I thought only slugs & deer ate hostas :)

Hmmm...was not aware that you could eat hosta. I know daylily buds are edible, too, but I like them as flowers so much better.

I think my daylilies and my hosta will remain in the garden as I will enjoy them much more that way.

Linda

I don't even have any hostas that I could try to eat, the deer eat them here faster than people can slap them into the ground. I planted daffodils and lilies of the valley and bleeding heart, the deer won't eat any of those.

Maybe my neighbor wouldn't mind......nah, I'd better not "poach" their hostas or they'll kick me out of the neighborhood!

Annie

Then again, it's hard not to love something called Hosta Pasta.

Sorry, I am too anxious to have them unfurl into lovely leaves to be eating the shoots....and the rabbits better leave them alone too.
But I do put day lily flowers into my evening salad....after all by dark the flowers will be gone and I might as well eat them while they are still un-wilted.
Linda C

Now this I may have to try. I dug up a bunch to trash them, so I may just sautee them. Who knew?

Nope, not for me. I got rid of all my weed hostas and the ones in my garden are much too beautiful to eat. Besides, I like spinach.

Although, this Pineapple Upside Down Cake does look pretty tasty! lolololol

LOL! I was thinking Squash Casserole!

Great "dinner art" as usual, dcarch.

To paraphrase someone else, how can one not love "Hosta Pasta?"

Too bad they don't grow here.
I'll never have the chance to try it out.

Rusty

Much as I think these probably would taste good, I just can't do it as I have two dogs who spend a lot of time outside. I can't say with 100% certainty that they haven't, um, "watered" the hosta in my yard on occasion. Of course I would wash it first, but still...

OMG that's sacrilege lol!!!! Don't let anyone from the Hosta Forum find out you're eating their babies lol!!!

I heard that they eat young hosta leaves in Japan all the time. As a matter of fact, one of my hosta books talks about how they braise the shoots.

Mine are too fancy to even think about eating - my shade garden is chock full of hosta. I do have one plantaginea, however, I won't be eating it, only admiring it. But I guess if you have tons, why not?

I wonder if different hosta taste different or if they're all the same?

Lisa

There's a Hosta Forum? I'm not familiar with hostas at all - I guess they are not very drought tolerant. We're replanting our front yard in succulents, including several types of aloe plus some ice plants.

The pictures look nice, and I think they do look better cooked.

Lars

Yes - in the gardening section there's a hosta forum. You need to see a fully mature tokudama aureonebulosa! Just a gorgeous hosta that you wouldn't THINK of eating lol!!

I envy you Lars - I love the "structural" or "architectural" look of succulents, however, here in Boston we can't grow many of them. I pick up as many sedums as I can and also lots of hens n' chicks, which are poor substitutes altho I love them, but I'd love to plant some of the stuff warmer climates can enjoy. I just love that look. Good luck with your yard!

Lisa

So the implication here is that harvesting the young ones ruins the plant for the season? If so, I wish a lot of stuff that comes up in my yard could be defeated so easily!

FOAS, me too. I eat the young and tender dandelion greens but it doesn't stop them from coming back bigger and better than ever.

Or maybe I just have so many I don't notice....

I've never planted a hosta, in part because the deer line up to eat them and there's no way to deter them, even here in town. So, they come for the hostas and they eat everything else in the yard.

I don't care so much because I don't have anything planted in my yard that I can't just run over with the lawn mower, but my neighbors get really excited when they spend a bunch of money for things that just become deer food. :-)

Annie

Dcarch, I just want to tell you that the top photo/food arrangement is my favorite of all you've posted.

I didn't know hostas were edible, either. There's so many varieties, are there some that are better for eating than others?

Around here, the slugs eat them - I call hostas "slug bait."

Sally

"The pictures look nice, and I think they do look better cooked"

LOL!

I totally agree!

Rusty

ItÂs my moral imperative that compels me to urge you to sample this superb herbaceous perennialÂs outstanding foliage. So delicious, so tender, so delicate, so sweet, so early in the season, so easy to grow in the shade. :-)

"Posted by foodonastump ------So the implication here is that harvesting the young ones ruins the plant for the season?------ "

Not at all. ItÂs like asparagus; you can keep harvesting the young shoots, up to a point.

"Posted by annie1992 ----- I've never planted a hosta, in part because the deer line up to eat them and there's no way to deter them-------"

I understand that hosta and venison go well together. :-)

"Posted by sally2 ----- Dcarch, I just want to tell you that the top photo/food arrangement is my favorite of all you've posted. "

Thanks Sally.

"I didn't know hostas were edible, either. There's so many varieties, are there some that are better for eating than others?

I only have one kind, so I donÂt know about the others.

"Around here, the slugs eat them - I call hostas "slug bait."

I understand hosta and escargot go even better together. :-)

"Posted by therustyone --------"The pictures look nice, and
I think they do look better cooked" LOL! I totally agree! Rusty"

In that case, let me make you another dish:

Prawns(Dendrobranchiata) in tomato/orange sauce (gravy?) with free-range :-) hosta shoots.

dcarch

OMG!

