|
June 2004
These
plants grow everywhere!! I just let some go to seed and there will always
be more coming to add some early color to the spring garden! And then a second
round that resseds itself and starts to bloom about now.
Companion
Planting Tip:
Borage is a good companion plant for strawberries, tomatoes and squash. It
deters tomato worms, while it attracts bees, helping the growth and flavor
of your edibles while upping yields due to increased pollination.
May
2002
Well,
I can't remember if I actually planted this one or not. I don't
think I did. I think it might have resulted from a wildflower
seed packet planting from 2 years ago. but wow! When this came
up in the beginning of this year it was a huge surprise and
it definitely hit me instantly as one of the coolest looking
plants I've ever seen. I had no idea what it was, so I had to
look and look until I figured out what it was from finding a
picture of Borage in a Seeds of Change catalog!
Borage
is a culinary herb with a light cucumber scent. Popular in Central
Europe, it is included in salads prepared from raw vegetables
and sometimes used to make pureed soups. Boiling, frying and
simmering will, however, quickly destroy most of its characteristic
fragrance.When steeped in water, borage leaves impart a coolness
to it and the faint cucumber flavor, compounded with lemon and
sugar in wine or water makes it a refreshing and restorative
summer drink, or a great garnish for other summer drinks or
a tomato soup/gazspacho dish. You can even freeze the blossoms
in ice cubes -- a simple and festive way to cool down summer
beverages. The Romans liked to sprinkle fresh flowers into a
goblet of wine, believing this would drive away sadness. In
fact, in the past, Borage was often an ingredient added to tankards
of wine and cider. Charles Dickens himself was supposedly quite
fond of borage punch- a rather potent concoction of sherry,
brandy, apple cider, lemon, sugar and borage flowers. Even today,
borage is still largely used in claret cup. Its flowers will
also yield an excellent honey. Borage makes an excellent facial
steam for improving very dry, sensitive skin and the flowers
may be dried to add color to potpourri, but will not dry well
to be used in a culinary capacity. Still, the uses for thefresh
herb are pretty extensive.
One
of the most well known recipes using this herb is a German sauce,
generally referred to as the Frankfurt Green Sauce. The recipe
is at least 2000 years old: Roman Legionaires brought it from
the Orient into its homeland, and from this time on the Romans
ate the green Kraeutersauce. The sauce made its way to Frankfurt
around 1700, via the Italian commercial gentlemen Bolongaro
and Crevenna, who did not want to be also in their wahlheimat
at the Main without their favourite meal. The sauce, which its
cooks prepared here, was naturally not completely identical
to the domestic, because they had to use herbs from the local
markets. (see sidebar for recipe instructions)
Its
delicate, star-shaped ice blue colored flowers, drought resistancy,
and huge willingness to reseed itself and come up year after
year in the same spot make this a really unique, wonderful plant
to have in the garden, especially here in So. CA where it brightened
up my garden starting in late winter and as of this writing
is still going strong.
Return
to Herb
Index
|
