Udo
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| Exposure: | ☼ | ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
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| Water: | ◍ | ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property. |
Read about Udo in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Udo, a spring blanched vegetable introduced in 1903 by Lathrop and Fairchild from Japan; it is Aralia cordata, and for botanical description see page 344, Vol. I. The plant is a sturdy hardy perennial, and the strong young shoots are blanched as they grow; these shoots are used as a cooked vegetable or as a salad. It is a plant of ancient and widespread cultivation in Japan, where there are distinct strains or varieties of it. The cultivation of udo in this country is in its amateur stage for the most part, although it has been grown by the acre in the Sacramento Valley. The following account is chosen from Bulletin No. 84 of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1914, written by David Fairchild. "There is no doubt that the udo is worthy of adding to our list of spring vegetables, for it is easily grown, its shoots are readily blanched, and it requires little care. A patch of it can be forced every spring for at least six years, and probably much longer. When properly prepared its blanched shoots are delicious; they have their own characteristic flavor, can be prepared for the table in a great variety of ways, and are keenly appreciated by people of discriminating taste. Space for space, udo will yield about the same amount of food for the table as asparagus and will be ready for use at about the same time in the spring, more labor is required to blanch the shoots of the udo than those of asparagus, but the udo is probably somewhat easier to take care of and yields sooner." Udo is readily grown from seeds placed in a greenhouse or coldframe, sown 1/4 inch deep in March or April. When 3 to 4 inches high, the plants are set in the open ground, standing 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart each way; often they will be 6 feet high by autumn. When it is desired to propagate a particular strain, cuttings may be made of the green shoots taken when about 3/8 inch in diameter and cut 5 inches or more long, the lower end being severed just below a joint. The stout young shoots are blanched as they emerge from the ground. In mild climates, earth may be mounded over them, but a large drain-tile placed over the mound provides a better method for the home garden. This method "has at least one disadvantage, however, in that the shoots have a tendency to leaf out and produce a number of unopened leafstalks which take away from the robust growth of the shoots. A method which has obviated this defect in using tiles is to put around each hill a deep box or small half cask from which the bottom has been removed and fill it with light sand or such a light material as sifted coal-ashes. Shoots which come up through such a medium are almost free from the elongated leafstalks which are developed when the shoots are produced in the dark air-chambers under the tiles. Care must be taken in any method of mounding up or filling in dirt or ashes over the crowns that the shoots do not break through into the sunlight, for as soon as they do this they become green and take on a rank objectionable flavor. Properly grown udo shoots produced from three-year-old plants should be from 12 to 18 inches long and 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches in diameter at their bases. "After the removal of the crop of udo shoots in the spring, the crowns of the plants should be completely uncovered and the plants allowed to grow normally throughout the summer, but they should not be permitted to flower unless seed is required, the flower- clusters being pinched or cut back as they form." For use, the shoots are first boiled in salt-water for ten minutes or so and the water changed to remove the turpentine flavor. An hour's stay in ice-water will remove the resin from the shoots, provided they are cut into thin slices or shavings; the slices may then be used in salads without cooking. It is used also in soups, and on toast. CH
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Udo. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Udo QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)
