Borage

Tom has never taken much of an interest in my herb garden until the past few months.  Maybe it was all the work he did making those raised beds out of cement blocks that has spurred his interest.  At any rate, he bought some borage seed and planted it in plug trays.  The seedlings are now about 1.5 inches tall.  I think the real reason that he selected borage is because the flowers are edible and are good to mix into salads.

In the past, I have grown several different kinds of lettuce and salad greens that I mixed together to sell as "spring mix".  This was a highly popular item with our farmers market customers.  Last year, however, was kind of a bust in this area because I was not able to handle moving AND taking care of my salad greens.  So, most of them perished due to neglect.  Tom, I think, is determined to help me out this year and has planted some arugula, kale, beet greens, and several kinds of lettuce in addition to starting these borage seedlings. 

So, I have been reading about borage.  If you want to know what it looks like, here is a picture.  Notice the lovely, cheerful blue flowers.

However, from what I am learning about borage, borage has other uses as well as its flowers.  Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs states that borage "brings joy as a flavoring in foods" and that "it has a crisp cucumber flavor".  The leaves can be used raw, steamed or sauteed like spinach.  The stems can be peeled, chopped and used like celery.  The flowers  can be candied and used as decorations for pastries.

Several sources I read mentioned borage being used as a cure for melancholy and to aid courage.  One said that borage "brings peace to the home".  Whether or not those things are true, the fact that borage is almost constantly in bloom makes it very attractive for bees and other pollinating insects (which are very important to a garden).   So, I think Tom made a good choice and I'm looking forward to growing it and enjoying those beautiful little blue flowers in my garden.