Friday, October 12, 2012

Learning About Lovage with Kathleen at The Village Herb Shop!

Lovage in the Herb Garden!  Looking Good!

The Herb Garden at the Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, OH!

We Made a Seasoning for Soup and a Rub for Vegetables and Chicken Using Lovage!
Well, my herbal companion, Bonnie and I went up to Chagrin Falls to take another wonderful class on a specific herb, lovage from our favorite herbal goddess, Kathleen Gips.  Bonnie and I have both used lovage before.  We just wanted to make sure that we were using it wisely.  We got to try a carrot and lovage soup and a small sandwich of tuna salad made with lovage made by Kathleen's staff member, Heather.  I'm going to make a version of cream of carrot and lovage soup and a cornbread recipe that I will use as part of a post for Mother Earth Living magazine tomorrow.  Got to start somewhere.

Lovage is a perennial herb from Zones 5 to 8.  It needs a large space in the garden.  Once you plant it and it is in the ground for several years, it takes a piece of machinery to get it out.  It needs four to six hours to grow.  I love it because it is a true spring time herb.  It has a celery smell and flavor but a stronger depth of flavor.  In many European countries, it was thought to have special powers as a love charm or an aphrodisiac.

Lovage was a very important cooking and salad herb in the middle ages.  It is up early in the garden.  I have dried leaves between two pieces of paper toweling that gives it a scent of lovage as a bonus.  Once dried (If they aren't completely dried, they will turn moldy!), lovage can be stored in a glass jar or plastic container.  Leaves also freeze well.  It doesn't have much of a flower.  Lovage is grown for its leaves.  Once it flowers and goes to seed, cut and dry the seeds to be used like celery seeds.  Very flavorful.  Because it is a stronger flavor than celery, it can be used in soups, eggs, salads and stuffing.  The hollow stems can be used as a straw for beverages both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.  It can also be used in vinegars, butters and pulverize two cups of fresh lovage leaves with one cup of water in a blender.  Freeze in ice cube trays and use one cube per pot of soup.  It was a great herb day in Chagrin Falls with Kathleen of The Village Herb Shop.

Going to be another cold one tonight.  Hopefully, the herbs will make it one more cold night so I have a bit more time to harvest.  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sister and I will be visiting Kathleen tomorrow.

Carol said...

I knew there was an herb I was supposed to plant this year and couldn't remember what it was. You woke up that braincell :0) Writing it done this time ♥

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

You will have a great time, Kathy.

Glad to help out your brain cells, Carol!

Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh said...

Being an Ohio born person I would love to visit that shop. However, I moved away before it opened and do not get back much! I have had to correspond with Kathleen on the internet instead. I am so envious.
Sounds like you had fun.
Marcy

Leanne said...

Thanks I've never grow lovage and did ummm and arr about putting it in my herb order.
I don;t think it is shipped until Monday so will send an email to see if it can still be added.
Looking forward to meeting Lovage!
Love Leanne

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Marcy, you have to go and visit and meet Kathleen in person. You would love her. xxoo Nancy

Glad I could introduce you to a new herb, Leanne. xxoo Nancy

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Honey, love the lovage and just tucked a couple into a huge pot for future harvest.

Having dinner with Betsy Williams and Ned tonight. Can't wait. Had dinner with the Heirloom Gardener, John Forti of Strawberry Banke last night in Portsmouth. We went to The Black Trumpet and WOWOWOW. What a meal. Indescribable.

See you soon.

Love,

Sharon

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Sounds like you are going to roll into Cincinnati with all of that good food. Maybe the good friends tempers the calories! xxoo Nancy

seanymph said...

I love lovage! I grew it one yr when I lived in Ca. and fell madly in love. I dried all the leaves I could. But now up here in OR. I cant even find a plant. I tried seeds but I suck at seed starting lol. Guess Ill have to keep trying...gosh why didnt I think to use it in a rub>? Its awesome in soups, seems to blend all the flavors and give the soup some body. And I always put it in my tuna salad.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

You hit the nail on the head, seanymph. I'm sorry you can't seem to find lovage in your area. Maybe next year you can find it near you. I looked at Nichols and they only had seeds (and I completely understand about starting seeds) and Thyme Garden had seeds as well. Thanks for stopping by.