Sorrel

Aspects: Clumping and running herb, edible greens, sun to shade, soils variable

Leaves have a strong lemony tang and delicate texture; add flavor to salads or cooked dishes, most famously cream of sorrel soup; where temperatures are cold sorrel is among first greens available in the spring and last in the fall; continually cut back flowering stalks to keep them producing tender greens long into the summer.

Tough and reliable; can become weedy; growing only male plants can minimize weediness (grow some plants from seed and rogue out all that produce female flowers and set seed); male plants will still experience temporarily diminished flavor when they flower.

Non-flowering variety name Profusion stays excellent all year long and doesn’t bolt or become weedy

Good companion plants because their roots dig deep and bring up calcium, phosphorus and potassium.

O. digyma or Mountain Sorrel – medium-sized clumps, rounded leaves that are large in partial shade, delicious flavor and texture

R. acetosa or Garden Sorrel/French Sorrel – one of the most commonly cultivated in the US. Tall, lance-shaped leaves with a flower spike that grows to 3 to 4 feet tall. Non- flowering variety, Profusion, belongs to this species. To add to the confusion R. acetosella and R. scutatus are all known as French Sorrel.

CAUTION R. acetosella or Sheep Sorrel/French Sorrel – Very common weed in gardens. Naturalizes well in disturbed, dry, acidic soils. Author feels flavor as good as that of any cultivated species. Leaves are smaller and therefore more tedious to harvest; low growing and spreads aggressively by runners and seed. Plants make a useful groundcover but otherwise be vary careful where you introduce this species.

R. scutatus or Silver Shield Sorrel/Buckler-Leaf Sorrel/French Sorrel – This species has replaced garden sorrel as the sorrel of choice in France; they feel the flavor is superior and the author agrees; plants less vigorous than garden sorrel (take a few years to establish and don’t do well with competition); delicate flavor and texture; small leaves make for more work while harvesting

Few pests and diseases though wet weather can bring slugs, and leaf miners can be a problem

Seed or propagate by division; divide every few years to rejuvenate them

Leaves do not store well and should be eaten soon after harvest; eat fresh or cooked, mix with other greens to make a salad use in soup, sauces, and other dishes; cooks down dramatically so pick a lot

Nutrient fixers and accumulators

These plants bring up nutrients (potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur, and others)from deep in the soil.

Daikon radish, chicory, yarrow, chamomile, fennel, lamb's quarters,

See Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape, by Robert Kourik for a comprehensive list. Get through ILL because not owned by WCL nor available through Amazon.

Alfalfa - roots go down 20-30 feet, sometimes 100 feet, but not in soils with rock layer or hardpan. Supplies phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and trace minerals

Dandelion - presence indicates the subsoil is easy to penetrate and that soil may be suitable for alfalfa

Amaranth - commonly found where ever the soil has been disturbed; one of the best plants for pumping nutrients from the subsoil; especially good to grow with potatoes but can take over; valuable food source

Borage - excellent provider of potassium, calcium and other natural minerals

Aster family - chicory and dandelion

Chicory is sometimes sold as Italian Dandelion
Dandelion or French Dandelion

Aspects: Clumping herbs, edible greens, full sun, moist-well-drained soil

Leaves have rich, nutty, slightly bitter flavor; highly nutritious; tasty cooked or in salads; d to make coffee-like beverage roots

Both grow in virtually any soil but flavor will improve with the quality of the soil; full sun or light shade

Deep taproots accumulate minerals from the subsoil; as their leaves decompose the enrich the soil from the surrounding plants

Harvest leaves before the plant flowers; cut back stalks to prolong the harvest season

Chicory can be an annual, a biennial, or a perennial; related to the biennial cultivated edible C. endive, which includes radicchio and endive

Perennial varieties:
Cerolio (with tight dark rosettes)
Dentarella or Italian Dandelion (with green leaves resembling a large dandelion)
Grumolo (small with green leaves)
Italo Rossico or Red Rib Dandelion (potentially long-lived, resembling a dandelion with deep red mid-ribs)
Puntarella (bred for its thick, succulent, contorted stems)
Rosssa di Treviso (long leaves turn red with cold weather)
Rossa di Verona (similar to Rossa di Treviso with smaller leaves)
Spadona (long rounded leaves like elongated spinach)

Danedelion, unlike chicory, is reliably perennial and low maintenance.

Perennial Vegetables author believes both species have improved flavor if leaves are blanched (covered with mulch) first; flowers are sometimes battered and used to make fritters.