Saturday 15 August 2020

Red Orach - Weed or Veg

 




Here's another 'wild' plant I have a soft spot for when it turns up in my vegetable patch.  It is just so striking and distinctive and edible.


It's Latin name gives away that it was a mainstay of the vegetable garden in the past: Atriplex hortensis.  The story is that green and red orach used to be common until the upstart spinach arrived and displaced it from the plate and garden.  One or two pop up each year and are not weeded out, but I must admit that their appeal is aesthetic and I have not to date eaten the leaf.



1 comment:

  1. Try eating it the same way as you'd eat spinach. They actually taste the same. I've had them in the garden for years, only my variety has green leaves with red heart. I pull the leaves off and leave the plant, this way it keeps growing and still looks nice.

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