Some people might call this a weed (Sorrel)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Sorrel
Date:	25/07/07 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to grow

Disadvantages: bit of a weed

Sorrel.
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Rumex acetosa Common sorrel also known as spinach dock, Ambada bhaji 'Cuckoo's-meate' or in Scotland 'gowkemeat.' Is a native plant of England it is also common in a lot of Europe. Sorrel is not fussy about the soil it grows in; it thrives well in damp meadows where the soil is rich in iron.

Eating / cooking with sorrel
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This plant is not normally grown as a crop or in the garden. There is only a small market for Sorrel. You can eat sorrel as a salad leaf, or you can cook it like spinach. I believe it’s a bitter, acid taste can taste like vinegar. R. scutatus (French sorrel) is the sorrel eaten, the taste milder the leaves juicier. There are several sorrel recipes at http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=7999 7 if you want to try some.
Animals like, sheep, deer and horses will graze on sorrel. The caterpillar of the small copper butterfly will eat common sorrel, sheep sorrel and dock leaves .

Medicinal uses
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Sorrel has /is used in folk medicine. Sorrel contains vitamin C. Apparently its good for scurvy, it works well as a tonic, is cooling .Sorrel kills intestinal worms. Is good for treating boils acne and other skin rashes. It quenches the thirst and stimulates the appetite. But be warned do check this out properly as there are contraindications that as it contains oxalic acid you should not eat too much as it can cause kidney stones. And gastric upset. Sorrel should not be consumed by those with gout, kidney stones, or a history of kidney disease, arthritis, and rheumatism.
See
http://www.herbalremedies.com/garden-sorrel-infor mation.html#1 for good information about its medicinal use.

What Sorel looks like
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Sorrel grows to about 2 feet tall it has this juicy stems that has several stems branching from it .The leaves are long they are oblong , shaped a bit like an arrow at the base. The leaves are a dark green sometimes red coloured. Sorrel flowers inn June and July, the flowers grow on whorled spikes. The flowers are a rusty red or green. The seeds are brown.
, a slender plant about 2 feet high, with juicy stems and leaves, and whorled spikes of reddish-green flowers, which give colour, during the months of June and July, to the grassy spots in which it grows.

Sorrel is a perennial with long roots deep in the ground. The sorrel is either male or female so needs to be near other sorrel have fertile seeds. However sorrel is easily propagated by roots cuttings.

I have a couple of plants in the garden . I shall let them stay there to see the small copper will breed here, will srve some in a mixed leaf salad one day if

Summary: Some people might call this a weed