[Image description: the very first growth from a Lindera benzoin seed has just emerged]
Here's a shot of one of the hundreds of seeds I transplanted yesterday. Lindera benzoin is also known as spicebush and is a critical plant for the spicebush swallowtail butterfly
We had them cold stratifying (a process that involves storing at low temperatures to overcome seed dormancy) in a five gallon bucket in a roughly 3 foot/ 1 meter pile of wood chips from the drop we had last year. They were stored in a substrate of aged wood chips, compost, rabbit droppings, and biochar we had soaked in our duck pond by using a recycled onion sack.
They were removed from the bucket and transferred to an air prune box, where we'll grow them for a year before planting a good portion of them on the property and (fingers crossed) sell the rest to pay for my plant addiction.
- Edit to show how cool the spicebush swallowtail is
Would you be willing to share how you like to use them? I'm planning to give some to family and would like to have a few things they can do with them
Sure! I mostly grind dried parts of them into spice mixes, i.e. seeds, bark, leaves. It's got kind of a peppery, citrussy, piney flavor. I like it in pancakes, yogurt, curry, tea... lotsa stuff.
Rad, thank you! Most of what I've seen elsewhere has focused on using the berries so knowing that the other parts can be used as well is awesome
Oh yeah! And what's even more fun, each part has a slightly different flavor. Even the berries taste different green vs red, with vs without seed, etc. It's really versatile.