RE: [gardeners] Downsizing Garden
cvinson@mindspring.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 24 Nov 1998 15:17:28 -0500
Margaret wrote:
Grim Fandango, eh? Did you finish your Internet Tomatas? How about the
herb book I've heard you were writing? The curry plant I've always been
told, even by nursery people, is strictly ornamental, seems to be edible in
your lexicon. I don't know your source for that. What do you have on the
edibility of Tagetes minuta, given that it's a nematocide and herbicide? A
friend claims it's very popular in Peru, for instance, in a dish called
Huacatay. I suggested he not eat much of it at a time. Of course epazote
is a vermifuge, and that's eaten too. Margaret
1. Both book manuscripts are due next August...I'm scribbling and
scrambling.
2. Source on edibility of curry plant is HSA (Herb Society of America) and
various cookbooks.
3. Tagetes minuta (Mexican marigold) is NOT the same as Mexican Tarragon
(Tagetes lucinda) aka "Sweet Mace". T. lucinda is TP, frequently used as
alternative to French tarragon. Tagetes minuta is a giant, mostly
insecticidal marigold with inconspicuous green-yellow flowers. The roots are
used to discourage nematodes (and some say they will also kill bindweed). My
understanding is that T. minuta isn't harmful when eaten--just not terribly
tasty to the typical 'murican palate. So, maybe you don't need to be a
prophet of doom and gloom for your friend who enjoys its taste.
Catharine