Discussion:
Salsify
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Janet
2024-06-21 11:35:37 UTC
Permalink
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.

Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).

Janet
David
2024-06-21 15:04:15 UTC
Permalink
I was taking a look round the delightful "community garden" provided by
Tesco supermarket, and found a weird plant of lovely flowers; label says
it's salsify, which I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers
had gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
Janet
<https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/salsify/grow-your-own>

They seem to be an alternative to carrots and parsnips if you have some
spare time on your hands.

Nice to know if someone has had success.

A bit late to sow this year, apparently.

Cheers



Dave R.
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This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
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Jim the Geordie
2024-06-21 16:02:34 UTC
Permalink
In article <***@mid.individual.net>, ***@btinternet.com
says...
Post by David
I was taking a look round the delightful "community garden" provided by
Tesco supermarket, and found a weird plant of lovely flowers; label says
it's salsify, which I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers
had gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
Janet
<https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/salsify/grow-your-own>
They seem to be an alternative to carrots and parsnips if you have some
spare time on your hands.
Nice to know if someone has had success.
A bit late to sow this year, apparently.
Cheers
Dave R.
Grew it in North Devon many years ago. Treat like carrot in the kitchen.
Not worth the effort IMO
Kohlrabi was much the same
--
Jim the Geordie
Nick Maclaren
2024-06-22 08:14:51 UTC
Permalink
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
Janet
Always glad to oblige :-) Yes. I found it a little tricky, but
well worthwhile when it succeeded. It likes a light soil, and
(like so many other things) is weather-dependent. I no longer
grow it, but do grow scorzonera, which is a perennial but tastes
and is treated the same, though it is no closely related. With
both, put them in salted/acidulated water when you peel them,
as they discolour readily, and reject any already discoloured
sections, which don't taste nice. The sticky latex they ooze
can be removed with white spirit. Salsify tastes a bit better
in most people's views.

And we are very fond of kohl rabi - it makes an excellent crunchy
addition to salads, crudite or something you dip, and is a much
better replacement for cauliflower in things like cauliflower
cheese.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Janet
2024-06-22 17:47:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
Janet
Always glad to oblige :-) Yes. I found it a little tricky, but
well worthwhile when it succeeded. It likes a light soil, and
(like so many other things) is weather-dependent. I no longer
grow it, but do grow scorzonera, which is a perennial but tastes
and is treated the same, though it is no closely related. With
both, put them in salted/acidulated water when you peel them,
as they discolour readily, and reject any already discoloured
sections, which don't taste nice. The sticky latex they ooze
can be removed with white spirit. Salsify tastes a bit better
in most people's views.
Thanks
Post by Nick Maclaren
And we are very fond of kohl rabi - it makes an excellent crunchy
addition to salads, crudite or something you dip, and is a much
better replacement for cauliflower in things like cauliflower
cheese.
I've never tried that either.

Janet
S Viemeister
2024-06-23 05:25:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by Janet
Post by Nick Maclaren
And we are very fond of kohl rabi - it makes an excellent crunchy
addition to salads, crudite or something you dip, and is a much
better replacement for cauliflower in things like cauliflower
cheese.
I've never tried that either.
We like it.
I've grown the usual pale greenish ones, and the red ones.
It's good in soups and stews where you might otherwise use swede, and
shredded raw, can be a nice addition to coleslaw.
Adam Funk
2024-06-24 19:43:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
I've never grown it but we got some in our community veg box recently
--- just the roots, which looked liked dirty sticks. It's a root
vegetable without a very strong taste.

