Common Names: licorice root, licorice, liquorice, sweet root, gan cao, gan zao, Chinese licorice

Latin Names: Glycyrrhiza glabra, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Glycyrrhiza inflata

Background

Licorice root is cultivated throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is used as a flavoring in candy, other foods, beverages, and tobacco products.

Licorice root has a long history of use, going back to ancient Assyrian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures. It was used traditionally for treating a variety of conditions, including lung, liver, circulatory, and kidney diseases.

Today, licorice root is promoted as a dietary supplement for conditions such as digestive problems, menopausal symptoms, cough, and bacterial and viral infections. Licorice gargles or lozenges have been used to try to prevent or reduce the sore throat that sometimes occurs after surgery. Licorice is also an ingredient in some products for topical use (application to the skin).

Perennial (zones 7-10)

14-20 days

Well-drained

Part shade to full sun

12-36" apart

Licorice has long been appreciated as a flavoring in confections, liqueurs and other creations. It's use as a flavorful tea goes back even farther. Licorice tea does not taste exactly like the black licorice sticks you might remember from childhood. That's because most licorice candy is usually flavored with anise.

'Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah' is from that early type, producing large, 3"–6" globe-shaped bulbs with amazingly mild, sweet flavor.

They are eaten fresh or as an ingredient in salads, soups, sauces, stews, curries or processed in pickles and chutneys.

High quality, small roots can be harvested at finger size for deep orange-red carrots with a sweet flavour and virtually no core. Great for growing with children's help!

Origins from 1500 BC.

Cipolline flat onion.

Sweet flavor and white skin.

Suited for raw and cooked foods. 

Shape: Distinctively flattened and disk-like, resembling a button.

Size: Compact, usually around 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Color: Delicate pale golden-yellow outer skin.

Flavor: Mild and naturally sweet, intensifying with cooking.

Skin: Thin and almost translucent, which can make peeling a bit tricky.

Origin: Native to Boretto, a town near Parma in northern Italy.

Culinary Uses: Ideal for pickling, roasting, braising, or caramelizing due to their rich, sweet flavor.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is an herb from the mint family. The leaves, which have a mild lemon aroma, are used to make medicine and flavor foods. Lemon balm contains chemicals that seem to have a sedative and calming effect. It might also reduce the growth of some viruses and bacteria.

What Does Lemon Balm Taste Like? This aromatic member of the mint family has a bright, citrusy taste that brings together the acidity of lemon with subtle hints of mint. Both the stems and fresh leaves of lemon balm have a subtly sweet flavor and can be used in food preparation and medicine.

Scarlet kale is delicious cut in fine ribbons for kale salad and is a nutritious addition to soups and stews. Grow plenty and harvest some at baby stage, leave others to grow big and frilly, picking individual medium-sized leaves and tender stems. Add mulch for harvest into the winter months—an ornamental edible for containers, veggie gardens, and mixed borders.

Remarkably attractive dark green kale with red veined, frilly, tightly curled leaves. A vigorous performer with good cold tolerance. Leaves darken to deep scarlet in late season. Begin harvesting leaves when young, and allow plant to grow well into the early winter.

Scarlet Kale is an open-pollinated, curled variety with deep red color that intensifies in cooler weather. Multiple harvests for continued productivity. Brassica oleracea. 65 days to maturity.

The broad, frilly, purple leaves grow on 2–3' tall, upright stalks. Red color on a blue-green background, as compared to the red color on a bright green background of Redbor. Scarlet plant height is not quite as uniform as Redbor. Great for baby leaf and bunching.

Lifecycle: Biennial

Zone: 8,9,10

Hardiness: Hardy Annual

Size: 2' h x 2' w

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Rich, moist, well-drained

Season: Summer to fall

Seed to Bloom: 50-60 days to harvest (30 baby)

Color: Dark purple red foliage