Property News · July 3, 2016

Gardens: one of your five a dahlia


It’s a delicious Aztec root veg that you probably have in your garden. Who ever knew you could eat dahlias?As a botanist with a specialist research interest in edible plants, I am fascinated by the origins of the world’s crops. With an estimated 50,000 edible plant species on the planet, what made the first people to domesticate the wild ancestors of the tiny handful of crops we rely on today choose them above others? Why have some conquered the planet, while others (which are equally tasty and nutritious) languish in obscurity? But above all, what causes some once prized foods that held great promise as global crops essentially disappear from the human diet in over a century or two? For me, a classic example of this conundrum is a delicious Aztec root veg that you probably have in your garden, but have no idea you can eat: dahlias.The starchy sweet potato-like tubers of this old school ornamental plant were first grown by the Meso American cultures who brought us exotic chocolate, vanilla and chillies, but also classic “British” crops such as beans, pumpkins, marrows and sweetcorn. Originally introduced to the UK as a promising edible alongside other everyday favourites, sadly this plant is only known today for its aesthetic appeal. After hundreds of years of western breeding, do today’s dahlias still make good eating? Or have their edible virtues been lost after years of selecting for other traits? Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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