Lettuce Through Time©

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braised lettuce, Cooked lettuce, lettuce history, lettuce soup

 

A nice gentleman contacted me recently with a question about 18^th century lettuce and I promised to share some information.  His question was about period recipes for cooking lettuce and whether lettuce then was anything like what we have now.

Long leaved, cos type lettuce is ancient and depicted in wall and tomb paintings as early as 4500 B.C.  Lettuce is found among plants accompanying the Egyptian god, Min [4^th Millennium BCE].

Cabbage-leaved lettuce is traced from 1543.  Columella knew a few different varieties, and documented the Romans eating young tender lettuce and cooking older and tougher lettuce.  They ate lettuce with hot dressing on it much like the wilted lettuce salads popular in the 20^th century.  Lettuce was cultivated to improve its texture and flavor and by the medieval era there were distinct varieties of three types – heading, loose-leaf, and tall or cos.  William Woys Weaver credits the name Romaine, a cos, to it being grown in the papal gardens of Rome, although the name Romaine isn’t commonly found until the latter third of the 19^th century.

“Adam’s Luxury and Eve’s Cookery”, 1744 is a good early source showing varieties during the 18^th century.  Some of those listed are available through heirloom seed companies.  Dr. Weaver, in his heirloom vegetable treatise, tells us some of the early varieties later underwent name changes requiring some gardening knowledge to identify them and locate seed.  For example, Green Capuchin is now Tennisball and Silesia is now White-Seeded Simpson or Early Curled Simpson.

Cos lettuce was common during the 18^th century.  Accounts such as the one from “The New London Family Cook” instructing the gardener to tie up the leaves of cos lettuce, “the same as endive”, to shield the inner leaves from the sun rendering them tender and crisp indicates that without special care some lettuce was tough.  The center leaves would have been preferred for salads while the outer leaves would have benefitted from cooking.

Jamie Oliver’s braised peas and lettuce

Lettuce that formed a loose head was called cabbage lettuce and that which produced tall leafy to very loose-headed plants was cos.  The varieties were divided further by season – that which could withstand a European winter, spring lettuce that headed rapidly, summer lettuce which were usually larger than spring lettuce and which tolerated more heat without bolting as fast.  Cutting lettuces never form a head and are harvested a few leaves at a time as the plants grow.  This is sometimes referred to as cut and come again.  Southern Europe also had a, “perennial lettuce”, which resembled dandelion.

Lettuces varied in depth of color from very pale to very dark green.

In John Randolph’s eminent Gardening Treatise penned in 18^th century Virginia, we see the cutting lettuce, Cabbage lettuce, and cos.  Randolph found the cabbage lettuce the least pleasing of the three.  “This sort of lettuce is the worst of all the kinds in my opinion.  It is the most watery and flashy, does not grow to the size that many of the other sorts will do, and very soon runs to seed”.

Randolph found the cos the, “sweetest and finest”, because it washed the easiest, it remained longer before bolting, and, it was the, “crispest and most delicious of them all”.

Salads, raw and cooked, date to ancient times, however, here we will look only at ways in which lettuce was cooked.  It was put into soup, made into ragout, cooked with green peas, etc.  Elizabeth Lea [1859] had this advice for her readers, “Where there is a large family, it is a good and economical way to cut the fat of ham in small pieces, fry it, and make a gravy with flour, water and pepper to eat with lettuce.  To cook lettuce you must fry a little ham; put a spoonful of vinegar into the gravy; cut the lettuce, put it in the pan; give it a stir, and then dish it”.  Your author remembers the delight of eating this prepared by her aunt Dora, who was a master of the “use what’s in the garden and larder” method of cooking before it became trendy with preppers.

TO MAKE GREEN PEASE SOUP.  “The New Book of Cookery”.  1782.  Take a small knuckle of veal, and a pint and a half of old green pease; put them in a saucepan with five or six quarts of water, a few blades of mace, a small onion stuck with cloves, some sweet herbs, salt, and whole pepper;  cover them close, and boil them;  then strain the liquor through a sieve, and put it in a fresh saucepan, with a pint of young pease, a lettuce, the heart of a cabbage, and three or four heads of celery, cut small;  cover the pan and let them stew an hour.  Pour the soup into your dish, and serve it up with the crust of a French roll.

EGGS WITH LETTUCE.  “The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy.  Glasse.  1786.  Scald some cabbage-lettuce in fair water, squeeze them well, then slice them and toss them up in a saucepan with a piece of butter;  season them with pepper, salt, and a little nutmeg.  Let them stew half an hour, chop them well together; when they are enough, lay them in your dish, fry some eggs nicely in butter and lay on them.  Garnish with Seville orange.

TURKISH MINCE.  “Domestic Economy and Cookery”.  1827.  Mince hard [boiled] eggs, white meat, and suet in equal quantities, season with sweet herbs and spices, mix it with boiled chopped lettuce, bread crums [sic], a little butter and a raw egg or two; dip lettuce, vine, or cabbage-leaves into boiling water, roll up the mince in them, and fry them of a nice light brown, or bake them in a quick oven, buttering them from a buttering pan, which is a better method than laying on bits; when rolled up for frying, fix the leaves with a little egg; meat may be used instead of egg.

LAITUES AU JUS.  “How to Cook Vegetables in one Hundred Different Ways”.  1868.  Blanch the lettuces for about five minutes in boiling water, drain them; place some nice slices of bacon in a stewpan;  lay the lettuces upon them; add sufficient strong gravy [broth];  simmer for a quarter of an hour, and serve with the strained gravy.

LAITUES FARCIES.  “How to Cook Vegetables in one Hundred Different Ways”.  1868.  Remove the outer leaves from some good large white lettuces, blanch these for a few minutes in boiling water;  drain them;  make them hollow by cutting out from the stalk end;  fill them with a very good white forcemeat, and stew them gently in consommé, or braise them.  Serve with the gravy poured over.

LETTUCES—LAITUES AU LARD.  “The Treasury of French Cookery.  1866.  The salad being made, salt and pepper are added in the requisite quantities.  Cut bacon up in small dice.  Melt it in a heater [cook].  Pour it very hot over the lettuces.  A little vinegar is immediately put into the heater, and when warm is poured over the salad.

LETTUCE SOUP.  “The Master Books of Soups”.  1900.  2 pints veal stock, 1 large head of lettuce, 1 oz. butter, 1 oz. flour, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt and paprika.

Cook lettuce in 1 pint of the stock and press through a sieve.  Heat butter in a pan and add flour and the other 1 pint of stock.  Cook till smooth and creamy.  Add lettuce pureé, season to taste, re-heat, add lemon juice, and serve.

“Inferior heads, or the lettuce which does not form heads, is very nice if cooked just like spinach and dressed with cream.  Some varieties which have large white veins and mid-ribs may be made to serve a double purpose.  Strip out the thin parts of the leaf for use in the salads and then cook the stems and dress them just like asparagus.  It will make a substitute for asparagus which will go unsuspected with a good many people”.  – Cutler.  1903.

See:  Vilmorin-Andrieux, “The Vegetable Garden”, 1920.  Randolph, John, “A Treatise on Gardening”, mid-18^th c.  Weaver, William Woys.  “Heirloom Vegetable Gardening:  A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History”.  1997.  Weaver.  “100 Vegetables and Where they Came From”.  2000.  Lindquist, K.  “On the Origin of Cultivated Lettuce”.  Landskrona, Sweden.  April 1960.  Eaton, Katherine.  “Ancient Egyptian Temple Ritual:  Performance, Pastterns, and Practice”.  2013.  Cookery books listed above.

