USING THIS PLANT
Primary Uses:
- Edible Leaves – unique fruity, sour (lemony) taste. Can be used raw (salads, on sandwiches, etc.) or cooked like spinach (soups, sauces, stews, pastries, spanakopita, quiches, etc.). The leaves may even be boiled to impart a lemony flavor to the water which is cooled and sweetened and used like lemonade.
- Edible Flowers – typically used as a garnish for salads, but may be cooked as well.
- Edible Roots – Some species have a large taproot which can be dried, ground, and used as a flour adjunct
- Edible Seeds – May be eaten raw or cooked. May be dried, ground, and used as a flour adjunct
Secondary Uses:
- General insect nectar plant
- Dynamic Accumulator Plant – Excellent! (Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Iron, Sodium)
- Groundcover Plant
- Pioneer Species – the deep roots can help break up hardened soils
- Drought Tolerant Species
- Juice from the leaves can be used to curdle milk
- Juice from the leaves can be used to clean stains in clothing
- Dye Plant – roots, leaves, and stems
- Likely a decent feed plant for most domestic animals – chickens will eat the seeds (let them harvest themselves!) and greens sparingly
Harvesting: Spring harvest for leaves. Pick when young as older leaves are more fibrous.
Storage: Used fresh most commonly, but the leaves can be dried and used later.
Monk’s Rhubarb is tolerant of cold climates, like alpine regions, hence its scientific name.
(Rumex alpinus)
Original Article Here
