Hosta for Dinner

If slugs are eating your hosta, why not try beating them to it?

 

 

I recently spoke at the Taylor Conservatory’s Growing Great Gardens and was fortunate to hear fellow speaker Ellen Zachos, the Backyard Forager. 

She revealed all kinds of wonderful forage from the garden, including hosta. Hosta leaves are edible and, according to Ellen, taste somewhere between lettuce and young spinach. 

 

The best time to pick them is when they are barely unfurling; in my garden that is often mid-late April. Harvest leaves from the outside of the clump so that inside leaves will hide cuts as they unfurl. 

 

Zachos likes to roast her leaves in a 450 degree oven for about ten minutes; she then wraps the leaves in prosciutto. 

The dish is made even better by serving it on a bed of garlic mustard pesto. Finally something to do with that weed! 

View The Full Recipe

Ellen’s talk was so fascinating I was compelled to buy her book The Backyard Forager. Inside are many other recipes made with plant material you can find within a few paces of your back door. Check out how to use dahlia tubers to make a quick bread!  You will also find recipes for cocktails…..after a long day is there anything better than making a nice drink with the weeds you have collected!

If you’re wondering how to keep the slugs at bay so that YOU can start eating your hosta, the key is to start treatment early. Pick up some slug deterrent from your local nursery (I just use coffee grounds) and sprinkle around plants as the leaves are starting to unfurl. Slugs can lay between 20-100 eggs several times a season. That means one slug can have upwards of 90,000 grandchildren. You need to shut  grandma down early to avoid that scenario!

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