Hi this is Jamie at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and I wanted to talk to you today about burdock
root and chicory root. And even though it's not quite time to harvest the roots yet, the
reason I wanted to show you this today is because the burdock is flowering and it's
so beautiful. Now usually the burdock flower is purple, but notice this is a white one.
So this a burdock plant that I found out on my farm, and it's taken two years, because
they flower on the second year. So I harvested the seed and we grew- we tested the root and
you might remember last fall we dug the roots and it was- these are our burdock boxes and
it hit all the way to the bottom of the box. So the Japanese grow burdock in these long
boxes and there's a single panel on the front, and you lay the box down, you pop the panel
off, and then you can pull the root out. So if you've ever tried to grow burdock, you
know it's really hard to dig. Some people, if you're digging it at home, you dig a hole
next to the burdock, and pull the root over. This is a lot easier and you get long roots.
Burdock is a really tasty root, it caramelizes really well, and it's really good for liver
and kidney issues. So this one, since it's the second year, and it's flowering, we wouldn't
harvest this particular one for the roots. You harvest the first year, in the fall, some
time between fall and spring, is when you harvest for the root. This one I wanted to
make sure that it was gonna grow true to seed and it's white, so I'll save all this seed.
And if you're saving burdock seed, it has a very, um, it's almost like fiberglass in
the seed head. So what you can do is when it's mature, put- wear really long gloves,
submerge it in the water and break it open underwater, and let the hairs float on top
and then you can pour it off and pour the seed out. You can also roll the leaves up-
the smaller leaves up, and put it in vinegar for like stings and burns. And I also wanted
to show you the chicory. So this I dug up this morning at home. The chicory has a beautiful
blue flower, and a lot of people know that the chicory root is used to make a New Orleans
style coffee. And this one grew in pure rock, so the roots weren't very big, but if you
were to grow chicory in something like this, or in softer soil, you can get bigger roots.
So the chicory root, you're going to harvest in the fall, some time between the fall and
the spring, so it's a little bit sweeter. And what you want to do is you wash it, chop
it first and then dry it. Because if you try to dry roots- try to chop roots when they're
dry, it's like trying to chop a brick. So you want to dry it and then roast it in the
oven. After about 20 minutes, start checking it, and about 40 minutes to an hour. Then
you can store it and grind it as needed. You don't need very much. And also I wanted to
show you- this is called a jeweler's loupe- L O U P E- and it magnifies the flower 10
times. And I wish that you could see what I see when I look through this. So you put
it- you put the thumb on your face, and you put it right to your eye, and you come down
until you can see it, and focus. And it opens up a whole new world. The burdock flowers,
and the chicory flowers and actually the Queen Anne's lace flowers are my favorite. And I
got this one from an herbalist at Scorpio Rising Botanicals and she makes these really
pretty chains. But this is a really fun thing if you're going to start getting into herbs.
People tend to confuse dandelion and chicory before it flowers. So if you notice, there's
a little bit of hair on the back of the stem for the chicory. You can still eat the chicory
leaf- its edible, but it's not going to taste as good as the dandelion. Anyway, I hope that
you all try burdock. The roots are really delicious, they're super good for you. They
sell them under the name gobo in some international markets. Just chop it up, caramelize it, cook
it in a little bit of oil and make a soup with it. We have burdock online right now
and hopefully in a couple years we'll have this white flower burdock. Happy root harvesting!
Thank you!