OUT OF STOCK

Aegopodium podagraria 

'Ground Elder'

[Ex. Co. Durham, England]

Apiaceae: a creeping, patch-forming, hairless perennial. Favours damp and disturbed ground. White compact umbels 2-6cm across, blooming from May-July. Doubtfully native, widely introduced and inadvertently trans-located by gardeners, widespread. Native most of Europe, including Britain, to western Asia and Siberia.

USES:

The leaves can be used raw or cooked, they have an unusual tangy flavour, I gave it but didn’t find very appetising, although some reports say that it makes a delicious vegetable. The leaves are best harvested before the plant comes into flower, they can be used in salads, soups, or cooked as a vegetable.

Ground Elder has a long history of medicinal use and was cultivated as a food crop and medicinal herb in the Middle Ages. The plant was used mainly as a food that could counteract gout, one of the effects of the rich foods eaten by monks, bishops at this time. The plant is little used in modern herbalism. All parts of the plant have antirheumatic, diuretic, sedative and vulnerary properties. An infusion is used in the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis and disorders of the bladder and intestines. Externally, it is used as a poultice on burns, stings, wounds, painful joints. The plant is harvested when it is in flower in late spring to mid-summer and can be used fresh or be dried for later use. A homeopathic remedy is made from the flowering plant. It is used in the treatment of arthritis and rheumatism.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Sow seeds autumn in a cold frame. Seed needs a lengthy spell of cold weather before they will germinate. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.

Prefers damp shady conditions but succeeds in most soils. Prefers a well-drained soil, succeeding in sun or shade. This is one of my least favorite plants on the planet, it’s a very invasive plant, spreading freely at the roots, though it seldom sets seed in Britain.

Once established it can be very, very difficult to eradicate because any small piece of root left in the ground can regrow. If introducing this plant to your garden, it might be best to restrict the roots by growing the plant in a container buried in the soil.

HARVESTED: 2022*

 

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