They sprout from late March / mid-April
Valerian sprouts anew every year, a perennial that has helped many people with its calming effect. Budding begins with the leaves between the end of March and mid-April.
also read
- Harvest, dry and use valerian
- Chives: Using the leaves and flowers
- Valerian - grow this medicinal herb yourself
External characteristics of the leaves
The leaves look rather inconspicuous. Nevertheless, they are distinctive. Once you know what the leaves look like, you will be able to recognize valerian well in the future. They have the following characteristics:
- unpaired pinnate
- light green to mint green in color
- weakly hairy
- arranged opposite
- about 20 cm long
Let's take a closer look at the leaves. The lower leaves form a rosette at the base. They are stalked. The leaves of the valerian get smaller and smaller towards the top. They no longer have stems, but are sitting on the stem. The stem itself stands upright, is brown to reddish brown in color and is hollow.
The stalks to which the individual leaflets adhere are narrow. The 5 to 23 leaflets are between 6 and 12 cm long. They are lanceolate to oval, pointed at the end, wedge-shaped at the base and slightly serrated at the edges. The leaflets are less common with entire margins.
Can you eat the leaves and how do they taste?
Valerian leaves are edible. They are tastiest when they shoot fresh. Their taste is reminiscent of lamb's lettuce. But with increasing age, i.e. towards the flowering time, the leaves taste less good.
Due to the waning aroma towards flowering, if you want to collect the leaves, you should only harvest them until the long flower stalks shoot up towards the end of April. But basically the leaves can be picked from April to October.
Other uses for the leaves
the harvested Leaves should ideally be used when they are fresh. Since they taste similar to lamb's lettuce, they can be used to enrich salads. They are also suitable fresh for smoothies and stews. They can also be tasted straight from the plant.
If you have dried the leaves, you can use them for tea in coarsely crumbles. To do this, take about 1 teaspoon full of the dried leaves and pour them in a tea strainer with 125 ml of boiling water. The tea tastes mildly spicy.
Tips
As soon as the long stem with the flower shoots up, it is best not to harvest the leaves. Then most of the power of the plant (this includes the ingredients) is in that blossom passed over.