Borage

Mackay · Oct 7, 2010

I have the most beautiful borage plant in my garden but what to use it for? Its in full flower now, been flowering for over a month and they sure keep the bees around.

Leaves are kinda prickly. Tried to eat a few but not very good.

any ideas?

journey11 · Oct 8, 2010

Here's some ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borage

Mainly used as a garnish, but has some medicinal properties too. Also the bees LOVE it.

hoodat · Oct 8, 2010

I plant it in my sanctuary strip mainly for butterflies and bees. My local hummingbird also visits it. I never found much used for it other than that. After the first year it plants itself.

ninnymary · Oct 8, 2010

Hoodat...I tried finding a borage plant this spring after reading a thread about how great it was for our declining bee population.

The nursery person talked very negatively about it. Saying it was like a weed and very invasive and that I wouldn't want to plant it.

Have you found this to be so? If you are happy with it, could you send me 4 seeds? I only have room for 1 plant and don't want to buy an entire package of seeds via mail order. I would be happy to send you a self addressed envelope.

Thanks
Mary

hoodat · Oct 8, 2010

It is pretty free about seeding itself but it isn't a hard plant to pull if it pops up where you don't want it. I don't normally save the seed because of the way it plants itself but I can get some off one of my plants for you in about two weeks. The pods are still green but I checked a couple and the seeds are there. I'l send you some as soon as they mature. Remind me in a couple of weeks if I have a senior moment and forget.

lesa · Oct 8, 2010

Have you tried the flowers? They are delicious and have a tropical flavor. They are very fun on cakes and cupcakes and a welcome addition to salads. The bees do love it- and I attribute the lovely flavor of our honey to Borage. They do reseed themselves, but not in an invasive way. Some started where I didn't want them this spring an I dug them up and transplanted. They looked absolutely dead, then within a week were in bloom. They claim, planted with tomatoes they sweeten the fruit of the tomato?? One of my favorite plants!

Mackay · Oct 10, 2010

That wiki page gave lots of info. Thanks... I had heard elsewhere that some people cook it like spinach. I might try making stuffed manicotti with it instead of spinach.

It really is the grandest plant in my garden, its so vibrant. I plan on having several next year and certainly will put one in with my tomatoes...which need more bee contact.

Since the seeds are so good for you perhaps I can harvest them and throw them into things I cook... or sprinkle on salads... they are good for their oils so I guess you don't want to cook them hard as heat can damage oil

They are easy to identify and pull. I must have planted about 10 seeds but had to pull all but 2 because they were growing sooo big. all the seeds sprouted.

Thanks everyone!

FarmerDenise · Oct 11, 2010

I like eating the flowers. They look great in a salad. If you want to eat the leaves fresh, I use only the very young ones and cut them up in narrow strips in a salad. Gives a nice cucumber taste to the salad.
Next time you want to impress folks with your potluck dish, use some of the flowers as a garnish

They are very easy to pull up, when they grow in places you don't want them to.

Borage

Mackay

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journey11

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hoodat

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ninnymary

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hoodat

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lesa

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Mackay

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FarmerDenise

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