Today is so sunny and beautiful, but unfortunately I had to kill some lettuce. I hate thinning. Most of the time I carefully separate young seedlings, but I have so much going on I can't save them all.
Alright this post is supposed to be about Lovage so I better snap to it.
I have some seeds that I just learned are still viable. Yay! I collected them myself two years ago from my mother plant that I bought from the Bowden Community Gardens sale. A big thank you to Corrie Monk for getting that started and being so helpful all around!
I'm not sure how to message on this steemit platform, but if anyone wants seeds and you are not on the other side of the world, I'll see if I can send some. It would be so nice to share the blessing of this wonderful plant.
Pictured above: A young lovage. It's mother grew to 7 Ft high.
Without further delay...
LOVAGE
Lovage (Levisticum Officinale) is a perennial herb and is a member of the parsley family, but it doesn’t look like parsley. Its stalks and leaves are more reminiscent of celery and suitably is sometimes called Wild Celery.
When we think of herbs, we typically think of tiny cutesy things sitting in miniature herb gardens on sunny windowsills, but Lovage, if given the space in an outside garden, can grow to as much as 7 feet high.
The strength of Lovage can be seen in its ability to withstand a Prince George winter; however, it has its roots (pardon the pun ) in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and Asia Minor.
Lovage has numerous health benefits and can be used as an anti- inflammatory, an expectorant and a diuretic. These are only a few of its many helpful attributes. A simple search on the internet will help you to discover more on its history as well as its varied medicinal uses.
The culinary uses of Lovage are as simple or as complex as you want to make them. You can simply toss some chopped leaves and stems in your salad, or you can tinker with it in your next soup or stew creation. It can be added to casseroles, sauces, scrambled eggs... Once tasted, the celery-like-curry flavour is an automatic “go to” for enriching many dishes.