Alexanders

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NorthernMonkeyGirl	Alexanders What do they taste like? Are they worth growing? Can they do soggy clay soil? My mouse is hovering over "add to cart"
dpack	quite nice when young not sure about soil but they seem to like damp ive seen more in the south than in the north so temp etc might be an issue
Mistress Rose	They are a weed round Corfe Castle, but although we don't have dissimilar soil, I have never seen them locally in the south of England.
sean	I wouldn't bother to grow them. We've spent years developing better vegetables/herbs. They're OK as an occasional forage.
Bodger	We have them all over the place on our land and have spent the last twenty odd years trying to get rid of them. They are very persistent.
NorthernMonkeyGirl	I think perhaps I shan't bother
robkb	I've grown them on my allotment which is pretty heavy and damp over winter. As to taste, see Sean's comment.
Finsky	I have got some seeds for you if you want to have a go growing from 'scratch'. I would say it is for acquired taste...if you like celery you might like it..taste is kind of similar but much stronger. Celery...yuck!...I am able to have little as fresh 'herb' in my food but it is too much for my taste as main ingredient. I actually prefer it dried.. added into winter soups
DorsetScott	They are a weed round Corfe Castle, but although we don't have dissimilar soil, I have never seen them locally in the south of England.

Where you based Mistress Rose? Remember they tend to stay within a mile or 2 of the sea. There's LOADS of them Bournemouth way.

Taste depends on which bit you eat to be fair. Stems are "interesting", roots are quite nice a seeds are good for a garnish. Plus cooking time changes the taste of the stems. And you can candy them rather than eat as a veg.
I'd recommend being VERY sure of what it is if you're going to forage to try though. I watched my patch for 2 years before I picked any!!! Possibly excessive but I don't mess around with umbilifers.

vegplot

We have them all over the place on our land and have spent the last twenty odd years trying to get rid of them. They are very persistent.

Likewise. Pain in the neck. Mistress Rose

About 10 miles from the nearest inlet of a harbour and 15 from the sea proper. I didn't realise they were a maritime plant; that would account for it. sean

I think I remember something about them becoming more widespread as a result of grit/salt being spread on roads in winter. dpack

I'd recommend being VERY sure of what it is if you're going to forage to try though. I watched my patch for 2 years before I picked any!!! Possibly excessive but I don't mess around with umbilifers.

seconded ,i do forage some umbels but only after long study and i will never pick ones i dont know really well

some of the toxic ones are easy to recognise some are very like edible ones and taste is not a good way to decide ( the most toxic one has a pleasant parsley flavour)

out of about 70 uk species i recon 7 are well deadly in smallish(less than a salad )amounts, a couple will off you as a garnish

so i spose with random picking you have a fair chance of 9 dinners

somewhere in the ds vaults is an excellent article cab wrote on them NorthernMonkeyGirl

"Everything is edible, but some things are only edible once"

Laughing

NorthernMonkeyGirl

I have got some seeds for you if you want to have a go growing from 'scratch'.
I would say it is for acquired taste...if you like celery you might like it..taste is kind of similar but much stronger.
Celery...yuck!...I am able to have little as fresh 'herb' in my food but it is too much for my taste as main ingredient. I actually prefer it dried.. added into winter soups Very Happy

The seeds have landed. I like the envelope! Laughing

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Hey, are these wild angelica? (Finsky knows why this is relevant Laughing

)

The bobbly shape to the flower head seems to match, and I haven't seen that shape on other stuff?

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