09 April 2016

Hosta is edible


From a story in the StarTribune:
Hostas are one of the world’s most popular shade plants. In the United States, we grow them for their perennial beauty, but in Asia, hosta is grown as a commercial crop.
...the taste varies among species and cultivars, but all are safe to eat. The newest, tightest shoots are the most tender, so it’s best to harvest them before the leaves start to unfurl.
Although there’s no cookbooks devoted to hosta recipes — at least, not yet — those who eat it said hosta can be cooked much like asparagus or green beans. In Japan, hosta is often skinned, parboiled, chopped and served over rice with soy sauce.
If you have any doubts about eating hosta, ask any deer - or the rabbits in our woods:


Photos from our woodland garden.

3 comments:

  1. Ha, I am not sure that communicating with fauna is a good idea regarding the toxicity of any plant. My bunnies die if they eat apple seeds, while I munch them happily when I eat the core. That aside, I will now endeavour to find myself some hosta, a plant I have never heard of before today.

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    1. the reason why you don't die when you eat apple seeds is that you do not ingest a lethal dose in one apple core. for your bunnies, being smaller than you (i hope!), the same number of apple seeds as you eat is LD for them.

      I-)

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  2. I recommend edimentals.com, or the wonderful "around the world in 80 plants" by Stephen Barstow. He is very enthusiastic about eating hostas.

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