Drool. . . . . . . .

Prawns, one of my all time favorite foods. . ..

And the hosta looks plumb inviting and drool-worthy, too!
No 'think' to it, they DO look better cooked!

Rusty

After harvesting hosta leaves, do not wash them before cooking, because the snails and slugs on the undersides will add free protein to your meal.

Actually, in my zone 6, slugs don't show up for another couples of months. Since I don't use pesticides, the leaves are very clean. I just do a quick rinse and cook.

dcarch

dcarch,

Have you tried hosta & fiddleheads together in a stir-fry? Strikes me that they would make an attractive contrasting shape in your presentation? In my SE CT coastal garden, the ostrich ferns & early hosta appear at the same time. Too late this year. The plantaginea are unfurled & the ostrich ferns are 3' tall & growing fast already. I've made a note in my gardening journal for next spring to give it a try!

/tricia

Dcarch:
Will you cut that out. LOL !!! The last photo did it.
I'll get even, somehow.

Did you ever make a Dandelion Omelet. ???
Lou

"Posted by triciae ---------Have you tried hosta & fiddleheads together in a stir-fry? Strikes me that they would make an attractive contrasting shape in your presentation? ------/tricia"

No, I have not. ThatÂs an amazing idea! The taste of hosta is very much compatible with that of fiddlehead fernÂs. I am going to have to give that combination a try. The problem is the fern season is so short, only one or two weeks here in NY.

"Posted by hawk307 --------- Dcarch: Will you cut that out. LOL !!! The last photo did it. I'll get even, somehow. Did you ever make a Dandelion Omelet. ???
Lou"

Lou, LOL. Cooking is fun!
Do you have a recipe for Dendeliomelet?

dcarch

Made this hosta salad for dinner.

Young hosta shoots are wonderfully tasty and tender. In fact IMHO, they are better than endives. No wonder they are highly priced delicacies in Japan.

The next time I post more hosta dishes will be next spring.

dcarch

dcarch, nice looking dish! I just went Googling looking for nutritional info on plantaginea & came up empty. Do you, perhaps, know if they contain sufficient nutrients to seriously consider munching some of my plantaginea shoots? Are they comparable to other 'greens"? Also, do you eat them raw or always in a stir-fry type dish?

Mind you now, I've no intentions of eating my 'Blue Mouse Ears', 'Sagae' or 'Blue Angel'. lol I was, afterall, a gardener before I was a cook!

/tricia

Being French, I eat a lot of what Americans consider strange stuff but I sure don't eat my hostas. I treasure every precious shoot that comes up in my garden and I baby them right through the growing season. My heart is in mourning for those poor babies that are getting eaten. =(

I tell you, I have a totally crap yard but I have a few handfuls of hosta along the front walk. I've been eyeing them. A few days ago they are starting to look too tough, having survived my primal instincts. But today I noticed a few new shoots. And I looked at them.

Dcarch, wish you could at least recommend vericated or non...

FOAS,

"Dcarch, wish you could at least recommend vericated or non..."

Uh, that would, of course, be "variegated". Right, FOAS? ;)

/tricia

"Posted by triciae ---------------------dcarch, nice looking dish! I just went Googling looking for nutritional info on plantaginea & came up empty-Also, do you eat them raw or always in a stir-fry type dish? Mind you now, I've no intentions of eating my 'Blue Mouse Ears', 'Sagae' or 'Blue Angel'. lol I was, afterall, a gardener before I was a cook! Tricia"

I donÂt have any scientific information regarding the nutritional value of hostas. I would assume they are very nutritious, because they are consumed by many other animals. I have heard that the Japanese thinks they have aphrodisiac properties, which, I am not going to comment on one way or the other. It really doesnÂt matter to me, because they are delicious and I only enjoy them in the spring when nothing else is ready in the garden for consumption.

"Posted by dannie ---------------Being French, I eat a lot of what Americans consider strange stuff but I sure don't eat my hostas. I treasure every precious shoot that comes up in my garden and I baby them right through the growing season. My heart is in mourning for those poor babies that are getting eaten. =( "

I agree with you. You should not eat anything that you have an emotional attachment to, or something that are too expensive. The hostas I have grow wild in my garden, they are everywhere. As you know, you are not killing the plant by taking some new shoots in the spring, just like asparagus.

"Posted by foodonastump ---------. But today I noticed a few new shoots. And I looked at them. Dcarch, wish you could at least recommend vericated or non..."

I donÂt have the variegated fancy varieties, so I donÂt know. BTW, it is very easy to propagate hostas, just divide them and youÂll have many more plants.

dcarch

Tricia - Consider it a miracle I even sort of knew the word. My interest in gardening falls well below zero.

Is that plain old uncooked ramen noodles in that photo? Yuck! It ruins the whole thing. Other than that, the food styling is great. The flatware adds lots of pizazz to the photo

bkay