If I had simply entitled this post Borage or even Boarago officinalis there might have been a collective sigh....
The only association that many people have with this starry little flower is in their summer Pimms. But it does have an age old reputation for promoting cheerfulness and courage.
We've always grown it. In fact once this hardy annual is planted in your herb garden you will never be without it as borage seeds itself around and pops up in the most unlikely places. The rash of seedlings in late spring are fortunately easy to spot and can be weeded out at an early stage.
The borage grows up to three feet high and has sturdy hairy stems with tough bristly leaves. The flowers appear pink in bud, becoming bright blue when they open with prominent black anthers. The other notable characteristic of the flowers is that they hang their heads. This makes them more difficult to photograph!
Apart from floating the flowers in the ubiquitous Pimms, the leaves can also be used in summer drinks. They have a refreshing cucumber taste but they become tough and so should be used when young.
Borage is still used as a vegetable in parts of Europe. It can be boiled and sauteed with garlic. I haven't tried this myself...
Leaves and flowers can also be added to salads. The starry flowers can be candied for cake decorations and also frozen into ice cubes.
More recently borage has been grown commercially as a seed oil. It's very high in gamma-linolenis acid and can be used as a dietary supplement.
Gardening tip
It is said (and don't quote me) that if borage is planted near strawberries they stimulate each other's growth.
Slàinte mhath.(cheers in Gaelic)
Thank you for reminding me to dig out the pack of borage seeds. A poppy I couldn't bear to remove from the herb bed has finally finished and now I have a borage sized gap!
ReplyDeleteYou may need more than one....
ReplyDeleteNot growing in my garden now, but I had a friend who taught me to cook it in generous quantities with spinach. Now it is just starflower oil capsules, but I miss those blue flowers.
ReplyDeleteI have never grown it. Maybe I should start.
ReplyDeleteBorage self-seeds madly in my garden, I pull up the excess and put them in the liquid feed bin.
ReplyDeleteBorage is pretty and trouble free unless you are put off by self seeders.
ReplyDeleteI put the excess on the compost but I'll maybe try putting them in a liquid feed.
What a timely post - I was chatting to a fellow allotment holder yesterday who wanted to know what he could do with borage. I said I thought bits of it were edible would need to check... Thanks to you I can now tell him to make pimms and salads!
ReplyDelete