Friday, October 16, 2009

A Gift of Red Orach seeds

I am so excited to receive the Red Orach (Atriplex hortensis) seeds sent to me in the mail from blogger pal Telsing in Ottawa. (Thank You!)Made my day. I haven't grown Orach before - it will get a primo spot in the veggie patch in the Spring. So far I have learned that this beautiful plant will produce spinach-like leaves, and is an 'enthusiastic self-sower". This is from The Produce Hunter: Native to Europe and Siberia, RED ORACH is considered to be one of the world's oldest cultivated plants. It has been used as a pot herb since the 1500s, and was listed in a well-known seed catalog in 1815. Also known as Mountain Spinach, RED ORACH's beautiful leaves make wonderful salad greens and can be used like spinach or chard or stuffed like little cabbage leaves. The flavor is similar to chard, but it is much prettier!http://www.theproducehunter.com/index.htm Orach is often used in edible landscaping as it is such a beauty - it grows 3 - 5 feet tall and colours range from deep purple to magenta http://www.flickr.com/photos/10348212@N07/2229163898/ Already looking forward to next Spring!

3 comments:

  1. Very pretty indeed ! I'm still in the process of selecting next year's crops. So much variety makes it hard to choose ! Looks very interesting, I'll see if I can squeeze it in.

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  2. With a name like gumboot goddess I had to come on over and see what you are all about.

    This red orach, is it like red shisho? I think that's how it is spelled.

    Ah, I envy you your garlic. Can't wait until we get a garden that is big enough. I am thinking maybe a acre or two of garlic. LOL.

    Jen

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  3. Hello,
    it's OK that you use my photo, but you might consider linking to
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/10348212@N07/2229163898/
    Continue your great blogging :-)

    ReplyDelete