TigerTom
Well-Known Member
Don't forget about the root on first year plants. The wild forms may not grow as large as selected cultivars, but they're still good.
StoneCarver 2026
- Thread starter StoneCarver
- Start date
Don't forget about the root on first year plants. The wild forms may not grow as large as selected cultivars, but they're still good.
I havent had the roots yet, but I hear they're good. How do you like to prepare them?
TigerTom
Well-Known Member
Peel and cut them into 1" pieces, and boil with a little vinegar to keep them from turning brown. When softened, drain and saute them with some butter, salt, and pepper. Some say it tastes like oyster (hence the name" oyster plant"), but to me they have more of an artichoke flavor. After the flower stalk forms, the root become stringy.
I enjoy the seeing flowers and every year let some go to seed, so they grow all over my yard.
(For larger, more uniform roots, look for the variety called Mammoth Sandwich Island.)
StoneCarver
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense
So, my basement got too humid, rH 80-85%, and much of my color cured leaves of the main crop grew mold. I think I tossed out at least half. Its not fun tossing what was very nice looking leaves. its amazing how fast the mold grows. Even after I brought the leaves upstairs to dry out, by the next day some were fuzzy with green spores when they looked fine when I brought them up. Lesson learned: the moment the leaves are sufficiently color cured, dry them out and keep them dry till they get their turn in the kiln. I want to ask this question: Does it matter if the midrib of the leaves are still green/yellow after the lamina has browned? Waiting for the midribs to turn color is what led me to keeping the leaves in my very humid basement for so long. If waiting for the mid ribs to turn color after the lamina has doesn't make much of a difference in end product quality, that would be that much less time I need before I can put the leaves in a drier environment. I don't really have any other place to color cure leaves except in my basement. The utility shed that was behind my house got stolen.
If you are wondering, I usually open the outside doors to my basement every day in the summer to let it breathe. I've been doing that for years as the basement used to flood every good rain till I got that issue fixed. Fixing the flooding reduced the humidity a great deal but its still very humid down there in summer.
This is making me very glad to have such a big sucker harvest. When its all done, my sucker crop ought to account for about 2/3 of my total harvest.
The sucker leaves aren't quite as big as the main crop leaves but there appears to be a good amount that are large enough I ought to get some wrappers. For example, amongst the Redrose, many of the sucker leaves are 18 to 24 inches long.
If you are wondering, I usually open the outside doors to my basement every day in the summer to let it breathe. I've been doing that for years as the basement used to flood every good rain till I got that issue fixed. Fixing the flooding reduced the humidity a great deal but its still very humid down there in summer.
This is making me very glad to have such a big sucker harvest. When its all done, my sucker crop ought to account for about 2/3 of my total harvest.
The sucker leaves aren't quite as big as the main crop leaves but there appears to be a good amount that are large enough I ought to get some wrappers. For example, amongst the Redrose, many of the sucker leaves are 18 to 24 inches long.
The only need for the central vein to be completely dry, prior to kilning, is if you plan to use those stems for preparing a smokeless product. If the leaf will go into storage prior to kilning, then the stem will need to be fully dried first. Once the lamina is color-cured, it no longer draws moisture (and nutrients) from the stem. But its proximity does continue to keep ambient moisture near the lamina.
Bob
Bob