Borage

[T-Bird]

anyone use borage leaves for anything? What do you do with it?


Heard both leaves and flowers are edible....one of the true blue edibles - borage flowers.

[verbena]

personally i wouldn't want to eat the leaves as they are very hairy. i'd imagine that very young leaves wouldn't be too bad and i've heard they taste of cucumber. could be a nice addition to a salad?

[kaybee]

wow do you have flowers ALREADY!? lucky! the flowers are gorgeous in salads or soups :) or as garnishes. the leaves are edible too, although ive seen some places warn about borage in the same way they warn about comfrey. i think the two are related. im not really worried about it though. susan weed says that she had a certain common variety of comfrey's leaves tested for whatever it is that people say is the "toxic" ingredient in them but that they were free of it in that variety, that its only in the roots--alkaloids, i think. i think everything in moderation. funny that theres warnings about things like comfrey, but the fda or whomever doesnt bother to post warnings on things with high fructose corn syrup, or msg or whatever, which i bet are alot more harmful than the stuff in most herbs, when used in moderation. i like comfrey and borage and use a few leaves chopped finely in salads along with alot of other things, and sometimes eat the leaves right off the plant. the hairyness doesnt bother me and the flavor is mild and they are tender greens. . i particularly like the borage flowers because out of the 3 easy to grow edible flowers--borage ,nasturtiam, and calendula, borage is the only mild one. i find calendula bitter and nasturtium very hot/spicy.

[streetsurfer]

Borage is such a cool looking flower...I like how they change hue and color as the age, through the blues and into purple/pink.
http://rawfoodtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=233&pictureid=1528
I mostly just snack on them when outdoors, but have added them to salads and drinks on occassion. I did save seeds last year to sprout some greens, but never got around to it. Maybe now that I'm reminded of it, it'll happen.