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CELERY: More than Mirapoix©

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celery dish, celery glass, celery vase

Not all modern gardeners have grown celery so one might doubt its popularity in times past, but I have yet to see a gardening treatise or catalog that doesn’t discuss growing celery.  Cookery books encouraged the liberal use of it as a seasoning and as a salad which might have been as simple as crisp celery in a celery vase.

The Victorian celery vase or glass was an essential part of a well-dressed table from the 1820’s into the 1910’s although some journals advised readers the celery vase was being phased out in favor of a boat-like dish in the 1890’s.  The vases grew in popularity until mass-production flooded the market.

“Celery is sometimes chopped small and mixed with a dressing made as directed for lettuce; but the usual way of preparing them is to scrape and wash them clean, and let them lie in cold water till just before they are to be sent to the table; then wipe them dry, split the ends of the stalks, leaving on a few of the green leaves, and send them to table in celery glasses.  Celery should be kept in a cellar, and the roots covered with tan to keep them from wilting.”  – The Kentucky Housewife.  1839.

When celery was served at table, those who desired to do so, helped themselves to a stalk, dipped it in a little salt on one’s plate and ate it.  The celery was expected to be tender and crisp when served alone.  “To Crisp Celery.  Let it lie in ice water two hours before serving.  To fringe the stalk, stick several coarse needles into a cork and draw the stalk half way from the top several times, and lay in the refrigerator to curl and crisp”.  – Vaughn’s Seed Store.  1898.

        

 

 

 

 

   

Celery was no exception to the “waste not,  want not” approach to food.  “There need never be any part of a bunch of celery wasted.  Serve the small, white stalks whole with salt, or cut fine and dressed as a salad.  Cut the larger stalks into short pieces, cook in boiling salted water and cover with cream sauce.  The very coarsest pieces may be boiled and strained for soup.  Nearly all soups may be improved by the addition of celery.  Dry the leaves in the oven, then chop or rub fine and they are nice for seasoning soups”.  1904.

Now, gentle reader, let us look at recipes for various prepared dishes of celery which might dress our table for that next special occasion meal.

Celery Salt.  1904.  This is very nice to season oysters, gravies, soups, etc.  Dry and grate the roots of celery and mix with one-third the quantity of salt.  Put into bottles and keep tightly corked.

Celery Fried.  1786.  When boiled, dip it in batter, fry it of a light brown, and dry; pour over melted butter.

Celery to fry.  1818.  Cut off the heads, and green tops of six or eight heads of celery; take off the outside stalks, pare the roots clean have ready half a pint of white wine, the yolks of three eggs beaten fine, salt and nutmeg; mix all together with flour into a batter, into which dip every head, and fry them in butter; when done, lay them in your dish, and pour melted butter over them.

Celery Sauce.  1818.  Boil celery heads three inches long, in a little stock, till nearly done and the liquor almost wasted away, then add some béchamel. . .

Celery Fritters.  1909.  Make a batter of two eggs, one cupful of milk, a tablespoonful of melted butter, one cupful of flour, and a pinch of salt.  Boil until tender in salted water stalks of celery cut into four inch lengths, drain, cool, and dry.  Dip in batter, fry in deep fat, drain, and serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

Creamed Celery.  1909.  Clean, trim, and cut the celery into short pieces.  Boil until tender in salted water, drain, and reheat in a Cream Sauce.  Sprinkle with grated nutmeg if desired.  Diced cooked carrots may be added to Creamed Celery.

Cabbage and Celery Cooked.  1909.  Cut cabbage fine, and soak in salt water, drain and add equal amount of chopped celery, cook until tender, drain and sift a little dry flour over the hot cabbage and celery, cook the flour, add milk, when done add one beaten egg; serve at once.

Escalloped Celery.  1909.  Chop celery very fine or cut in half-inch lengths and cook until tender in boiling salted water to cover.  Drain and reheat in a cream or White Sauce.  Put into a buttered baking-dish in layers, sprinkling each layer with grated cheese or crumbs or both crumbs and grated cheese.  Have crumbs and cheese on top, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.  Oysters also may be put between the layers.

Celery-Potato Croquettes.  To a pint of mashed potatoes add half a teacup of cooked celery, season with a tablespoon of butter, half a teaspoon of salt, a dash of white pepper; add the yolk of one egg.  Roll in shape of a small cylinder three inches long and one and a fourth inches thick.  Dip them in the beaten white of egg, roll in cracker or bread crumbs and fry.

Cream of Celery Soup.  1909.  One-third cup of celery cut in pieces, two cups of boiling water, one sliced onion, two teaspoons of butter, three tablespoons of flour, three cups of milk, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook celery till soft, rub through sieve, scald milk with onion in it, add to celery, bind and season.

Stuffed Celery.  1913.  Mix cream cheese with enough cream to moisten it; season with salt and cayenne; chop 8 olives and ½ lb. English walnuts and mix with cheese.  Select short wide pieces of celery, trim off most of the leaves and fill with cheese mixture.

THE FARMSTEAD KITCHEN GARDEN

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kitchen garden

“The garden should be about four times as long as it is broad, unfenced when possible, near to the house and should be in miniature, a farm with the cereals, grasses, and large fruits left out.  The side farthest from the dwelling should be devoted to the perennial plants, such as grapes, currants, and other bush-fruits.  Everything should be planted in straight rows, with spaces sufficiently wide between the rows to admit of horse-hoe culture.  The grapes and blackberries might occupy one row, the raspberries and currants a second row, rhubarb, asparagus and like plants a third row.  The spaces between these various fruits should be eight feet, as it is poor economy to so crowd vines a nd bushes as to force them to struggle the year through for plant-food and moisture. . . The rows of ordinary vegetables may be thirty inches apart, except in case of such plants as onions, lettuce, and early beets.  These small, slow-growing esculents should be planted in double rows.  Starting from the last row of potatoes a thirty inch space is measured off, a row of lettuce planted, and then one foot from this a row of beets or onions; then have a space thirty inches wide and again plant double rows, if more of the small esculents are wanted.  The larger spaces may be cultivated by horse-hoe and the smaller spaces by hand-hoe.  The entire garden which is to be planted in the spring should be kept fertile and plowed early in the spring, leaving that part of it which is not designed for immediate planting unharrowed.  It may be necessary to replow.  It certainly will be necessary to cultivate several times that part of the garden which is used for late-growing crops, such as cabbage and celery. . . As a rule, the garden should not be fenced, but the chickens should be restrained by fences a part of the time; at other times they may have free access to the garden, where they are often very beneficial in reducing the insect enemies.”  – Roberts, Isaac Phillips.  “The FarmStead”.  1902.

Cardinals: The South’s Colorful Songster

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cardinal

This past weekend I found a bird nest in one of my climbing rose bushes and carefully watched to see what sort of bird had laid the three eggs in it.  Wild birds are Nature’s adornment for the farmstead and it turned out my visiting nester is a female cardinal.  I wish her great success in hatching the eggs although her choice of nesting site is going to make caring for the roses a little difficult for a few weeks.  I really hope a snake doesn’t make a meal of her babies and we can enjoy their beauty and song as they discover their wings and take flight.  Its song is so pleasing as to have earned it the nickname Virginia Nightingale as early as 1834 and likely much earlier.   Let’s see what our forebears had to say about this lovely songster.

“The Cardinals are noted singers.  Both sexes sing, but the song of the male is more frequent and a louder and clearer whistle. . .To the young in the nest he [the male] is an untiring provider of worms and grubs, and thus most useful in the garden.  Nothing can be more comical than his behavior when he first conducts his young family out into the world while his mate is engaged with her second sitting.  He is as fussy as any young mother, hopping about in great excitement, and appearing to think the whole world thirsting for the life of his pretty little ones”.  – “Birds & Nature Magazine”.  June 1904.

