Hosta shoots, eat them before the slugs do
Many hostas are used as vegetables, list from Martin Crawford’s ‘Creating a Forest Garden’
- Hosta crispula 0.6m x 1m
- Hosta longipes 0.3m x 1m
- Hosta montana 1m x 1m
- Hosta plantaginae 0.6m x 1.2m
- Hosta sibeoldii 0.5m x 0.8m
- Hosta sieboldiana 1m x 1.5m
- Hosta undulata 0.3m x 1m
- Hosta ventricosa 0.6m x 1m
Large leaved hostas
Hosta sieboldiana:
Information gleaned from the fantastic Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford, page 223. Edibilty rating out of 5 is from Plants For A Future website. ‘Blue Angel’ recommended by Johann Kuntz.
All hostas are edible
Stephen Barstow says all hostas are edible but it’s the larger cultivars which are used, as they’re easier to harvest. You can harvest all the spring shoots and it will regrow and flower in the same year; ornamental hosta growers do this for new leaves anyway. It’s also an easy plant to propagate by taking divisions.
Photo copyright Creative Commons by Andrew Duff on Flickr.