#skirret

So excited. A fellow master gardener grew a bunch from seed and I got a few plants. Now to refine over the next few years . . .

Skirret is a perennial root vegetable that is native to China. Romans brought it to the British Isles in medieval times, where in 1677, English horticulturalist John Worlidge raved that it was: “the sweetest, whitest and most pleasant of roots,” in his Systema Horticulturae. Long before the arrival of the Andean potato, Irish Catholic monks cultivated this sweet parsnip and carrot relative. We consolidated our skirret patches today, hoping to provide beautiful flowers and then seeds from this crop. We harvested some roots for dinner and combined them with potatoes, as suggested by Wolf D. Storl in the Curious History of Vegetables. They are sweet and lovely. After root harvest, we divided each plant into six! #skirret #siumsisarum #apiaceae #umbelliferae #perennialvegetables #seedkeeping #seedsaving

Skirret is a tasty, thin-rooted perennial in the Apiaceae family, related to carrots, parsnips, parsley, etc. Originally from China (where it is still eaten), it was introduced to Europe around or before Roman times, and was grown fairly commonly until the Andean potato came along to replace it with such enormous yields. It was one of few vegetables grown in medieval Ireland - so I intend to savor it as an ancestral crop. Chris and I just tasted it for the first time, boiled and salted. It has the flavor of a carrot or parsnip, and the smooth consistency of a boiled potato. Next time we will cook it with leeks and cabbage and BUTTER, all of which are other old Irish foods. I left half the roots from the unearthed skirret, and will replant them. Apparently, like many things, it is sweeter after the frost, and can be lifted and eaten throughout the winter. I gathered the seeds from the "swamp bed" at Roughwood in Devin, PA last year - it does well in moist soils. I will never have to replant seeds of this easily-divided perennial, though of course I will because I can't stop growing more things. #skirret #siumsisarum #sugarroot #crummock #sukkerrod #suikerwortel #Zuckerwurzel #seedkeeping #seedsaving #perennialvegetables (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Waiting for Skirret seed to ripen. This Umbelliferous plant has slender, sweet, white roots that grow in clumps. It is from northeastern Asia (where it is still eaten), and was very popular in medieval Europe, but like the Parsnip, it was cast aside when the Andean Potato arrived on the scene. According to Eric Toensmeier in “Perennial Vegetables”, this perennial tastes best when you eat some of the older roots when dividing the plants - not when grown from seed (as I’ve done). #skirret #siumsisarum #seedkeeping #seedsaving #perrenialvegetables (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Skirret (Sium sisarum) flower up close. This Umbelliferous plant has slender, sweet, white roots that grow in clumps. It is from northeastern Asia (where it is still eaten), and was very popular in medieval Europe, but like the Parsnip, it was cast aside when the Andean Potato arrived on the scene. According to Eric Toensmeier in "Perennial Vegetables", this perennial tastes best when you eat some of the older roots when dividing the plants - not when grown from seed (as I've done). #skirret #siumsisarum #seedkeeping #seedsaving #perrenialvegetables (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

25/4/14 Medieval Perennials Progress