Words + Images

The other cool thing about indoor gardening these past few months has been discovery.  When heart shaped leaves began springing up in my pots in the soil I had taken from the landlord’s garden, I thought that they were clover.

Some of the patches of what I thought was clover were so thick that I decided to scoop them up and plant them in their own tiny pots, a bit of green to help us stay sane this long winter. The leaves tasted a bit like lemon.

By mid-March the greenery had begun to flower, small bright yellow blooms that quickly spread their petals and then just as quickly faded away.  No blooms like I’d ever seen in the clover I remembered from my childhood in Virginia.  Still, I described the plant as clover.  But when the seed pods formed, I realized I should probably do my homework.

No clover do I have growing in the kitchen and other sunny nooks.  With search terms including shape of leaves, color of flowers and seed pods, I was able to discover it is wild sorrel, or in this case, yellow wood sorrel.  Still edible, thank goodness.  I doubt I’ll ever grow enough to reproduce the recipes I’ve found but it is a fun journey nevertheless.

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