Oyster Leaf

Wasn't sure how to plant this so I sunk some seeds 1/4" in my raised garden beds. Very slow to start and grow but at least I got a fairly good rate of germination (5 out of 6?) My plants have never gotten very big so I only now harvested a few leaves. The flavor is huge! I made some soup and added about 8 leaves along with other greens, and the broth tasted of the essence of oyster. I'm eager to try adding this to recipes with actual oyster, to see if I can boost flavor without adding more shellfish. Might make for an interesting border plant as well, as the tiny blue flowers are pretty.

I bought two envelopes of these seeds, hoping to have a new crop to offer to my chef customers, but no. My hoop house environment wasn't good for these plants and slugs decimated them right away. I'll try again next year but I'd love to hear from others who have grown it successfully! I hate to give it a bad rating, but need more planting info!

I stratified the seeds in sand in the refrigerator for several weeks, then planted them out. I didn't expect to see any sprout, but, to my surprise (stratification still seems like magic) several did. I know they like sandy soil, but don't know how much to water them, fertilize, etc. I do know they do not like being handled much, so I transplanted two, each to a large container filled with succulent mix and topped with ground oyster shells to keep them relatively cool. Very slow growth; one looked half-dead, so I transplanted it back into a plastic pot and took another sprout and carefully put it in the container with the succulent mix.There is so little info on this plant, it would be great if there were more info on the package. The flavor is great; I cut a very tiny piece off a leaf and tasted it; it was very salty and seaweedy.

I love this plant. Tastes amazingly like oysters. I first tried this on a tour of the French Laundry’s private garden.