Hostas are edible. Yup! Joking aside most people including gardeners are not aware of this jewel in the tended gardens.
Because hostas are edible, we are in for a treat and a supply of available nutritious food.
Let me begin with writing my story. Just days from a moment in time, I was going to discard or rip out some hosta plants. My goal was to replace them with more edibles. They were expanding and I had no idea that we could eat them. A foraging chef shared in his book that hostas are edible. Wow. Who knew? I had just purchased a few books to learn more about foraging. The book is called “The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora” by Alan Bergo.
Hostas Are Edible
Let’s begin with what the hosta plants look like. If you have some, then you know exactly what they look like. There are a variety of colours from bluish green to variegated white and light green. They range in size of the leaf and the overall plant height is usually under two feet but some are huge. The leaves spring forth from tightly furrowed leaves so when they do first appear they look like spears or pointed asparagus (hint!). They flower in late summer or early Fall with predominately white or purple flowers that appear on the top of a long strong stick that comes from somewhere in the middle of the plant. Some flowers have a very pleasant aroma whereas some have no smell at all. The hosta plants grow in clumps and expand out so that every so often they can be split – shared with others or planted elsewhere in your garden. But do keep them! They are expensive to buy.
Edible Shoots
This is the juicy part…those young leaves or spears are edible like asparagus (early season eating!) They are called shoots in Bergo’s book. At approximately five to six inches, the shoots can be cut. Only cut what you will eat. The shoots are a good size. Take the tender shoots and saute them in butter or olive oil. You can easily sprinkle some sea salt or herbs to flavour them but taste them with just butter to start. Fermented soy sauce is an option – stir fry style. However you prepare asparagus, you can prepare hosta shoots and more.
Edible Leaves
Next are the edible leaves. As the leaves unfurrow, you can cut some and use them as a cooked green or raw in a salad. Believe it or not, the leaves of the hostas plants are edible at any age except when old and tired at the end of the season. They may be less tender as they grow older but there if you need some.
Edible Flowers
Here comes the bride – the pretty flowers. Pluck them off and pop them in your mouth. You can add them to salads. For one such potluck, I picked a variety of flowers from home and on my way to the party for an all flower salad (yucca flowers, hosta flowers, day lily flowers, etc.) No dressing is required. The trick was to have a variety of flowers in season at the same time. One could make a spring flower salad too starting with wild violets.
Will you ever look at Hosta plants the same way? Hostas Are Edible, is to open our eyes to natural foods available in our own yards and neighbourhoods.
Spring is just around the corner. Do you have hostas in your garden? Perhaps someone you know has some? They are easy to split first thing in the Spring (or Fall). A reminder that theses plants are expensive if you purchase them at a garden center.
