Growing Sorrel

Sorrel flowersSorrel seed heads

Sorrel is usually described as a herb, but it is a leafy green that can be used as a vegetable. As sorrel is perennial, and available for much of the year, this can be a great addition to a kitchen garden – it’s really easy to grow, doesn’t need replacing every year and can be a good source of greens during cold weather and the infamous ‘hungry gap’ in spring.

Growing sorrel is simply a matter of sowing seeds in spring (I sowed mine in modules to transplant, but you could sow where you want it to grow). It’s not particularly fussy about site or soil, and generally romps away with very little attention.

The young leaves can be eaten raw in salads and have a lemony flavour – try them first to make sure they’re not too overpowering! And sorrel is one of the plants that can contain high levels of oxalic acid, so enjoy it in moderation. Older leaves can be cooked – traditionally they’re made into soup, but they can also be stir-fried or used like a lemony spinach. In the tv series Wild Food, Ray Mears used wild sorrel to make dessert tarts.

The biggest consumers of sorrel in our house are the chickens – they love it, and it’s a good source of greens for them when there’s not much else growing.

In summer, sorrel sends up tall flower shoots and sets seeds. When they’re brown the seeds are ripe, but you have to remove them from their papery cases. My method was to rub the stems together to encourage the seed cases off the stems and the seeds out of the cases, then I winnowed (blew away!) the seed cases while most of the heavier seeds stayed on my tray.

My plants are Sorrel ‘Shchavel’ from the Heritage Seed Library. There are lots of different sorrel species – see PFAF for more details.

Posted 23 July 2009, 16:55.  

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