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Stacey

Is this burdock?


sean

Jamanda says yes. And that it'll get a lot bigger than that.
Stacey

Hurrah!!!

I want to make some dandelion and burdock beer but I didn't think I'd ever see any burdock. Turns out I have loads of it in the top field Cool

The sheep don't like it Sad
Rob R

Pigs don't like it either judging by the amount of it Nick has in his pig pen. It seems to be difficult to get anything to eat thistles though. Having said that I slashed & wilted the thistles & nettles over the old muck heap & the Highlands & Dexters have completed devoured the lot last night. Smile
gil

Prepare for it to grow to about 6' high
Tay

Although I like the dandelion and burdock beverage, I hate this darned plant; impossibly long roots which prefer to break than come out.
wellington womble

Ugh - that's what I've been hoiking out of the raised beds. It's bloody unkillable. Have to track down some D and B and see if I like it. If I do the stuff will all die. If I don't it will remain unkillable!
Rob R

Ray Mears roasted it (the root) the other week as a vegetable.
hedgehogpie

It's also used to make a very popular condiment pickle in Japan, which is why I want to grow some (and probably the only other person here apart from Stacey who wants to engourage it!).
cab

Looks awfully like burdock. Would help to say for absolute 100% sure if there was a closeup of the leaf and leaf stalk.

The leaf stalks can be scraped to get the skin off, then steamed and eaten. Lovely. And the root is a really gorgeous vegetable, harvested in the first year before it goes to seed.

For the Japanese vegetable theres a named variety 'takinogawa', if memory serves, which is more scrummy than the normal wild sort.
Stacey

The leaves have a furry bottom and the stalks are hollow if that helps
cab

Stacey wrote:
The leaves have a furry bottom and the stalks are hollow if that helps


Sounds promising Smile
hedgehogpie

Thanks for that Cab, I'll have to see whether I can get hold of some seed for it. I don't suppose you (or anyone else for that matter) knows of a recipe for pickling it Japanese style?
hedgehogpie

Very Happy Cool! Nicky's Seeds* has some.

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/altsal.htm
cab

I got seeds from Nickys a couple of years ago, it grew very well. Only problem was that the roots are so big and go so far down, they are the very devil to get out!

Never done a Japanese pickle with it, but its lovely cooked simply; scrub clean, parboil, slice into little sticks, and stirfry. When its young then the roots can be cooked without such treatment, when they're older then the parboiling helps. Distinctive, quite strong flavour.
Nell Merionwen

it's a good diuretic and a good blood purifier. however not so good for the garden as the root is so big it saps a lot of the nutrients from the soil. however it can seem a nightmare to get rid of. my fool proof method is to wait untill it is about to flower and cut it down. this will stop the seeds from dropping, let it dry and then the roots come out really easily by comparison. the other option is to cut it down and pour boiling water into the hollow stem. this will kill the root but is only about 75% effective
Nell Merionwen

just reread thread, seems not everyone wants to get rid of it Embarassed
i have it growing rife in the gardens at work, if you want i can cut and dry for you
gil

I think burdock leaf tea is disgusting. Tried it a couple of times as a blood purifier; didn;t get any better.
Nell Merionwen

add honey, lots and lots and lots of honey lol Laughing . also helps to take the lighter top leaves as they are fresher and slightly less bitter. but yes it is disgusting! puke_l
cab

Whats a 'blood purifier'?
skedone

wow thats the first time i have ever seen a link for nickys seeds i love that place its amazing
Mary-Jane

Rob R wrote:
Ray Mears roasted it (the root) the other week as a vegetable.


This is not a recommendation. Ray Mears would roast an old satchel strap as a vegetable... Rolling Eyes
skedone

and it tastes nice lol
cab

skedone wrote:
wow thats the first time i have ever seen a link for nickys seeds i love that place its amazing


She's been mentioned here dozens of times, its a great site for finding some of the more odd vegetable seeds.
bologna1767

I like the pickeled burdock, but am even more fond of it in stews and hearty soups...

oh, and as a japanese side dish: kinpira gobo. kinpira is the preparation style and gobo= brudock... here's a link to a recipe:

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/vegetable/r/kinpiragobo.htm
hedgehogpie

Superb, thank you for that. Very Happy
wildfoodie

hmm, been scattering burdock seed around my garden for a couple of years now... this year I have 2 or three patches of first and second year plants. hope I don't regret that!
I really like it as a vegetable, tho agree the leaves are rank.
in my earlier wild food teaching days I tried young burdock leaf, found it quite tasty and so demo'ed it at an introduction to wild foods day I was running for the national trust.... I can still remember the faces of those poor, unsuspecting people after sampling...
Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed

the books say young stems are good (as per Cab's earlier post on this thread,) but I've tried the flower stems ( unopened flower bud stage )and they were very tender, and not too bitter. I'm going to check the flavour of my garden burdock flower stems - burdock stem flavour seems quite variable from different plants - some have a 'medicinal' quality that even lashings of butter and seasoning don't easily disguise.
I'm wondering if this is to do with the nutrient uptake or how much sun the plant gets. burdock stems growing in dappled sunlit spots seem to have the best flavour to me, tho I've not done a proper taste trial yet.

burdock root chips are pretty good too.
slice your cleaned and peeled burdock root, blanche in boiling water for 3-5 mins, then stir fry and season.
yum!

Very Happy
dpack

yum
sarahloo

I tried to grow Burdock last year from wild seed and this year from bought seed and failed both times : (
cab

sarahloo wrote:
I tried to grow Burdock last year from wild seed and this year from bought seed and failed both times : (


I wonder howcome... I've found its best to start off early in Spring, seeds in pots, and plant out. It can otherwise get a little lost in weeds on my allotment Smile
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