I found out later that one of my relatives in the USA ate a lot of
home-grown salsify in the 1950s.
Nick Maclaren
2024-06-24 21:05:11 UTC
Permalink
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
I've never grown it but we got some in our community veg box recently
--- just the roots, which looked liked dirty sticks. It's a root
vegetable without a very strong taste.
That sounds more like scorzonera. But, in both cases, it doesn't
taste strongly (and not at all like oysters!), but I like it. And
leftover cooked roots are a very good salad when dressed with vinaigrette.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Adam Funk
2024-06-25 11:22:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
I've never grown it but we got some in our community veg box recently
--- just the roots, which looked liked dirty sticks. It's a root
vegetable without a very strong taste.
That sounds more like scorzonera. But, in both cases, it doesn't
taste strongly (and not at all like oysters!), but I like it. And
leftover cooked roots are a very good salad when dressed with vinaigrette.
The sheet that came with the veg box just said "salsify" without the
scientific name; it looked like this

<Loading Image...>

but then quite a few muddy root vegetables probably loook similar!
Nick Maclaren
2024-06-25 17:46:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
I've never grown it but we got some in our community veg box recently
--- just the roots, which looked liked dirty sticks. It's a root
vegetable without a very strong taste.
That sounds more like scorzonera. But, in both cases, it doesn't
taste strongly (and not at all like oysters!), but I like it. And
leftover cooked roots are a very good salad when dressed with vinaigrette.
The sheet that came with the veg box just said "salsify" without the
scientific name; it looked like this
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopodospermum_hispanicum#/media/File:Schwarzwurzeln.jpg>
but then quite a few muddy root vegetables probably loook similar!
That is what is also called scorzonera. Salsify (without a qualifier
like 'black') refers to Tragopogon porrifolius, and looks more like a
skinny parsnip.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Adam Funk
2024-06-26 08:10:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Janet
I was taking a look round the delightful "community
garden" provided by Tesco supermarket, and found a weird
plant of lovely flowers; label says it's salsify, which
I've never seen, grown or eaten. One of the flowers had
gone to a fluffy seedhead which fell off into my hand.
Has anyone grown/eaten salsify, any tips ? (I'm counting
on you, Nick).
I've never grown it but we got some in our community veg box recently
--- just the roots, which looked liked dirty sticks. It's a root
vegetable without a very strong taste.
That sounds more like scorzonera. But, in both cases, it doesn't
taste strongly (and not at all like oysters!), but I like it. And
leftover cooked roots are a very good salad when dressed with vinaigrette.
The sheet that came with the veg box just said "salsify" without the
scientific name; it looked like this
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopodospermum_hispanicum#/media/File:Schwarzwurzeln.jpg>
but then quite a few muddy root vegetables probably loook similar!
That is what is also called scorzonera.
(Well, to complicate matters, there is also a separate genus
Scorzonera.)
Post by Nick Maclaren
Salsify (without a qualifier
like 'black') refers to Tragopogon porrifolius, and looks more like a
skinny parsnip.
It took a bit of searching, but I found a picture of some
T. porrifolius roots:

<https://organicseeds.top/shop/13587/desc/organic-oat-root-seeds>

and I agree --- what I ate a month or so ago looked a lot more like
Pseudopodospermum hispanicum.
Nick Maclaren
2024-06-26 09:10:05 UTC
Permalink
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
The sheet that came with the veg box just said "salsify" without the
scientific name; it looked like this
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopodospermum_hispanicum#/media/File:Schwarzwurzeln.jpg>
but then quite a few muddy root vegetables probably loook similar!
That is what is also called scorzonera.
(Well, to complicate matters, there is also a separate genus
Scorzonera.)
Which it was in, until the taxonomists started playing funny buggers.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Adam Funk
2024-06-26 10:44:13 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
Post by Nick Maclaren
Post by Adam Funk
The sheet that came with the veg box just said "salsify" without the
scientific name; it looked like this
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopodospermum_hispanicum#/media/File:Schwarzwurzeln.jpg>
but then quite a few muddy root vegetables probably loook similar!
That is what is also called scorzonera.
(Well, to complicate matters, there is also a separate genus
Scorzonera.)
Which it was in, until the taxonomists started playing funny buggers.
Aha, Scorzonera hispanica is in the list of synonyms for
Pseudopodospermum hispanicum. I hadn't noticed that.

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