When most people cerebrate of foraging , they envisage gathering works in the wild . But several dozen cosmetic garden plants have delicious , nutritious , edible parts that even most gardener do n’t know about .
You ’ll find one of these , the day lily , in most any garden in late spring . you’re able to grow day lily to sell as an eatable product at market , too .
Daylilies Are an Edible Delight
On a trip to rural Quebec , ouragritourismhost found a local forager at my request . Sebastien Royer had learned from his grandmother how to forage hazardous comestible plant . And from his Father-God ’s hunter friends , he ’d discover to identify edible mushroom .
We were wrapping up a pleasant dawn drop poking around the Grant Wood when he betoken to the orange daylily in front of the farmhouse . I told him I knew they were edible and had eat up the flowers , greens and tubers of daylilies .
But he say that was n’t what he meant .
With that , he plucked a fully open , orange flower and hook the stem terminate off . He held that end of the bloom to his mouth and sucked out the nectar — sweet ( literally ! ) .
Even when you imagine you have sex everything about a plant , someone from another region can surprise you . And daylilies are full of delicious surprises .
Read more : you’re able to — and should — forage sunchokes for a delicious , tuberous delicacy .
About Growing Daylilies
Daylilies ( Hemerocallis fulva ) are unwashed as weeds in home garden . Older gardeners often call them “ ditch lilies ” because they can be establish on old homestead and along random roadsides .
They are hardy perennials also known as “ run - along ” plants . Gardeners frequently share them by dig up a clutch in any season and passing them along to other gardeners .
Daylilies transplant well , multiply quickly and are found in most garden centers . So if you do n’t already have them , you could get them .
They can live in shade , but in full sunshine , you ’ll have lots more flowers . Thousands of varieties exist , but a few of the flashy ones can cause indigestion . So stupefy to the vulgar , orange - bloom day lily .
Enjoy Daylilies in the Spring
Like many garden plants , daylilies go dormant for the wintertime . The leafy shoots come up tender and sweet in the spring . crop them off just aboveground level while they are no more than 3 to 5inches marvellous .
At this point , they ’re raw enough to use up raw in saladsbut also tasty stir - fry with butter and ail .
When the shoot get marvelous than about 5inches , they become too problematical to bask .
By tardy spring , finger - sized flower buds will poke out . Whether vernal , small and green or big , orange and about to open , you may eat them . Some say they taste a turn like dark-green bean plant .
Read more : Don’t be afraid to forage hedgehog mushrooms !
Daylilies in the Kitchen
I bug out a few these succulent , crunchy jewel in my mouth when I find them in a garden ( after nipping off the affixation to the stem ) . They can also be stimulate - fried , throw away in soup or pickled . The petal of capable flowers are also edible on day lily .
take the pistil , stamens and stem first . The flower petal can be dry out in the oven on its low setting or in a dehydrator . collapse the dried flower petal and splosh over alimentary paste or a side mantrap for a touch sensation of bright , appetizing people of colour .
In late capitulation , when the leaves have died to the reason , excavate up a few plants and harvest the tubers until springiness . ( Plus , you could divide the plant . )
regale the tubers like other root crops . Slather with oil color , salt and pepper , and roast at 450 degrees F until tender .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2021 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
