{"id":622,"date":"2012-07-04T17:42:31","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T16:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/?p=622"},"modified":"2023-08-14T18:23:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T17:23:25","slug":"lovage-a-versatile-herb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/","title":{"rendered":"Lovage a versatile herb"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many of you may not be familiar with the plant Lovage [Levisticum officinale]. It is a hardy perennial herb, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/11-herb-seeds\">you can find all our perennial and annual herb seeds here<\/a>, which can be grown from seeds and it has been cultivated in Britain for many hundreds of years, it has it&#8217;s origins in the Mediterranean. The name &#8216;Lovage&#8217; is said to come from the word &#8216;Love-Ache&#8217; which is a medieval name for parsley, who&#8217;s leaves it resembles. Other old names for Lovage are &#8216;love-parsley&#8217; and &#8216;mountain-parsley&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Lovage is in the Umbelliferae family along with Parsley, Carrot, Celery and Angelica. Lovage has a strong celery type flavour, but is more aromatic, with a deep spiciness.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/herb-seeds\/209-lovage-100-seeds.html\">Lovage<\/a> can be grown from seed\u00a0or from young plants which are widely available from garden centres.\u00a0 Plant in spring or autumn, mature plants can also be divided at these times. Plant in sun or semi shade.\u00a0 Lovage likes moisture, so don&#8217;t allow it to dry out.\u00a0 Add well rotted manure or garden compost when planting, and top dress each spring. Lovage is a strong tall growing plant that can reach up to 2 metres. My own plant regularly tops this height. \u00a0 Trim back foliage to encourage new tender growth, but leave a few stems to flower for the seeds. I cut the hollow dried stems and tie together and place in the hedge for ladybirds to hibernate in.<\/p>\n<p>All parts of the plant are edible and have many uses. Because of its rich flavour, in Germany it is known as &#8216;Maggikraut&#8217; and in Holland &#8216;Maggiplant&#8217; because the taste is reminiscent of &#8216;Maggi&#8217; soup seasoning.<\/p>\n<p>Young stems can be steamed.\u00a0 The peeled roots can be braised or added to soups and stews.\u00a0 The seeds used in breads, cakes and rice dishes.\u00a0 The chopped leaves can be used in any dish from salads to curries and soups<\/p>\n<p>Lovage has also been uses to make cordials and teas.\u00a0 It has been used as an antiseptic, and Lovage tea has been used to clean wounds. An infusion of the leaves can be used to aid tired feet, and leaves can be added to a warm bath.\u00a0 In cooking use sparingly as it is quite strong.<\/p>\n<p>* Caution: Lovage should not be taken during pregnancy or if suffering Kidney disease.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-624 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers-250x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers-250x300.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers-150x180.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers-300x360.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Leaf.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-625 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Leaf-207x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Leaf-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Leaf.jpg 552w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-646 alignleft\" title=\"Lovage-\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-1-219x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"219\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-1-219x300.jpg 219w, https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-1.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of you may not be familiar with the plant Lovage [Levisticum officinale]. It is a hardy perennial herb, you can find all our perennial and annual herb seeds here, which can be grown from seeds and it has been cultivated in Britain for many hundreds of years, it has it&#8217;s origins in the Mediterranean. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[85,7],"tags":[181,182],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lovage a versatile herb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lovage a versatile herb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of you may not be familiar with the plant Lovage [Levisticum officinale]. It is a hardy perennial herb, you can find all our perennial and annual herb seeds here, which can be grown from seeds and it has been cultivated in Britain for many hundreds of years, it has it&#8217;s origins in the Mediterranean. 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Moved to live in rural North Yorkshire in late teens. Moved back to the town in my 30's to live near Stockton on Tees. Then after a divorce and a serious accident I moved back to rural North Yorkshire near Thirsk, where I live now. I am a passionate gardener, a keen amateur photograper, I love travel, music, anything artistic and I have a great love of nature and the natural world. I have gardened since my teens and I lived and worked on a farm for years. I have owned or have experience with most pets and domestic animals. 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[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/","og_site_name":"Gardening Blog at Seed Parade - Growing Advice and General Gardening Help","article_published_time":"2012-07-04T16:42:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-14T17:23:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Lovage-Flowers-250x300.jpg"}],"author":"Helen Fowler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Helen Fowler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/","name":"Lovage a versatile herb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-07-04T16:42:31+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-14T17:23:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c68365bb3c0fb0e453be77e26a380b0f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/on-the-plot\/lovage-a-versatile-herb\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lovage a versatile herb"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Gardening Blog at Seed Parade - Growing Advice and General Gardening Help","description":"Gardening advice and seeds","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.seedparade.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c68365bb3c0fb0e453be77e26a380b0f","name":"Helen Fowler","description":"Born in Middlesbrough. 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