Cooking hostas

[taxlady]

I came across this article, How to Cook Hostas. Has anyone tried this?

 

[larry_stewart]

Never knew but now Im curious , and its just about that time of year when they emerge from the ground.

 

[Dawgluver]

I read about eating them some years ago, but never got around to trying it.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Hey, you can wrap them in bacon! I think I like them already.

 

[Andy M.]

We have hostas all over our condo property. I wonder if SO will sacrifice a host or two for dinner...

 

[Kayelle]

While hostas are a pretty common backyard plant, especially in the Northeast, I’d never heard of them living out west.

Guess that explains why I've never seen them.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have several, but I don't have enough to eat the shoots. I'll mention it to the farmers at our farmers market. It might be a specialty item they'd like to offer.

Kayelle, there are many cultivars. They need shade and moist conditions, so I can understand why they don't do well out west. They look like this.

 

[taxlady]

They can have pretty flowers too.

 

[Dawgluver]

I'm thick with hosta in my wooded lot, many grown from divisions friends gave us years ago. The deer here love them, I'm pretty sure they eat them raw.

 

[Kayelle]

They are so pretty! I wish we had them here.
@Dawg.

 

[larry_stewart]

Theyre almost impossible to kill. My friend was redoing his backyard, dug them all up, tossed them in a pile. In the pile they sat over the winter, unprotected until the next spring. At that point, I noticed the pile when I was at his house and saw they still had life in them. So when he told me he was just throwing them out, I took as many as I could and planted them in my yard. They come back bigger, fuller and thicker year after year. Ive split them several times to place more around my yard and give to others. I should have plenty to give it a go in the kitchen. Even time Im working with them in the garden I alway look at the leaves and think what a nice salad they would make ( not realizing that they were edible).

 

[taxlady]

Theyre almost impossible to kill. My friend was redoing his backyard, dug them all up, tossed them in a pile. In the pile they sat over the winter, unprotected until the next spring. At that point, I noticed the pile when I was at his house and saw they still had life in them. So when he told me he was just throwing them out, I took as many as I could and planted them in my yard. They come back bigger, fuller and thicker year after year. Ive split them several times to place more around my yard and give to others. I should have plenty to give it a go in the kitchen. Even time Im working with them in the garden I alway look at the leaves and think what a nice salad they would make ( not realizing that they were edible).

All the hostas my mother-in-law gave me managed to die. I have a tiny yard. Most parts don't get direct sun for the whole day. No parts are shaded the whole day. I may try planting some in the common are behind my yard. It has trees.

 

[GotGarlic]

Hostas do best in part shade to shade. My neighbor down the street is going to give me some of hers. Every year a local wholesale nursery has a day when master gardeners can buy plants at wholesale prices. I'm going to get some unusual hosts and hellebores to fill in a shady area so I don't have to keep planting annuals.

I wonder if hellebores are edible.

 

[larry_stewart]

All the hostas my mother-in-law gave me managed to die. I have a tiny yard. Most parts don't get direct sun for the whole day. No parts are shaded the whole day. I may try planting some in the common are behind my yard. It has trees.

Wow, for as much good luck as I had with them, it seems you had bad luck. Hopefully you have better success with the next bunch

 

[dragnlaw]

I have several hostas that do very well in the sun. A couple that I will move to a sunnier place this year - if they survived the winter.

 

[Cheryl J]

Hostas are so beautiful - wish I could grow them here, but they wouldn't last 10 minutes in this desert heat.

I was following a lady's hosta thread on a gardening forum years ago, and I remember being so surprised at how expensive some of the rarer varieties can be. I seem to remember something like $75-$100 per plant.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...I wonder if hellebores are edible.

Nope. They can kill you.

Poisonous Plants: Hellebore, Oleanader, and Vinca or Periwinkle.

 

[tenspeed]

The deer think the buds are tastiest just before they flower. At our previous house the deer ate all of the buds every year, and Mrs. T was ready to take up hunting.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have several hostas that do very well in the sun. A couple that I will move to a sunnier place this year - if they survived the winter.

I guess I should say in my zone, they do best in at least some shade. The hot afternoons scorch the leaves if they're in full sun.

 

[GotGarlic]

Nope. They can kill you.

Poisonous Plants: Hellebore, Oleanader, and Vinca or Periwinkle.

Thanks for the warning. Yikes