Samphire
Crithmum maritimum

Uses: Culinary/Medicinal/Aromatic	Duration: Perennial (hardy in zones 8-10)
When to Sow: Spring	Ease of Germination: Moderate

(Sea fennel) Aromatic herb found growing along European seashores. Succulent leaves are delicious boiled with salt and pickled in vinegar and spices. Herbalists have long extolled the beneficial effects of pickled samphire on the digestive system. Has potential in the treatment of obesity. Good diuretic. Does best in sandy or gravelly soil. Height 30-60cm/1-2ft.

A native wild flower to be found on precarious cliff faces or in shingle by the sea, it is a small bushy plant with fleshy, grey-green foliage divided into very narrow leaflets, and bearing in summer umbels of yellowish-green flowers. The whole plant is "of a spicie taste with a certaine saltnesse" and long held in great repute as a salad ingredient particularly when turned into a warm aromatic pickle. Chopped and mixed with olive oil and lemon juice, the leaves make an excellent salad dressing

Germination Instructions

Sow under glass in spring or autumn. Surface sow onto moist, well-drained seed compost. Just cover seed with a sprinkling of soil. After sowing water from the base only. Place in a cold frame. Keep moist but not wet at all times. Germination takes 7-10 days approx. Transplant seedlings when large enough to handle to 8cm pots and grow on. Acclimatise and plant out after danger of frost has passed. Autumn sowings should be planted out the following spring.

Growing Instructions

Prefers a moist, light, sandy soil in full sun. Requires saline conditions to do well and plants are best grown in coastal locations, will tolerate a very well-drained poor soil. If the soil is too rich the plant will become floppy.

Cultivation Instructions

Harvest using scissors once the plants have become well developed. Harvest only young growth, older growth can be woody. Water the plant well after harvesting.