Yes, you can eat daylilies!

 

Daylilies have been cultivated for over four thousand years beginning in China where they were popular for food and medicine. They were imported into Europe around the 16th century mostly for their ornamental value. Nowadays, we hardly even think of them as food. Each flower blooms for a day and then it's gone. What a shame to let them go to waste when they could be eaten.

Daylily blossoms can be enjoyed raw, steamed, dried, stir-fried and deep-fried in tempura batter. Serve them with noodles, rice and with other mixed vegetables.

Not only are the flowers edible, but all parts of the plant are succulent as well. Daylily leaves and tubers can be chopped and stir-fried along with mushrooms, squash, onions and many other vegetables. Daylilies aren’t only for summer eating when the flowers are produced. The tuberous roots can be harvested any time of year. Collect them when you dig the overgrown clumps to divide them.

With the rising cost of food and shortages of some items, thanks to the ineptitude of our politicians, you might be looking for something new and affordable to add to your table. Does your unreasonable HOA not allow you to grow a vegetable garden in your front yard? Grow edible flowers. If you forage in the footsteps of Euell Gibbons, add daylilies to your basket. You may find the common ditch lily (Hemerocallis fulva) growing wild in fields and, um, ditches. (Make sure you rinse them well.)

Hemerocallis fulva growing roadside

A few words of caution are in order. As with any food, some folks might have sensitivities or allergies. Nibble at first with caution. In addition, know that we’re discussing daylilies (Hemerocallis), not true lilies (Lilium species). You shouldn’t get them confused.

Hemerocallis

 

Lilium

The folks at Prepsteaders.com produced a fine video a few years ago titled How To Eat Daylilies. Christa Swartz did a very good presentation. I recommend it. So, enjoy the video, then order some daylilies. 

 

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Is "pot liquor" good for plants?

Vegetables for cooking in water

Q. I read at an organic gardening web site that vegetable water is really good for plants. Is that true?

A. This strikes me funny because vegetable water is often known as "pot liquor" or "pot likker." But I'll comment on that later.

Well, it appears the advisor is talking about water left over from boiling or steaming vegetables. If the water has cooled, it should be good. Don't pour hot water on your desirable plants. But why don't you use the vegetable water for yourself?

• You can drink it when it has cooled enough;
• You can mix it in your Bloody Veggie;
• You can add it to smoothies;
• You can use it as vegetable broth.

Where I come from, people who actually drink the vegetable water are considered desperate, and derisively called "pot lickers" or "pot likkers." But most everyone does it nowadays. Not just here.

If you have anything left after the smoothies and broths, give the rest to your plants. They should respond well.

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The Secret Is Oregano

ANDY - That certainly is delicious spaghetti, Mrs. Sprague, especially that sauce of yours.

MRS. SPRAGUE - Oh, thank you, Andrew. It's something of a secret recipe handed down through five generations of the Sprague family.

ANDY - Oh, a secret. Oh, well, whatever it is in there it certainly is tantalizing.

MRS. SPRAGUE - I really shouldn't tell you, Andrew, but it's a Greek spice called oregano.

ANDY - Oh, well, who in the world would ever think of putting oregano in a sauce?

HOWARD - That's what makes it a secret recipe, Andy.

-The Andy Griffith Show, Dinner At Eight, Episode 206

With Aunt Bee and Opie out of town, Goober stops by Andy's house to keep him company and to fix a spaghetti dinner, seasoned with a secret ingredient: oregano. Half-way through dinner, Goober remembers that he forgot to give Andy two messages, but can't remember what they were. One was from Howard Sprague, the other from Helen Crump. Dimly recalling, he sends Andy to Howard's for another dinner. Surprised by his visit, the Spragues put dinner back on the table and Andy is served spaghetti again. But Goober got it wrong. Afterward, Andy gets an angry call from Helen that he's one hour late for dinner. Again, it's spaghetti with a secret ingredient: oregano.

Popular since ancient times, oregano is no secret. It's a perennial herb, native to the Mediterranean region, with various species and subspecies indigenous to Kyrgyzstan, Italy and Greece, Crete and Turkey, and Syria. The most popular is Origanum vulgare, pronounced or-RI-gan-um vul-GAIR-ee. Oregano is commonly used, not only in spaghetti sauces, but in cuisines typical of most Mediterranean countries. Flavors vary somewhat by species and quality. Generally, oregano is more flavorful when dried than fresh.