“After the robin the cardinal’s nest is the easiest to find, and perhaps the most common.  Nests are usually placed low in bushes, or at moderate heights in thickets and saplings.  Grape-vine tangles and porch trellises are favorite places and occasionally nests are saddled upon horizontal limbs of trees.

In construction the nest varies from tidy to disreputable, according to skill and season.  A typical one is composed externally of long stiff weeds and leaf stems, and measures roughly seven inches across, with an extreme of thirteen inches.  Next comes a mat of dead leaves, mostly beech [no beech near us].  Inside this in turn is a tough basket work of grape-vine bark and a lining of fine fresh grass cured in the nest.  It measures, inside, three and a quarter inches in width and two and a half in depth.

The eggs are quite variable; even those in the same nest are hard to reconcile, both as to shape and markings.  Because of the similarity in appearance, cowbirds’ eggs are easily imposed upon the cardinal.  Professor Jones and I once found a nest with the bird on whose three eggs were to the best of our judgement the combined products of as many cowbirds.

The young hatch out in about fourteen days, and are ready to leave the nest in ten days more.  The father is especially devoted to his offspring, and often cares for them while the female is busy with another nest. “   Have a delightful summer, gentle reader, and visit often.  “Birds and Nature in Natural Colors”.   1914.

American Beauty Berry

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Beautyberry

Either I just never paid attention to it or the native American Beautyberry bush was not common in my niche of southern middle Tennessee and Northwest Alabama because one of the first things I noticed when I moved farther South was a bush with the most remarkably striking purple berries.  The small berries grow in a ball shape around the ends of the limbs so that while the berries are small from a distance the purple is quite striking against a green backdrop.

I quickly purchased a bush which I promptly transplanted when we moved to the farm only to find them growing wild anywhere the guineas or wild birds dropped seed.  I have let most of them grow wherever they decide to volunteer.  It is a large sprawling shrub if left to its own devices or it can be pruned in winter to control its size.  There is a white berried variety, however, in my opinion it can’t compare with the purple.

Beauty bush is native to the southeastern U.S. and is referred to as American beautyberry, sourbush, bunchberry, and falsely as French mulberry by some.  It is not a mulberry nor is it French.

It can be propagated from seed or softwood cuttings.  If preferred, it can be grown in a container.

It looks quite nice in fresh flower arrangements.  Berries are also edible.  While they don’t impress me much in flavor fresh off the bush they can be used to make jelly, tea, and wine.

Many sources indicate they repel mosquitoes and biting insects.  Charles T. Bryson, botanist in Stoneville, Miss. reported that his grandfather cut branches with the leaves still on and crushed the leaves then put them between the horse and the harness to repel deerflies, horseflies, and mosquitoes.  Forty years later he still crushes leaves and rubs them on his skin to repel insects.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060703091932.htm

The USDA Agricultural Research Service at the University of Mississippi conducted experiments and concluded that infusions of leaves and stems did, in fact, repel ticks, mosquitoes, and possibly fire ants.  The naturally occurring compounds in beautyberry that repel insects are callicarpenal, intermedeol, and spathulenol.  All three chemicals repulsed mosquitoes that carry malaria and yellow fever.  Mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus were not tested in the study.  The USDA-ARS has since filed for a patent using callicarpenal as an anthropod repellent.  Seeing such an insect repellent on the market is not likely to happen any time soon, however, as it can take years to register a product with the EPA and conduct the exhaustive tests required.  In the meantime I recommend planting your own beautyberries and either rubbing the crushed leaves on the skin or trying a recipe for making beautyberry spray or cream.  Don’t forget to whip up a snack while you’re at it – perhaps pound cake with a little beautyberry jelly and whipped cream on top.   https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/download/3640/PDF

BEAUTY BERRY JELLY.

1 ½ quarts of berries, washed and cleaned.  Put in a heavy pot and cover with 2 quarts of water.  Boil 15 to 20 minutes and strain.  Bring 3 cups of the juice to a boil.  Add 1 package of Sure-Jell, 4 ½ cups sugar, and the juice of one lemon.  Bring to a second boil and boil for two minutes.  Remove from the heat, skim off any foam and then pour the jelly into sterilized jars and put on flats and rings.

BEAUTYBERRY INSECT REPELLENT.

Use a combination of chopped stems and bark and leaves.  Put 1 to 2 cups of chopped leaves and stems in a quart jar and fill with boiling water.  Let set at least 4 hours or overnight.  Strain.  Fill an 8 ounce spray bottle half full of the infusion.  Add witch hazel almost to the top – leave a 2 ounce space. Add essential oil of your choice.  Shake before using.

BEAUTYBERRY INSECT REPELLENT CREAM.

Make the infusion as in the previous recipe.  Put 1 ½ cups of infusion in the blender.  Put 1 cup neem oil and 1 ounce of beeswax in a small pot and heat until melted.  Turn on the blender and slowly pour in the oil mixture.  It will thicken and become a cream.

A Very Brief Look at the History of Flowers in Yesterday’s Post

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culinary herbs, edible flowers, medicinal herbs

Beans:  Scarlet Runner beans produce edible pods and blooms although they are so lovely in a garden setting many plant them purely for ornamentals.  A tower of Scarlet Runners in the garden adds height and color and they are gorgeous on an archway trellis.  Scarlet Runner beans should be picked while small and tender.  At least in most areas these beans are considered perennial.  They will die to the ground with frost but put up again from the roots in the spring.  Scarlet runners are native to Central America and introduced to the U.S. in the early 1700’s.

Bee Balm (Monarda):  Blossoms may be substituted  for oregano and the leaves and petals can be added to salads and fruit salads.  In old herbals this may be called horseming, Wild Oswego Tea, or Wild Bergamot.

Borage:  The leaves were cooked for greens and the fresh leaves were used in salads along with mint, sage, parsley, garlic, fennel and rosemary.  Borage flowers garnished custards, salads, soups, etc.  Its flavor is similar to cucumbers, and the flowers are a beautiful blue.  It is a welcome addition to the herb or the flower garden.

Carnations:  Carnations are edible as is dianthus.  Petals have been used in making Chartreuse (A French liqueur) since the 1600’s.

Chamomile:  Chamomile has tiny daisy-like flowers that would complement floral gardens and people once thought it possessed medicinal qualities.

Columbine:  A 15^th century manuscript listed columbine in its “herbs for potage”.  When combined with six other herbs and drunk with ale it was supposed to ward off the pestilence.

Day lilies:  Blooms may be eaten in a variety of ways and used as garnish.

Hens and chicks, aka houseleek, was used to counteract diarrhea, heal inflammation of the eyes, gout, hemorrhage, headache, and ulcers.  Planting them on thatched roofs was thought to prevent lightning strikes.  It was used to stop bleeding and treat burns and cuts.

Iris:  Iris were thought to stop coughs and convulsions, relieve bites of “venomous beasts”, treat sun burn and provoke sleep.  Roots were used in perfume, sachets, potpourris, etc. and the petals of purple iris combined with alum produced a pigment for Medieval artists.

Lavender:  Its lovely fragrance has been used for centuries to scent clothing and linens and it is also used as a culinary herb.

Lily of the Valley:  a half pound of the flowers soaked in a liter of wine then distilled was said to be, “more precious than gold”, in treating apoplexy and that mixture applied to the back of the neck was thought to give the person good common sense.  I will be placing a huge order for this fragrant lovely ASAP.

