Why you should grow Ashitaba

The Angelica known as ‘tomorrow’s leaf’ isn’t just a pretty plant, it also fed the samurai and is thought to boost longevity.

At the beginning of this year I decided to experiment a little: I would expand my knowledge of angelica, attempt to grow Japanese sushi rice, and tackle the world that is ancient wheats. All of these are grand ideas for a small back garden, some of them faintly ludicrous. Currently, the rice eludes me and the wheat I’ll save for another day; but oh… the angelica!

Angelica span the northern hemisphere, from our northern European Angelica archangelica to those found in Korea, Japan and China. Many are used in traditional herbal medicines and eaten as a vegetable, from candied stems to boiled leaves and roots.

The modern love for angelica is centred around the handsome, architectural flowers, which appear from late summer to early autumn and turn into equally good seed heads. Many species are biennial, remaining as just a crown of leaves for the first year and then flourishing to the sky to flower in their second. A. archangelica, with its green flowers and contrasting crimson pink stems, is a good starting point. The Korean A. gigas takes things up a notch: the huge, domed flowerheads are deep, dark crimson and most elegant.

read more: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/01/why-you-should-grow-ashitaba

Posted by admin on Sep 3 2018. Filed under Health, News at Now, News From Roots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry