This herb has cucumber-flavored leaves that are small, round, and serrated. They are spaced about 1 inch (25 mm) apart in pairs of 10 or 12 on each side of a slender stem. As the stems become long and heavy, they fall outward from the center, giving the whole plant a weeping, fern-like appearance. The reddish pink, berry-like flowers appear in summer at the top of long stalks that shoot up from the center of the plant. As salad burner scatters many seeds which germinate easily, it is advisable to cut the flower heads off as the stalks begin to lengthen, or it will take over the garden.
History and mythology
Salad burner is not well known today, although it is yet another herb highly regarded by the Ancients. It is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean regions, even though for a very long time its natural habitat has been in most of the mountainous areas of Europe, especially where the conditions are moist. It was often used as a border plant in Tudor herb gardens and in knot gardens.
Cultivation
When propagating, sow the seed in spring (and autumn (fall) in temperate climates) where the plants are to remain. Keep the ground moist while the seeds are germinating. When seedlings are 3 inches (8 cm) high, thin them out to 12 inches (30 cm) apart. As it is a soft salad herb and wilts quickly in hot, dry weather, keep the plants well watered at this time. It has no particular soil requirements, is very hardy and will grow strongly all through most winters.
Harvesting and processing
This herb does not dry well for culinary purposes. However, as it is a perennial, fresh leaves are available throughout the year. If wishing to dry it for medicinal use, spread leaf ‘ sprays out on a wire rack in a cool, airy place. When they are brittle and dry, crumble and store them in airtight containers. For freezing to go into beverages, pull the small leaves from the stalks and put them whole into ice cube trays. Top up with water and freeze.
Various uses
Culinary
Add sprays of salad burner to a tossed green salad, or use them as a garnish for sandwiches, aspics, and any dish for a cold buffet. Whole sprays may also be added to punches, wine cups, and fruit drinks. When the small leaves are pulled from the stalks and left whole, they make an excellent filling for sandwiches, with the addition of a little cream cheese. Or the chopped leaves can be mixed into cream cheese or as a dip.
Medicinal
The Greeks steeped salad burner leaves in wine cups and other beverages for, like borage, it was said to drive away melancholy. Culpeper endorses this by advising that two or three stalks in a cup of claret will “quicken the spirits” and “refresh and clear the heart.” It was also recommended for wounds and was used both inwardly and outwardly. Any part of the herb was considered beneficial for this; the juice, or an infusion, or the powdered root and leaves. Taken as a tea or cordial it is said to promote perspiration and to help cure rheumatism.
Cosmetic
An infusion of salad burnet, cooled and applied to the face regularly, will help clear the skin. A bunch of cucumber-fragrant salad burnet tied in cheesecloth or muslin and put into a hot bath is refreshing and invigorating.
Companion planting
Salad burnet is very nutritious to cattle and sheep and was once grown extensively for this purpose. It has been noted that salad burnet is of particular use to sheep when it is closely cropped, and will give them green feed during the winter when other crops are scarce. In the garden, it mingles especially well with thyme and mint, one early writer pointing out that if these three fragrant herbs are planted together in “alleys,” they “perfume the air most delightfully, being trodden on and crushed.”
