All the Dirt on Gardening

If you ask a flower gardener about Sorrel they will describe lavender or pink-flowering, shamrock-like plants growing in their woodland gardens. Ask a vegetable gardener about Sorrel, though, and you will hear about a reliable perennial vegetable used to flavor salads, soup, sauces, seafood, and egg dishes such as spinach-sorrel quiche. A few gardeners call sorrel a weed that but they are usually  thinking of a different red sorrel, commonly called sheep’s sorrel or sour weed. Part of the problem is the confusion about identification. There are 200 dock and sorrel genus members including annual, biennial and perennial herbs, so it is easy to blame one or two for all the problems. The leaves of sorrels cultivated for cooking have a lemony-citrus flavor like kiwi fruit, that is loved by chefs. The leaves vary in shape and color based on variety, but they are all loose-leaf greens that tolerate more heat than spinach making them an ideal addition to the herb or veget...