Hippocrates is quoted as saying, "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." It shouldn't come as a suprise that oregano has been valued as a medicinal herb. Hippocrates, himself, valued it as an antiseptic. Perhaps this is the reason that oregano was originally used as a food additive. It combats Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne pathogen associated with milk, cheese, raw meats and even raw vegetables. Hippocrates wouldn't have known about Listeria, but the ancients certainly observed that some herbs helped to preserve foods and made them safer to eat. It's no wonder that the tastes of foods and associated herbs should become so inextricably linked.

Oregano has also been used to treat sore throats, stomach ailments and bronchial problems. As a poultice, it is said to relieve muscle aches and sprains. It's also known to be a powerful antioxidant.

Oregano grows as a low, sometimes creeping herb. Mature height is 6 inches to 12 inches, and spreads up to 18 inches. Showy pinkish-purple flowers appear mid-summer to early fall. It grows quickly and thrives in sun, though it appreciates afternoon shade in hot climates. It is drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant and tolerates foot traffic. Oregano thrives in USDA climate zones 4 to 9. It tolerates a wide variety of soil types with pH ranging from 6.1 to 8.5.

Before planting, test your soil. Your nearby Cooperative Extension Service can help you for a nominal fee. Follow the recommendations from the test results. If your soil is not friable, cultivate it 8 inches to 10 inches deep. Add amendments. Space the plants from 12 inches to 18 inches apart.

Oregano is excellent for container gardens, fragrance gardens, kitchen gardens and medicinal gardens, and as a ground cover. Golden oregano is one of the most attractive. If you enjoy watching butterflies, oregano will attract them.

Here is a recipe for pasta sauce I think you'll enjoy. The secret, of course, is oregano.

Ingredients  

    1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
    3 garlic cloves, minced
    5 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
    1 small onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
    8 ounces black olives, sliced
    1/2 teaspoon dried cayenne pepper flakes
    1 cup dry white wine
    32 ounces low-sodium (salt) tomato juice
    1 teaspoon dried basil
    1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
    2 tablespoons honey
    1 teaspoon anchovy paste
    Salt and black pepper to taste
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

    In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium-high, add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to turn golden.  Add the peppers and onion and cook until they are soft and browning at the edges. Add the olives and crushed cayenne pepper. Pour in the wine, stir and cook for 1 minute.
    Add the tomato juice, basil, oregano, honey, salt and pepper. Stir in anchovy paste. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to medium. Cook until the liquid is reduced and the sauce is thickened. Stir in fresh parsley. Serve with pasta.

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Herbal Oils Help To Preserve The Bounty Of Your Garden

What do you do when you have more herbs to harvest in your garden than you can deal with?  You can eat a lot, dry them, freeze them or make herbal oils.  Each of those present you with more options, but let's think about herbal oils.

I've tried a few, and so have you.  They might have been purchased, received as gifts, or rubbed on by your masseuse.  I can't remember a single one that wasn't delightful.  The not-so-secret secret is that you can make them yourself.  Herbal oils help to preserve the bounty of your garden, are wonderful for cooking, easy to make, attractive on the shelf, and make great gifts.

There are a gazillion-willion possible ingredients and uses for herbal oils.  I can't begin to present specific recipes and applications for you to try, so I'll stick to the basics.  For the sake of simplicity, let's make cayenne pepper oil.

You'll need a sterilized bottle and cap or stopper, dried red peppers that are small enough to fit through the bottle-neck, and oil.  As I mentioned in my article, Pesto Is The Solution..., nothing preserves the essence of fresh herbs like olive oil.  But olive oil isn't the best oil for every occasion.  In fact, lighter oils and those with less pronounced flavor tend to highlight the taste of the herbs.  For sake of economy and usefulness, start with canola oil.  It's healthy and versatile.

