An Edible Landscape

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Rhubarb: If you have never seen this broad leafed plant with its edible pinkish stalks, you are missing out. There are various varieties out there, but one thing they all have in common is hardiness once established and a delicious sourness to compliment berries of all sorts in desserts, pies and breads. I have many a fond memory of picking the stocks and sucking on them with my brothers, then watching each other’s faces pucker. Caution: The leaves are poisonous.

Garlic: Old fashioned varieties will seed out in late summer and create new sets to plant on the stalk. Letting them fall to the ground will ensure new garlic next year, even if you pull up all the original. If you don’t pull up all your garlic, it will spread from the segmented bulb, surviving extremely cold winters and very hot summers. The tall grassy tops look great as a medium height in your garden and when established allow little else to grow. The new, young leaves can be added to soups and stews for a lovely flavor and a bit of color in early Spring.

Walking onions: An old fashioned, small bulbed onion of mild sharpness, walking onions will also bulb on the flowering stalk, allowing new onions to be added to the old each fall. They are also very hearty, the tops very tasty both fresh and cooked, and the small bulbs are delightful with roast chicken. They will also grow from the same bulb each year if left in the ground. They are of medium height and quite interesting in the summer with the crazy bulbed onions growing more onions right from the stalk of the parent plant!

Berries: No matter where you live, in the continental US, there are native berries, even in Alaska. Find what grows best in your area from a local gardening store, but I have to say that I love a good blackberry. Growing wild on the roadsides and in fields, they can be hard to transplant with a native variety, but they will do well in your yard if they do well in the ditch fifteen feet from your yard. My current favorite are the unnatural Tayberry, a hybrid between the raspberry and blackberry. They are extremely hearty and are very heavy bearing. They spread and climb like most brambles, but tolerate drought very well. They fill a space with beautiful tight pink flowers, delicately shaped leaves, and bright red berries from early to late summer. I always have more than I can eat and save a lot in the freezer.