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Alfalfa
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Posted by Daisyduckworth NSWAust (My Page) on Fri, Sep 17, 04 at 3:40
| Like many people, I've grown alfalfa as sprouts. But now I learn that it is the mature leaves which are used medicinally. (The sprouts are simply used as a dietary adjunct.) Has anyone grown alfalfa for the leaves - in the home garden, not as a fodder crop? When to sow the seeds? When is the best time for harvesting the leaves? What soil and climate conditions do the plants prefer? Has anyone used the leaves (not sprouts) for cooking - how?
And, since info on the WWW is conflicting, is alfalfa an annual or a perennial? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Alfalfa
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Did a little Googling and it seems there are at least two known cultivars. It is listed as both annual and perennial and so probably this is climate dependent.
Must confess that its medicinal uses have turned me right off eating alfalfa sprouts! The leaves though are less "toxic" though that's too strong a term.
I sowed it last year in one garden bed as a part of an insect attracting strategy (which worked well by the way) and now it's coming up here and there, from seed dispersal I guess. It's not in plague proportions though so I'm not worried by it. |
RE: Alfalfa
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| We call Alfalfa Lucerne here in SA. Medicago sativa is grown a lots as a green manure crop for nitrogen fixation and between rows in vineyards for the same reason. |
RE: Alfalfa
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| I call it lucerne when used as a green manure crop and alfalfa for sprouts, don't know why. |
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