LVII.
POT-HERBS AND SALADS.
THE number of plants and vegetables that are of excellent quality, and can be profitably cultivated for purposes of pot-herbs and salads, are so numerous that we can only mention the names, with here and there an item, that we may rouse the young housekeeper’s curiosity sufficiently to tempt her to search for their full history herself and we hope lead others to do the same.
In Burr’s “Field and Garden Vegetables of America,” is a “full description of nearly eleven hundred species and varieties, with directions for propagation, culture, and use.” Among them are many species and varieties which make excellent salads and greens.
The Leaf-beet is much esteemed. The leaf is used for greens. The rib, which is called Swiss chard, is cut out, boiled, and dressed like asparagus, which it resembles in taste. There are five varieties, of which the silver-leaf is the best.
Three varieties of the Nightshade—the white from East India, the large-leafed China malabar, and the red malabar from China—furnish a desirable addition to our pot-herbs. The juice from the fruit of the red variety supplies a beautiful color, but is not permanent. The black, or deadly nightshade, is poisonous.
The Nettle, of which only one kind is mentioned, will grow anywhere spontaneously, but is, in many places, largely cultivated, and is excellent for greens. The young, tender buds or shoots are nipped off as they appear, and will shoot out again very rapidly. By being put into a green or forcing-house, it furnishes a good substitute for cabbage, colewort, or winter spinach. If placed near a flue in the hot-house in winter, it will supply excellent nettle-kale all through the winter. Lawson says: “The merits of this generally accounted troublesome plant have been quite overlooked. Aside from the food it can supply, the stalk is quite fibrous, and may be made into ropes and cordage and good thread; besides a white, beautiful linen-like cloth can be manufactured from it, but it has never been cultivated for that purpose. It is an Asiatic plant.”
Spinach is one of the most important of this class of edibles. It grows wild in England. Flanders supplies us with some of the cultivated kinds. The orache, or mountain spinach, is quite hardy and very good. It is a native of Tartary, and was brought into England by Sir John Banks.
The Quinoa, a native of Mexico, is easily cultivated here. The leaves are used like spinach. The seeds in some places are made to take the place of corn or wheat for bread, and are excellent food for poultry.
The English and Irish Sea-beet are much liked in some places, and are easily cultivated.
The Shepherd’s-purse tastes somewhat like cabbage, but is much more delicate. That which is raised and marketed in Philadelphia is wonderfully juicy, and the leaf grows quite large.
Of the salad plants, Celery stands among the first. It is a native of England, and has many varieties, too numerous to mention here.
Lettuce is an Asiatic plant, and, like celery, is an important and almost indispensable article in preparing chicken, lobster, or other mixed salads. It is also eaten plain with simply salt or dressed with vinegar, sugar, and oil; or, what is better still, a few drops of vinegar, with sugar and rich cream.
The Endive, a native of China and Japan, is largely cultivated in America, and by many considered one of the best autumn, winter, and early spring salads.
Corn-salad, brought from the South of France and Europe, is sometimes boiled or cooked like spinach; but usually the young leaves are dressed for salad, and in winter and early spring are excellent.
Cress, or pepper-grass, belongs to Persia, but is largely raised here; eaten as a salad, either separately or mixed with lettuce or celery. The varieties are quite numerous.
Horse-radish and Mustard are from Europe. The young tips are sometimes mixed with other greens, and their natural pungency adds quite a pleasant flavor to less highly spiced pot-herbs.
The Nasturtium is from Peru. The seeds make a pickle almost equal to the caper, and the young shoots furnish a fine, pungent salad; and in all its many varieties it is a pretty garden ornament.
The Purslain, Rape, and Rocket are natives of Europe.
The Samphire is used as a seasoning for salads. Tarragon, from Siberia, is also put in salads for seasoning, and much used steeped in vinegar for dressings of various kinds.
Valeriana, as a salad, is by some thought more desirable than corn-salad, and is likewise a very beautiful garden ornament.
All these and many more can be grown in our own country, and most of them with very little trouble. Interesting statements respecting them can be found in most of the agricultural books, which are well worth reading.