Sorrel

Sorrel is not very well known, but it is a tasty addition to the garden. We sell two forms of sorrel. There are additional types, as well. Garden sorrel has bright, fleshy, green leaves. Garden sorrel tastes similar to a blend of lemons, green apples, and lettuce. It can be eaten either raw in salads or cooked in stir-fry or soups. The other type that we offer is the Red Veined Sorrel. It has smaller leaves that are the same bright green, but the veins are bright red. It is not as flavorful as the Garden Sorrel, but does made a beautiful addition to fresh salads. Its red color can bleed so I don’t recommend it for cooking. Sorrel contains vitiamin C, but also oxalate so it needs to be eaten with caution especially by those with kidney issues. Also it should not be feed to rabbits they cannot handle the oxalate. Sorrel is one of the first things to come back up in spring. Mine didn’t even die back during this winter. Sorrel should be cut back if that happens.  I think sorrel grows in a place that receives some watering and it not in the hot afternoon sun. Mid-Spring sorrel begins send out bloom spikes. I recommend removing them. The one of the reasons that I recommend removing the flower heads is the plant then focus it efforts on seed product and limits leaf production. Secondly, they produce a lot of seed which the small birds love, but the seeds will germinate all over. As a child our plant wasn’t close to the house so the roaming deer always found it about bloom time and mowed it down. We never had to remove the blooms. They did that for us. My current plant however does not seem so attractive the deer that roam my yard. (It is right outside the back door.) Here is what my plant looks like as it begins blooming.

It becomes filled with these red stems. To remove the flower heads, I follow the red stems to the base of the plant, grasp them firmly at the base. I then pull and twist the stem to hopefully remove the whole stem.

 This is a look at the pile of bloom spikes that I pulled out of my sorrel.

And then what was left afterwards. 

Sorrel is not very well known, but it is a tasty addition to the garden. We sell two forms of sorrel. There are additional types, as well. Garden sorrel has bright, fleshy, green leaves. Garden sorrel tastes similar to a blend of lemons, green apples, and lettuce. It can be eaten either raw in salads or cooked in stir-fry or soups. The other type that we offer is the Red Veined Sorrel. It has smaller leaves that are the same bright green, but the veins are bright red. It is not as flavorful as the Garden Sorrel, but does made a beautiful addition to fresh salads. Its red color can bleed so I don’t recommend it for cooking. Sorrel contains vitiamin C, but also oxalate so it needs to be eaten with caution especially by those with kidney issues. Also it should not be feed to rabbits they cannot handle the oxalate. Sorrel is one of the first things to come back up in spring. Mine didn’t even die back during this winter. Sorrel should be cut back if that happens.  I think sorrel grows in a place that receives some watering and it not in the hot afternoon sun. Mid-Spring sorrel begins send out bloom spikes. I recommend removing them. The one of the reasons that I recommend removing the flower heads is the plant then focus it efforts on seed product and limits leaf production. Secondly, they produce a lot of seed which the small birds love, but the seeds will germinate all over. As a child our plant wasn’t close to the house so the roaming deer always found it about bloom time and mowed it down. We never had to remove the blooms. They did that for us. My current plant however does not seem so attractive the deer that roam my yard. (It is right outside the back door.) Here is what my plant looks like as it begins blooming.

It becomes filled with these red stems. To remove the flower heads, I follow the red stems to the base of the plant, grasp them firmly at the base. I then pull and twist the stem to hopefully remove the whole stem.

 This is a look at the pile of bloom spikes that I pulled out of my sorrel.

And then what was left afterwards.