Mallow:  Mallows include hibiscus and Althea, and okra is also a member of this family of plants.  Hibiscus is edible and can be used to make a tea.  During the Middle Ages it was a common potherb with the added bonus of keeping witches away from one’s home.  The leaves were used for greens and the young green tops were added to salads.

Marigold:  Flower petals were used to add color to soups and drinks and medicinally to treat a number of complaints.  Marigolds are often used as a substitute for expensive saffron.

Nasturtiums:  Buds were pickled and used like capers, leaves are edible in salads, and the petals make a lovely garnish.  This flower is often misspelled in old herbals.

Peony:  During the Middle Ages the seeds were used as a spice to flavor food.  From “Piers Plowman” we find an alewife saying she has, “pepper and peony seed and a pound of garlic and a farthingale worth of fennel seed for fasting days”.  Medicinally, it was thought to relieve epilepsy, aid in delivering babies, etc.

Periwinkle, aka Vinca:  Vinca was called, “joy of the ground” because it was thought to ward off wicked spirits.  “Whoever carries this herb with him on the skin, the devil has no power over him”. – “Hortus Sanitatis”.  “No witchery may enter the house which has this herb hanging over the door and if any witchery be already therein it will be driven out soon”.  It was thought to stay the flux, ease toothache, and temper a fever.

Primrose:  Primrose was a Middle Ages potherb used in salads and when combined with rice flour, almonds, honey, saffron, and primrose flowers, almond milk and powdered ginger made a dish known as “primrose”.

Rose:  Petals scented water to wash the hands, dried petals were used to perfume clothing and linens, used in cooking, etc.  Rosewater was popular in cooking and in some cultures remains a favorite flavoring.

Rosemary:  I plan to transplant rosemary from a raised bed to my flower garden as soon as the weather cools.  Like thyme it produces pretty flowers and both the flowers and the leaves and stems carry a welcome fragrance.  It was used during the Middle Ages in food, to make a wash for the eyes, used in a wash for the hands at table, put in amongst clothing and linens to ward off moths, etc.

Sage / Salvia:  It was used in potages (soup), salads, for sauces and in meat pies.  It flavored chicken and other meats.  It was so commonly used as a medicinal herb that people said of it, “Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden”.

Thyme:  Thyme has lovely tiny purple flowers and a pot of thyme in a strategic place within a garden adds both visually and fragrantly to the display.  Thyme, being one of the most often used culinary herbs needs no account of its use.

Yarrow:  Was used at home and on the battlefield to stop bleeding, cure a headache, aleviate heartburn, etc.  Yarrow tea supposedly was a remedy for colds.

Yucca:  Petals are crunchy and mildly sweet.  They can be put into salads or used as a garnish.

Is it a Flower Bed or a Flower Garden?©

Tags

flower bed, flower garden, heirloom flowers

The first two years at our little farm we concentrated on establishing flocks of poultry and rabbits, growing a vegetable garden, planting fruit trees, and remodeling the house, but now that we have gotten a great deal accomplished my mind has turned to growing plants purely for their beauty and sweet fragrance.  I am using almost exclusively perennials so that once established they either keep popping up or reseed themselves without a great deal of help from me.

Everyone has heard the expression flower garden and flower bed and as I work on my project I wanted to know if the terms were interchangeable or if there was, at least in the old days, a discernible difference in the two.  Jane Loudon answered my question in her book first published in 1841.

“Beds for Flowers—Divisions of a flower-garden, which are formed in different figures, and which are generally covered with a mass of flowers of one kind, or at least of one colour, though sometimes they contain single plants, or small tufts of plants and flowers, at regular distances, with naked spaces showing the soil between.”

She described the flower garden as being symmetrical [and more formal] with divisions containing various plants – each of those divisions would be considered a flower bed.  “The ancient English flower-garden is formed of beds, connected together so as to form a regular or symmetrical  figure; the beds being edged with box, or sometimes with flowering plants, and planted with herbaceous flowers, Roses, and one or two other kinds of low flowering shrubs.  The flowers in the beds are generally mixed in such a manner that some may show blossom every month during summer, and that some may retain their leaves during winter.”

I have, as it would seem, a flower bed; whereas if I transformed my whole back yard into a maze of flower beds edged with low-growing azaleas or a mounding perennial I would have a flower garden.  In a broad sense of the term, one might consider the fenced lawn section of our property a garden in that there are sections for fruit trees, berries, azaleas, and perennial flowers that would better be described as beds, especially if I continue to develop it with that end result in mind.  Oh!  To be retired with time to pursue my dream garden. . . .

I want the old-fashioned blooms my grandmothers and their grandmothers would recognize and appreciate and whenever possible I want fragrant blooms to perfume the air. The following is representative of what I have or would like to add as time goes on.

Allium Ornamental).  I have planted these in my perennial bed.  They are the same family as edible allium (onions, leeks, chives, shallots, garlic, etc.)  They are drought resistant and hardy to zone 4.  Varieties come in different heights, flower shape, fullness, and shades of pink, purple, blue, yellow  and white.  They may be grown from seed or from bulbs.

 Image from Wikipedia

Althea.  I have two purple-blooming starts I planted by the chicken pen which are growing and looking well.  While small, they will grow quickly and cost a fraction of the cost of a larger tree.

Daffodils.  I transplanted daffodils and put them around the oak in the front yard and along the back fence separating the yard from the field.  I want to add to these adding various heirloom varieties.

Daisy.  I’ve purchased seed and fall planted them for blooms next summer. I sowed Alaska daisy and Shasta daisy.

 Image from a gardening catalog.

Campanula.  Canterbury Bell.

Campion.  Perhaps the best known is Rose Campion which sports attractive silver foliage and dark rose colored blooms.

Carnation.  The President of the American Carnation Society said the carnation stands only second to the rose in extent of culture in America.  [1905]

Clematis, or as it was known, virgin’s bower, bore various colored flowers including single blue, single red, single purple, and double purple.  My transplanted clematis has not done well and should be in a partially shaded area.  I plan to add sweet autumn clematis soon as its mass of tiny white flowers and heady fragrance can be enjoyed while sitting on the porch after most other plants have gone into hibernation.  Loudon said no garden should be without one.

Cleome.  Loudon referred to cleome as a half-hardy annual with white, rose, and purple flowers of easy culture.  Seeds can be saved.

Columbines.  Alice Lounsberry noted she could hardly think of a color in which there wasn’t a columbine.  She seemed partial to a double white tinged with pink which she likened to a sea shell.  [1908]

 Image from the Burpee catalog

Coreopsis.  Because the naturalist, Thomas Nuttall, brought back seed for coreopsis and passed them on to nurserymen and customers in the U.S. and England it has been known as Nuttall’s weed.  Nuttall closely followed the path of Lewis and Clark in the early 1800’s.

Crinum.  These lovely lily-like plants weren’t common for our area, but they do very well for me in the middle South and I inherited them when we purchased a home.  When we moved to the farm I dug up some and transplanted them.  Some are fragrant.  They range from white to dark pink in color.  Older books often call crinum “spider lily” although this does not mean the red blooms that magically pop up in the fall under that name.

Delphiniums, aka Larkspur.  Delphiniums were described by Parkinson in his “Paradisus Terrestris” in 1629.  John Lindley said of the Barlowii delphinium it, “presents to the eye the most gorgeous mass of deep lapis-lazuli blue that I am acquainted with in the vegetable kingdom”.  He noted it was impossible to describe their beauty when paired with colors that harmonized with the blue.  [1837]   In 1878  William Robinson described it as a stately perennial in gardens that grew between four to six feet high.  He recommended cutting them near the ground after they flower to force them to rebloom in the autumn. I’ve not planted these yet but plan to later.

