| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Boris |
Marsh samphireI dont live near the sea, but like Marsh samphire. Thinking I was buying a plant I accidently got a few rock samphire, at vast expense. Only one survived but is soldiering on................I wouls like to plant my own marsh samphire( glasswort) does anyone know where I can buy a plant? Alternatively I live about 50 miles away from Chichester, if anyone knows anywhere there where its prolific. If it is is it illegal to uproot a plant to take home? Pam 
|
||
| lettucewoman |
I think it probably is illegal to uproot it...we have loads here on the south coast salt marshes, but we just harvest it in small quantities for personal use only...
http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/ sell plants... 
|
||
| zigs |
Its illegal to uproot any wild plant without the landowners permission. Saying that, most fishmongers sell it roots and all. Its usually about £5 a bunch.
Samphire or glasswort is unlikely to survive unless you can mimic the salinity of an estuary and the tides. Most estuaries will have it growing, its a bit early yet, give it another month or so. I take scissors with me and just nip out the central stem, leaving side shoots to flower and reproduce. When i first picked our local estuary about 10 years ago, there was only a small patch, now it grows all the way along. Rock samphire tastes like fennel & is a member of the carrot family |
||
| Minamoo |
I picked loads of Rock samphire last week while on honeymoon in Cornwall. It is such delicious stuff. We had the little baby shoots raw with barbequed mackerel that we'd caught just that morning. Absolute heaven. 
|
||
| zigs |
Sounds like a very foragy honeymoon, congratulations by the way and all the best for an eco friendly future.
Went to the estuary today on the way back from equally unsuccsesful bass fishing & horse poo gathering. The samphire is only about an inch high, give it another month at least. |
||
| toggle |
well done. i know a few places up the way from me where it grows, but i'm a tad wary of picking it up there. I know some of the older people round here say they used to brush the arsenic dust off fruit before eating it, but i know what was discharged into the rivers round here and the beach has black glass on it, presumably from the lead smelting works. i know that was closed down a long while back, but i still worry. |
||
| bubble |
got a lovely lot of samphire, sea beet and fennel at Burnham Overy Staithe,about 6 ins long ,nice and young a lovely flavour. | ||
| toggle |
sulks. | ||
| zigs |
On the parrett ? Nice one |
||
| wildfoodie |
Hi Boris,
you could try growing salcola, aka agretti. The texture is pretty similar altho nowhere near as salty as samphire. but it does grow in the veg patch which is helpful
I got my seed from realseeds.co.uk and have a few left to sow in a month or so - apparently the italians like to grow it for overwintering. have to say my spring sowing achieved barely 10% germination rate - I'm probably doing something wrong. |