though.
ReplyDelete