 Image from Graceful Gardens

Dianthus (Sweet William).  I have deep pink mounds in my perennial bed.  These come up well from seed.

Day lily.  I have collected various colors and patterns of daylilies and am anxious to see their colorful blooms next year.  In past decades family gardens contained only the orange and yellow blooming varieties that Loudon described in 1849 and while I have those planted I also have some of the newer ones.  The more exotic the color

 Image from Breck’s catalog

Echinacea or cone flower.  Native to North America and used by Native Americans as a medicinal herb to fight an array of ailments.  Early European settlers adopted it  and it was taken to Europe in the 17th century where German doctors played a large role in its being developed as we know it today.  It is perennial, reaches almost 2 feet in height, and its upper parts and roots are still used in herbal medicine.

Fritillaria.  This lovely flower is a new one for me, but certainly not new to history.  John Parkinson gave an excellent outline of it in his Paradisi In Sole {aradosis Terrestros, 1635.  He noted there were single and double blooms, some bloomed earlier than others, and the colors were diverse including red, orange, yellow, white, and black.  My garden contains the orange but may soon contain the black as well.

Fuscia.  Cultivating this plant was of prime concern during the previous century.  “Cultivators exercise an unceasing endeavour to propagate new varieties, and botanical collectors range year by year the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico to discover species hitherto unknown to us. . .It was said to have been first introduced by a sailor, who seeing it growing in Chili brought home some berries to his mother. Who was in humble life.  One of these grew, and the plant soon flowered.  Old Mr. Lee, the nurseryman of Hammersmith, saw it, and offered so large a price as to tempt the old woman to sell it.  It was quickly increased by cuttings, and sold for five guineas a plant.  This was in 1788.”  [London, 1844]  Alas, it is said not to do well in humidity, excessive heat or drought.  Fuscia is perennial in zones 10 and 11.  Outside that area it should be potted.

Hardy hibiscus.  I have one with large pale pink blooms accented with deep maroon centers and two that are orange.  I plan to sow seed for the Texas Star, or, Swamp hibiscus.  It has deep red petals and is perennial in zones 7-10.  It will die back but grow from the roots again in spring.  It was grown by George Washington and was called, “a most elegant flowering plant”, by the seedsman Bartram.  It is perennial.

Hens and Chicks.  (Sempervivum tectorum).  These lovely rosettes have graced Southern homes for longer than we care to imagine, often in pots with multiple openings so that it looked like the succulents were growing through the pots.  They may also be planted in the ground and are said to overwinter throughout the U.S.  They multiply frequently and once the mother, or hen, blooms it dies leaving the young plant, or chick, to take her place.  In times past it was also called house leek.  “Our own [English] species was originally a native of the Alpine and sub-Alpine regions of Central Europe, but it has now found its way to the tops of old walls, and the thatched and tiled roofs of the houses of all the countries of Europe.”  – Phebe Lankester, 1879.

Hollyhock.  I remember my aunt’s hollyhocks in lovely pastel shades of pink, yellow, and white.  In 1891, the “Journal of Horticulture and Practical Gardening” listed 52 distinct varieties in shades of white, yellow, pink, rose, purple, rosy red, orange, maroon, crimson, apricot, salmon, and peach.  Boys gathered them for the girls who strung the flowers into necklaces.  In 1878 “Vick’s Monthly Magazine” said if one familiar with the old hollyhocks that grew to 8 to 10 feet tall with single blooms encountered a newer variety he wouldn’t recognize it, the latter rarely growing more than 4 feet tall with double blooms.

Hyacinths.  Hyacinths are faithful bloomers and bring as much joy to the nose as to the eye.  Illustrations from the early 1800’s show blooms that were not nearly as full and large as today.

Iris.  The iris has enjoyed admiration of many European countries and was adopted by King Louis VII in June 1137 as the national emblem of France.  The native blue flag of North America ranged from Maine to Minnesota and from Arkansas to Florida.  In 1891 Barr’s Nursery advertised the bearded, or German, iris in, “the richest yellows, most intense purples, delicate blues, the softest mauves, and the most beautiful claret-reds.  There are whites, primroses, and bronzes of every imaginable shade.”  Iris leaves were sometimes used to thatch roofs of homes and the root of the iris, better known as orris root, has been much used in perfume.  The tall bearded iris is the newest of the breed.

Oleander.  Oleander supposedly came to America in the 1840’s when a gentleman sailed from Jamaica back to Galveston bringing along oleanders for his wife and sister-in-law.  As they were passed over the gate and shared the city soon became known for its beautiful yards.  In warmer areas there are single and double flowers in yellows, corals, reds, pinks and whites.

Lantana.  I don’t remember it being a family favorite but the butterflies love it.  Lantana blooms with various colors together in combinations.  It was noted in 1876 it was described as white, purple, lilac, rose, yellow, or orange, “the same head often containing flowerets of various colors”.  In the 1890’s gardeners were asking if lantana was a friend or enemy because it tended to spread more than some wanted.  Butterflies find it irresistible.

Lavender.  I planted two small pots and it has spread to three times the size in just two or three short months.  I plan to take cuttings to root so that I can be generous with spreading it throughout the yard to enjoy this lovely fragrance.

Lily, Blackberry.  This beautiful bloom, so named because its spots resemble a ripe blackberry, is not actually a lily at all.  Its foliage resembles an iris and its freckled bloom comes in orange or yellow.  Around the turn of the 20^th century gardeners wrote in to magazines inquiring about its culture.  One reply was that seeds, if sown as soon as ripe, are planted they will produce seedlings as soon as the ground thaws the next spring.  I planted three established rhizomes and if all goes well once they start producing the seeds should spread quite nicely and fill in between various plants.  When started from seed the plant is not expected to bloom until its second year.

 Image from Encyclopedia Britanica

Lily, Spider/Hurricane/Resurrection.  This flower and phlox are burned into my memory as my mother had them everywhere.  Like the enchanting village of Brigadoon that magically appeared and disappeared just as quickly, these beautiful red blooms pop up with no warning to spread cheer wherever they are found.  I put six of these in my bed and hope that they spread quickly.  Lycoris radiata is native to Asia.  They reproduce by bulb division.

Image from Wikipedia

Peonies have been grown for generations, but alas, while I favor them, they do not like the heat and won’t adorn my garden at the farm.  My aunt had beautiful pink peonies that showed up like regimented soldiers every year.

Marigold – tall full marigolds in orange and yellow are a sight to behold.  Save the seed, or in a warm climate they will self-sow.  The ones I put in my vegetable garden are cut down and plowed each spring but they come back from the seed to add beauty among my vegetables.

Petunia.  One can still find self-sowing petunias in a few specialty heirloom collections.  I will be planting the pink Laura Bush variety from Wildseed this spring.

Phlox.  This has been a reliable part of gardens for several generations in my family and now they come in an even wider range of colors and heights.  Like day lilies and iris, phlox will require separating and replanting when it gets too large.  “Phlox is one of the most beautiful of herbaceous plants, and a garden ought to be no more without some of the species than it ought to be without Roses or bulbs”. – Loudon.  I planted two colors, one is a dark rose, the other light pink with dark pink centers.  Alas the latter put on an amazing show then almost overnight died.  My mother has a start for me of the tall purple she has had for years and I will be transplanting it soon.

