Friday, December 11, 2015

Edible Hostas? Well I Never....





 Beans growing in their pod.

The cold wet weather has put a stop to most plant growth and in our garden at least the frost still eludes us so it still looks very much like autumn. Not everything has stopped growing though, we have plenty of nasturtiums coming up and an old broad bean pod I forgot to eat in summer has burst out and the beans are growing happily on a fire bucket. I found the beans when I was out hunting for some hostas I planted earlier in the year. It looks as though the slugs have munched these delicate plants though as they are nowhere to be seen, which is a pity as I wanted to eat them. 

Let me explain.

This year I was a bit lax in planting out winter vegetables. We do have some delicious kale and broccoli which have been a lovely accompaniment to many meals over the last few weeks. The problem is that this is all we have for the winter. I didn’t plant any root vegetables and the salad crops have all dwindled away. Because of this I have been researching to find anything else edible in the garden which will save me foraging around in wet hedgerows. This is how I came across the fact that this fast growing leafy plant, which slugs and snails adore, is also a pretty delicious addition to our dinner plate too.

Hostas
Hostas are herbaceous perennial s and usually grown as a leafy ornamental plants and are particularly popular for shady areas of the garden. Native to Asia, the hosta genus has around 45 different species and an estimated 5000 different cultivars and according to research they are all edible.
Hostas are popular in Japan as a vegetable known as urui (young leaves) and prized as sansai or ‘mountain vegetables’, a class of plants that are usually gathered wild from the mountain and are considered to be particularly strong in vitality. The plants can be prepared in a number of different ways including boiling in water and frying in a tempura batter. 

Raw edible parts
The shoots, leaf petiole, whole leaves and flowers are edible raw. The fresh leaves and stems are best harvested while young and tender. The older leaves become tough and fibrous and may become bitter in flavour. Hostas can be used as a cut and come again plant and will readily re-grow their leaves after being chopped down to the base as they grow really quickly.
All hosta species are edible but H. montana and H. sieboldii are most popularly used for vegetables.
Hosta stems are often likened to asparagus. The leaves are crunchy and have a good green leafy flavour. They also make a pleasant salad plant. Hostas are far easier to grow than asparagus and they make a good understory plant for edible forest gardens.

Best bit
The best part of the hosta is the ‘hoston’, the rolled up leaf as it emerges in the spring, although many varieties are still pretty good even once they have unfurled. The best way of cooking them depends on the size of the hostons. Small ones are delicious if you fry them for a few minutes, and then add a little light soy sauce and sesame oil. The slight bitterness of the hostons complements the saltiness of the soy sauce very well. Similarly, they go very well in stir fries. The chunkier hostons are better boiled briefly and used as a vegetable.
Later on, the open leaves can be used as a general pot herb or substituted for spinach in recipes like ‘hostakopita’. The flowers and flower buds are also edible.

Growing methods
It’s easy to get started with hostas. The plants I have were taken from a parent plant this year and I’m sure of the slugs didn’t get them they would be ready for harvesting. They can be divided easily by pulling the roots apart. This can be done at any time of year. The plants flourish in damp fertile soil, although will do well in most moist soils and I have grown many a plant in full sun which doesn’t seem to harm them too much. They like a mulch spread around the base to keep the roots moist.

A disclaimer
Remember to try only a small piece first and test for a skin reaction by rubbing a piece on your skin before putting anything in your mouth, like most things edible there are always people who have allergic reactions.

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