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)