Here are the steps:

• Gather a few small dried red peppers.  Six or eight will do.  If you don't have any on hand, you can purchase some from your local grocery store.  You'll find them among the spices or in the Mexican food section.
• Sterilize your bottle.  After sterilizing, let them drain and dry. 
• Place the peppers on a cutting board and whack them a little bit to bruise them.  I use a small meat tenderizing hammer.  Just break the skin; don't pound them to pieces.
• Stuff the peppers in the bottle.
• Heat the oil in a small stainless steel saucepan on low temperature until it's a little warm.
• Pour the oil into the bottle.
• Let the contents cool.
• Close the bottle tightly with a lid or cork.
• Set the bottle aside in a cool place away from light for about a week. 
• Use it.

You may be asking, "How shall I use this pepper oil?"  The answer is that you should use it as you would for any recipe that requires some oil and hot pepper.  You can also use it for vinaigrettes with a touch of heat.

You may be asking, "How long will this oil last?"  Your homemade oil won't last as long as commercially processed herbal oils.  It should be good for a couple of months.  If you remove the peppers from the oil, it will last longer.  The reason is that the peppers, though dried, still contain a little water. If the water weren't there, your peppers would be dust or less.  Water harbors life-giving fluid for little creatures that can spoil your oil.  But if you remove the peppers from the oil, your bottle won't look so pretty.  "What to do?"  Use it or refrigerate it.  If you have trouble using a larger bottle of oil, make your herbal oils in smaller batches and store in smaller bottles.

There are many different oils to choose from.  Canola, peanut, safflower and sunflower are good choices.  Remember what I said before about lighter-tasting oils highlighting herbal flavors.

Popular herbs and spices for oil infusions include basil, bay, cayenne, chives, cilantro, dill, garlic, mint, marjoram, oregano, peppercorn, rosemary, savory, tarragon, and thyme.  For massage oils, consider eucalyptus, lavender and dried citrus peels.  Experiment with different combinations.  You'll have great fun.

Herbal oils make lovely gifts.  Attractive bottles enhance the appearance.  You can also decorate the bottles by dipping the necks in colored wax, applying descriptive labels in calligraphy, wrapping with attractive fabric, tying with ribbon or raffia.  A gift card including a suggested recipe will be appreciated.  The recipients may think their gifts are too beautiful to use, but remind them that the herbal oil won't last forever.

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Pesto Is The Solution To A Bumper Crop of Basil

Last fall, our friend, Donna McKenna, dropped off a couple of large plastic garbage bags filled with fresh basil plants.  Someone had given more of their bumper crop than they could use themselves.  They were pulling up the rest.  Donna used as much as she could, sold some at the local farmers' market, and still had bushels of basil.

Even though we grow our own herbs, we were glad to get her leftovers.  But we couldn't possibly use so much basil at once, so I set about making lots of pesto.  I reasoned that it would be a better alternative than freezing or drying the raw herb.  Nothing preserves the flavor of fresh herbs like olive oil.

If you are growing basil in your garden, try my recipe for pesto with a Southern twist:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed tightly
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (authentic Italian pesto contains pine nuts)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Equipment: A food processor or blender.  If using a blender, make sure the lid has an opening on top so ingredients can be added without removing the entire lid.

Procedure:

Put the basil and nuts in the blender, make sure the lid is secure, and give the machine a few short bursts (pulses) of power. Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.  This gets the basil chopped a little, but not too much.

Slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream while the blender is on.  Everything should be well mixed and chopped.  Add the grated cheese and pulse some more.  Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.  Taste the mixture.  Remember that the cheese adds a little salt.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.

This will give you about 1 cup.  Needless to say, I made a lot more than that.

I spooned the pesto into little plastic containers with lids, about 1/3 cup capacity, and put them in the freezer.  I've found that the basil tends to soak up some of the oil, even when frozen, and becomes pasty.  But stirring in a little more oil before using restores the pesto to the right consistency.  Though a year has passed, we still have some in the freezer and it tastes great.

Pesto is wonderful on toast, pasta, vegetables, chicken, veal and pork dishes, to mention a very few.  My favorite is roasted red bell pepper stuffed with feta cheese, pesto spooned over the top, and served warm.  Since we have a bumper crop of red and yellow bell peppers this year, we're eating a lot of them with pesto.

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