”A very tasty special coastal plant with tasty crunchy leaves, very beautiful purple shoots in early spring and for a very short window tasty seed pods that pop like a pea/grape when eaten (tasting like pea x cabbage).
GeorgeFlavour Fred
* please note this plant is protected in many places. Please check bye laws and although getting landowner permission often seems like a dubious topic. I’m certainly not going out there to devastate plants and ecologies. With regard to this plant I’ll leave that to the need for gravel, urbanisation and other impacts that may or may not be required…
Thought it’s not listed as a rare plant it certainly seems to have taken a hit in a number of areas where the decline of the colonies is down to fluctuating environments (serious winter storms by the coast) and also demands for building and gravel extraction as well as deferences, etc
Found growing on shorelines means it’s a hardy enough to deal with weather and salinity where the roots are gnarly tough (obviously not to be dug up). Getting its nutrition from the decomposition of seaweed at high drift lines amongst other things. These need to be stable for a long period of time (5-20 years, 5 years to settle in and flower stated). Very rarely spreading inland although some have trained to grow in gardens. I love this perennial brassica that grows wild around the coasts of Europe, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea (again in decline in a number of areas but also significant rises in populations). Used by many including the Greeks and cultivated since the 16th Century. Boasting many health benefits as well as being eaten to prevent scurvy, boost the immune system and improve metabolism.
As an ingredient I only gather from large colonies taking just a leaf or two per mature plant. I really enjoy the purple colour and tenderness to the shoots in spring, chopping the leaves once older and green into broths and ramen is great, the unopened flowers resemble broccoli florets and the seeds for a short window are beautiful bursts of flavour. Once I have permission 🌱🙌