Roses.  The roses I remember from childhood were old, or heirloom, varieties, often climbers.  Some were fragrant releasing a heavenly fragrance as the buds opened.  In 1849 Loudon told her readers there were, “above two thousand named varieties to be procured in the nurseries”.  My heirlooms came from Petals From the Past in Jemison, AL and I may shop the Antique Rose Emporium as well.  I have two “Pinkie” roses in my bed as well as various climbers and even a couple of wild roses growing on the chicken pen fence.

Rudbeckia/Echinacea/cone-flower.  This perennial is a sunshine yellow bloom with dark centers.  In 1886 Gray referred to it as a genus of 21 species of North American herbs, many of which are hardy and perennial which usually have yellow rays. . .It includes the black-eyed Susan.

Salvia.  I purchased purple salvia for a border around the chicken pen.  “No one who has only seen the common Sage growing in a kitchen-garden could imagine the splendid flowering plants which belong to the genus Salvia”.  – Loudon.

Snap-dragon.  I started with snapdragons when the proprietor of an antique store offered me seed from her deep red variety.  They will re-seed themselves.

Statice (thrift).  This has also been a faithful addition to family gardens and as an adornment on the graves of loved ones.

Snowdrop.  “The Snowdrop is one of the earliest and most exquisite of all our hardy bulbous flowers, and it has been mentioned by nearly all the modern English poets for its modest purity and simplicity.”   It is of ancient origins, appearing in a wood engraving in 1576.  They multiply by offsets, bloom better the second year, and can be divided and transplanted as needed.  – “Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society”.  1891.

Sweet shrub or spice bush.  This is a native wonderfully fragrant addition to the garden purchased as a start from the Master Gardener plant sale.  It is known by several other names including Carolina allspice.

 Image from Wikipedia

Yucca (Adam’s needle).  I don’t remember yucca in the flower gardens of my aunts or grandmothers but I like it and intend to use it to fill space and add height.  “When a Yucca is once established in a particular spot it is rarely meddled with afterwards, except to propagate it; for the growth of the plant being slow, few like to disturb one when it has arrived at a flowering size.  It is not every year that the same plant throws up its unique spike of blooms. . .”.

   Image from Wikipedia

Zinnia/Youth and Old Age.  In the late 1700’s John Graefer listed yellow and red zinnias.  In 1860 Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co., of Paris were reported to have produced a zinnia with a double bloom.  Within five years reports of double blooming zinnias were becoming common.  Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was among those who appreciate zinnias because the blooms last so long.  I love the contrast of single and double growing together and the more cut flowers you take the more blooms you get.  I’ve saved seed all summer and purchased more so that next year I can fill a larger space and attract more butterflies.

Except where noted photos are from my garden.  Blissful outdoor meals by your flower gardens or with cut flowers in your dining room to one and all.  – Victoria

RADISHES: Spring versus Winter Varieties©

Tags

black radish, daikon radish, heirloom radishes, radishes in Colonial America, spring radishes, watermelon radish, winter radishes

It is not hard to locate books from the 1500’s which note the ways of eating and growing radishes, particularly “The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais, Doctor in Physic” (1653), Gervase Markham’s “A Way to Get Wealth” (1668), John Reid’s “The Scots Gard’ner in Two Parts” (1683), George Sandy’s “A Relation of a Journey Begun An:  Dom:  1610” in which he notes the builders of the pyramids eating radishes (1637), John Mason’s “A Briefe Discourse of the New-found-land” (1620), etc.

While not native to North America, radishes were prevalent in the gardens and diets of Colonial Americans as proven by such notable men as William Bradford and William Wood.  The latter resided in the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1629 and 1633.  They were found in John Randolph’s “Treatise on Gardening” written about 1765 in Williamsburg.  “There are Radishes known in this country by the name of Scarlet or Salmon, London short topped, &c.”.

Not all radishes are alike, however.  If you want radishes throughout most of the year, especially if you live where temperatures soar in summer, shop for seeds meant to grow during different seasons of the year.  After researching this topic I realized why I remembered long white icicle radishes from my childhood – simply put, they grew during summer when spring radishes would not.

Seed varieties are not often designated as spring or winter in their descriptions and most people are unaware there is a difference.  Research is a slow and tedious endeavor so hopefully sharing mine will help others with choosing varieties better suited to their needs.

Vilmorin made the distinction in 1885 and documented some 43 varieties grown for roots, and the rat-tailed and Madras grown for the pods.

While not infallible, a general rule is spring radishes come in a variety of pretty colors ranging from red, pink, white or purple, and in different  shapes while winter varieties tend to be longer icicle or round shape and white, white and green, cream, or black in color.

Let’s talk about eating radishes.  The fleshy root is not the only edible part and those weren’t always confined to the salad bowl.  Breakfast radishes were so named due to the prevalence with which they were consumed for the morning meal.  “…the mother and son were together in the dining-room, where they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with bread and butter and radishes”.  – “An Old Maid”.  1898.

French Breakfast radishes make a striking presentation

The greens can be sautéed, cooked with other greens, young leaves can be substituted for lettuce on a sandwich, or leaves add great flavor to soups and stews.  The greens are delicious and why throw away something so tasty and chock full of goodness?

Don’t forget radish sprouts for your salad or sandwich and wash the garden thinnings for salads.  I harvest some of the greens from the radishes for cooking and they grow back more luxuriant than before, but take only part of the leaves from each plant.

The root can be pickled or roasted just like a potato.  It can be sliced or cut into matchsticks, depending on size, and dressed as a salad.

The flowers are edible and can really make a nice presentation in salads, sandwiches, dips, etc.  If you fail to harvest the flowers, don’t worry, they will form seed pods which are also edible.  The seed pods can be added to salads, cooked, or pickled.

Image from Baker Creek Seeds

There are varieties, such as Rat’s Tail and Madras Podding that are grown purely for the seed pods.  The latter is supposedly more heat tolerant although I haven’t grown it and can’t say.  “The newly-introduced radish, which has attracted the attention of horticulturists so much of late, is certainly a novelty, inasmuch as the edible portion of the plant is the seed-vessel, and not the root”.  – “Nature and Art”.  June 1, 1856.

Let’s not forget that horse-radish is, indeed, a form of radish as well and there are those who would scoff at the idea of roast beef without it.

There are mild and hot variances in spring and winter radishes and since the length of this article will not permit me to describe the flavor of each one individually I suggest readers peruse the seed catalogs of recommended vendors at the end of this piece.

Before we can eat, we must plant and radishes require a little more thought than I once realized.  Plant for the season and temperature and don’t just try to plant the same variety all year.

Radish culture a century ago was little different than today, plant summer crops in a shaded location [in temperature extremes this probably won’t help], frequent watering in dry weather to keep them from getting pithy, and small successive plantings are preferable to large beds.

Spring radishes grow and produce rapidly and last only a very short time.  They like cool weather and do not tolerate heat well, quickly become pithy when over-large, and do not keep well in storage.  Plant early when the ground can be worked in the spring.  Cherry Belle is a well-known spring radish.  Others include Cherry Bomb, Celesta, Rover, April Cross, Champion, Red King, Snow Belle, French Breakfast, Gala, White Hailstone, Purple Plum, Bora King, and Crimson Giant.

Summer radishes aren’t so much a type as they are an in-between mixture of spring and winter radishes.  They may tolerate more heat than spring radishes but won’t last through a long hot summer.

A few varieties are marketed as heat tolerant and suitable for multiple seasons although one would have to experiment to know how accurate the description is.

White Icicle is commonly known and produces in summer as will the Chinese Pink.  The Red Meat or “Watermelon” radish is recommended for summer to fall sowing only.  Alpine, a popular Korean variety, KN-Bravo, Nero Tondo, Roxanne, Shunkyo Semi-Long, Summer Cross (icicle), Crunchy Royale, etc. are sold for spring to summer planting.

Its easy to see why its called “Watermelon” radish

Winter radishes are planted in late summer through early fall and mature before winter freezes come.  In warm climates successive plantings will see you through the winter with fresh radishes.  These hold in the ground better than spring radishes and can be left to harvest as they are wanted.  When a freeze is forecast, pull them up, cut off the greens, and store the roots in the refrigerator or a cool basement.

Winter varieties include China Rose,  Long Black Spanish (an old European heirloom), Chinese White Winter, Miyashige, Violet de Gournay, Daikon (which vary in length and size), Round Black Spanish (a very ancient variety), White Cannon,  Red Meat, Green Meat, Hild’s Blauer, Mini Purple, Misato Rose, Munchener Bier (also good for seed pods), Saitaro, and Winter Light.

A winter variety I fully intend to try planting this fall is Schifferstadt Long Black, a standard of the Pennsylvania Dutch.  My husband’s family is PA Dutch so we grow some PA Dutch vegetables on our little homestead and make historic dishes from that area.  I suspect this variety is from William Woys Weaver’s Roughwood Seed Collection sold through Baker Creek Seeds.

John Randolph made the distinction of winter radishes in Colonial America.  “The black Radish will continue if sown in August, until killed by the frosts, and Radishes may be preserved in sand as carrots are in the spring”.

“Winter radishes may be simply pared, cut in quarters, and arranged neatly on a pretty shallow dish.  Red radishes of the spring should have the roots neatly trimmed, half the top cut and trimmed, leaving little holders at the top.  These may be arranged neatly in a glass dish and served with cracked ice.”  – “How to Cook Vegetables”.  1892.

I hope this helps in choosing varieties for your garden.  The research was part of my on-going search for plants best suited to my long very hot summers.  I leave you with wishes for a good harvest and Blissful Meals.© Copyright.

Suggested Sources:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Johnny’s Seeds, Kitazawa Seed Co., Fedco, Seed Savers Exchange, Sustainable Seed Co., Heritage Harvest Seed, Sandhill Preservation, and Rare Seeds.

See:

Wood, William.  “New England’s Prospect”.   Originally published 1634, reprint 1897.

SUMAC: Grow Your Own Spice©

Tags

sumac, za'atar

I love to experiment with new spices especially one I can plant and have it return year after year for my endless enjoyment.  My most recent venture into the land of perennial foods is sumac.  No, I’m not talking about the poisonous version that gives many people a rash.  There are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of sumac.  Steer clear of varieties that bear white seed and don’t chance it if the plant is not producing and there is no indication of berry color.  Sumac is related to poison oak and  poison ivy and they grow in the same type terrain.

A. Doolittle of Painesville, Ohio described sumac berries as, “sour, very, very sour”, with seeds of “pure cussedness” yet in some cultures processed sumac berries are an indispensible spice. They predate the Roman introduction of lemons into Europe and native Americans used them in a number of ways.

Indians and colonists alike used the staghorn sumac to make tea and a cooling liquid later called sumac “lemonade”.  There is a variety of sumac in the western U.S. known as lemonade sumac because it was so commonly used to make the beverage.

Gary Paul Nabhan has stated he prefers the red ripe berries of lemonade sumac to stale Middle Eastern spice and Tama Matsuoka Wong says staghorn sumac is less toasty and more citrusy than smooth sumac (also red drupes).  “It even retains its red color when dried, providing an appetizing pop of color when sprinkled over foods with insipid hues of beige and cream”.

“Staghorn sumac, Dwarf sumac, as well as Smooth sumac may all be used; however, be certain that you are gathering densely clustered berry-like RED fruits, not the white ones of poison sumac”.  Staghorn sumac has bristly hairs on the drupes and branches.  It is native to North America.

Middle Eastern countries enjoyed the flavor of sumac as much as the American Indians having gathered wild red sumac for countless generations.

  

Sumac is mixed with other ingredients, usually sesame seeds and thyme, to make a spice called za’atar.

Edible varieties, “all have red berries”.  “The acid berries of these shrubs [sumac] are eaten by Indians and occasionally by whites, and a rather pleasant beverage can be made from at least some of them.  Their slender twigs are very important in basketry work among the Indians…”.

Elias Yanovsky wrote that the Indians crushed the fruit to make cooling drinks, ate the fruit, and peeled fresh roots which were eaten raw.  He documented the drying of the fruit for use in winter.

Numerous sources note Native Americans combined sumac with tobacco for smoking and settlers and hunters took up the practice as well.  Blends called kinnikinnick were prepared in a myriad of ways.  The blends sometimes included the inner bark of dogwood, bearberry, and even poke leaves.   As late as the early 20^th century, the practice continued.  One magazine published a claim saying smoking the dried leaves would relieve the symptoms of asthma.  “Gather the green leaves while fresh, dry them, and smoke in a common clay pipe”.

During the late Victorian era into the early 20^th century sumac gathering helped ease the financial burden for many country families.  Men, women, and children would camp out, pulling sumac leaves by day and singing, playing music, telling stories, or visiting about the campfire as supper cooked in the evening.  The sumac was sold to sumac mills that ground it into powder and sold it to be used in tanning leather or dyeing fabric.

Sumac berries produce a nice red color when dyeing cotton and were used in combination with other dyestuffs to produce different colors.  “To dye Olive for wool.  For 5 pounds goods [wool yarn] take 2 pounds fustic and a little sumac; boil them ½ hour in water sufficient for the goods, then add this to 5 ounces logwood with 10 ounces alum and 4 ounces madder, and enter the goods and boil 1 hour.  Cool and darken with 5 ounces copperas.”

Sumac tea and “sumac-ade” are made by crushing the berries and soaking them in hot or cold water.  The flavor becomes strong when boiled due to the release of tannins.  It is advisable to strain a sumac beverage through cheesecloth to remove stray seeds and fuzz that comes off the drupes.

To make sumac spice, gather the red sumac berry clusters before rain washes the flavor out of the hair-like covering on the berries.   It may be a good idea to let them dry in a warm place overnight, especially if you plan to keep the sumac spice for some time.  Separate the berries from the stems.  Put the berries through a food processor until the red powder is separated from the seed.  Use a colander or strainer to separate the red powder from the seeds.  Discard the seeds.  A cup of berries will produce maybe 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of sumac spice.  For a blend, add dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, lightly toasted sesame seed, and grind together.

Readers may wonder how sumac spice is used.  The sumac powder or the spice blend is rubbed onto meat prior to cooking or sprinkled on at table.  Various cultures put it on fish, kebabs, vegetables, flatbread, salads, etc.

Cut potatoes into large pieces, drizzle with olive oil, shake on salt, pepper, ground sumac berries, dried or fresh chopped thyme, and crushed garlic.  Toss and roast until tender and browned.  Other vegetables may be used in place of potatoes (zucchini, eggplant, etc).

[Rustic vegetarian quiche made with garden fresh squash and herbs, two cheeses, eggs, bechemel, and seasoned with sumac. Delicious!]

Make a salad of chopped cucumbers, parsley, onion or chopped scallions, sliced radishes, purslane leaves (if available), and tomatoes and dress with lemon juice and/or vinegar, salt, pepper, oil, and ground sumac.  It goes well in chickpea and black bean salad.

Rub your favorite cut of meat, chicken, or fish with oil, season with a dry rub made from ground sumac berries, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.  Chopped parsley and garlic are optional per taste.  Roast or grill until done.  Sprinkle it on seafood.

If you like the flavor, possibilities are almost endless in what you can do with sumac.  Mix the sumac spice blend with good olive oil and eat with pita or bread.  Mix the spice blend into hummus dip.  Add sumac to homemade pasta dough.  Make baked or grilled kafta (or meatballs) and season with the spice or blend.

Season lentil soup/stew; roasted chickpeas; dolmas (stuffed grape leaves); make sumac jelly as a substitute for cranberry sauce; combine sumac berries and water and place in the sunshine for an upgraded sun tea; combine mixed nuts, sumac spice, cumin, coriander, salt, pinch of pepper and chili powder with 2 tablespoons of oil or coconut oil and roast them; add it to rice, use it in marinades, or make a salad of quinoa and lentils and dress with oil, vinegar, and sumac spice or blend.

Last but not least, I can’t end this without the gardener in me mentioning how easy it is to grow sumac, almost too easy.  It spreads from suckers that grow around the bush and can quickly get out of hand if left unattended.  Sumac can be controlled by mowing it, digging, or pulling up the suckers but any gardener who seriously doesn’t want something that might be hard to control might consider planting it in a large pot or containing it by putting down a root barrier a foot or so deep around the area where it is planted.  If you don’t want to dig and transplant it from the wild it can be ordered online.

© Copyright 2017.  Please do not reprint or redistribute without the author’s permission. A lot of time and effort goes into my research.  Thank you.

Bib:

Yanovsky, Elias.  “Food Plants of the North American Indians”.  Dept. of Agriculture.  July 1936.

“Audubon”.  Vol. 22.  Jan.-Feb., 1920.

“Boys’ Life”.  May 1966.

“Harper’s Young People”.  1879/80.  Vol. 1.  Oct. 19, 1880.

“Vegetarian Times”.  Oct. 1981.

“Country Life”.  Vol. 35.  March 1919.

Dayton, William Adams.  “Important Western Browse Plants”.  Washington, D.C.  1931.

Saunders, Charles Francis.  “Useful Wild Plants in the United States and Canada”.  NY.  1920.

“Farmers’ Bulletin”.  Washington, D. C.  Feb. 1951.

Nabham, Gary Paul.  “Cumin, Camels, and Caravans:  A Spice Odyssey”.  2014.

Nordahl, Darrin.  “Eating Appalachia”.  2015.

Owens, Frances Emugene.  “Mrs. Owens’ New Cook Book and Household Manual”.   Chicago.  1899.

“The National Druggist”.  1919.

Chapple, Joe Mitchell.  “National Magazine”.  Vol. 21.  March 1905.

Hodge, Frederick Webb.  “Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico”.  1912. ©

Thistle Salad Days©

The title of this post came from “Blackwood’s Magazine” Feb. 1895.  “…the French public was browsing the thistles of the Vicomte d’Arlincourt, or of ‘Lord R’Hoone’ (otherwise Honoré de Balzac himself in his thistle-salad days)…”.  Yes, gentle reader, salads are made from peeled thistle stalks and they can be cooked as well.

This caught my eye as I’ve been slowly compiling an encyclopedia of the history of salads (cooked, raw, and everything in between) over the past few years and because there are thistles growing in our field.  To eradicate them, or to eat them, that is the question.

One needn’t worry about identifying a species of thistle before consuming it as all are said to be edible.  Although it may be too hot for them to flourish, I’ve purchased seed to add cardoon to my perennial garden and cardoon is simply a cultivated thistle grown for its celery-like stems rather than its flower head.  The plant is usually covered with hay to render the stems white and tender, and they are eaten just as wild thistles are in the references below.  Depending on what is available, either will work in the same manner and cardoon can be found in cans or jars in specialty food stores for those who prefer to skip the thorns and go straight to the dining room.

Historians date the cultivation of cardoon to the days of Pliny and some think modern artichokes then evolved from cardoon about the 15^th century.

One might assume the eating of thistle stalks was learned from Native Americans, but given the accounts of them being eaten in England, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and other countries from at least the Middle Ages, proves the thistle is one of those basic resources that evolved simultaneously throughout much of the world.  “Nothing to eat, starving and weak; we followed the example of the squaw, in eating the inner portion of large thistle-stalks”.  – “Travels in the Far Northwest, 1839-1846”.

English cooks and 19^th century cookbook writers point out that applying fresh lemon juice to the peeled stalks will prevent them from turning dark.  Acidulated water, the term often used, is water with lemon juice into which the pieces can be placed for this purpose.

“Both the milk thistle and the blessed thistle were used by our ancestors, the former as a vegetable and the latter as a tonic, and Evelyn, in his ‘Acetaria’ [1699], says that to a salad of thistle leaves ‘the late Morocco Ambassador and his retinue were very partial.’  The leaves of the milk thistle shorn of their prickles were not only an ordinary ingredient in a salad, but they were also boiled’, and Tryon says of them, ‘they are very wholesome and exceed all other greens in taste’.  They were added to pottages, baked in pies, like artichoke bottoms, and fried.  Culpepper advises one to ‘cut off the prickles, unless you have a mind to choke yourself’, but in olden days both the scales and the roots were eaten.  The young stalks, peeled, were eaten both fresh and boiled.”  Rohde, Eleanor.  “A Garden of Herbs”.  1922.

In 1828, John Loudon included thistle-stalks in a list of culinary vegetables from the open garden.  Were these the common thistle, or were they the more refined garden cardoon?  “An Encyclopaedia of Gardening”.

John Young was definitely eating wild thistles when he wrote in his memoirs in 1847, “For several months we had no bread, Beef, milk, pig-weeds, segoes [sego lilies], and thistles formed our diet.  I was the herd boy, and while out watching the stock, I used to eat thistle stalks until my stomach would be as full as a cow’s”.  – Young, John R.  “Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer”.  1847.

“Good Housekeeping”, Oct. 1891, contained an article called Cajun Housekeeping”, in which the author said, “Tender thistle stalks she cooks as one would asparagus, and they are just as good-then no adverse fate ever cuts short the thistle crop”.  I suppose if my asparagus bed fails to thrive, I may depend upon its wild substitute to supply us with this favorite.

MILK THISTLE STALKS.  The young stalks about May being peeled and soaked in water to extract the bitterness, boiled or raw are a very wholesome sallet eaten with oyl, salt and pepper.  Boil them in water with a little salt till they are very soft and so let them dry to drain.  They are eaten with fresh butter melted not too thin and this a delicate and wholesome dish.  Other stalks of the same kind may be so treated as the Bur being tender and disarmed of its prickles.  – Evelyn, John.  “Acetaria”.  1699.

CARDOON SALAD.  1885.  Jules Harder removed the leaves from the stalks, cooked them, and then peeled them.  “Then cut them in scallops an inch long and drain them on a napkin.  Put them in a salad bowl and season them with salt and pepper.  Then chop two cloves of garlic very fine and put them in a frying pan with a little sweet oil.  Fry them [garlic] lightly (not letting them get brown), and add immediately some bell peppers chopped fine, and some vinegar.  Then let them boil up for two minutes and pour the dressing over the Cardoons, mixing them well together, and then serve.”  – “The Physiology of Taste”.

CARDOON SALAD.  Jeanette Norton.  “Mrs. Norton’s Cookbook”.  1917.

The salad made of cardoons is rather unusual.  These French thistles should be drained from the can and allowed to marinate for half hour in French dressing to which a little onion juice has been added.  Drain, add good mayonnaise, and lay on white lettuce leaves garnished with the sweet pickled cucumber rings that come in bottles for the purpose.  Toasted whole wheat crackers with melted cheese on them go nicely with this salad.  This will serve four people.