How to grow Good King Henry

How to grow Good King Henry - Description

Good King Henry has been grown as a vegetable in cottage gardens for hundreds of years, and until recently this dual-purpose vegetable was rarely grown and the species was more often considered a weed and is also a naturalised wild flower.
It is an easily grown plant with juicy, arrow-shaped leaves of good flavour, cooked and eaten like Spinach (preferred by some to that vegetable) or added raw to salads.
The young shoots can be blanched and used like Asparagus.
It well deserves a corner of the kitchen garden and, being a perennial, it can be left there for years.
About 30 plants can produce a good supply of food for 4 people.
It is an annual or perennial plant growing up to 40–80 cm high.
The leaves are 5-10 cm long and broad, triangular to diamond-shaped, with a pair of broad pointed lobes near the base, with a slightly waxy, succulent texture.
The flowers are produced in a tall, nearly leafless spike 10–30 cm long; each flower is very small (3–5 mm diameter), green, with five sepals.
The seeds are reddish-green, 2–3 mm diameter.
Tolerates some frost.
Usually self-seeds readily.
As with many of the wild plants, it does not always adapt itself to a change of soil when transplanted from its usual habitat and success is more often ensured when grown from seed.

Good King Henry is a member of the Beetroot Family, and it is recommended that it should not be grown in the same soil as other family members for at least three years.

It should be planted in a fertile, sunny spot which is free from perennial weeds.
Grows in most fairly moist soils and prefers full sun, but will grow in dappled shade.
Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 8.3.
The soil should be well dug to a good depth and manure applied plentifully.
The bed should be well raked smooth, and allowedto settle for several weeks before sowing the seed.

Seeds should be sown in April in drills 1 cm deep and 50 cm apart. The seedlings should then be thinned to 30 cm.
Otherwise, to get an early start on the weather, sow in early spring into seed trays, cover in perlite and plant out in late spring 30cm apart when they are large enough to handle.

The plants should be regularly weeded and well watered. Typically, very little is produced in the first season.
The bed should be well manured each spring, or mulched and a generous supply of multi-purpose fertilizer, such as Blood, Fish and Bone, applied as soon as the new shoots appear.
Manure water is of great assistance in dry weather, or a light dressing of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia may be given.
The bed should be kept clear of competing weeds, and a mulch of wood chip will assist greatly.
The foliage can be finally cut down in autumn, and a mulch, such as leaf mould or well-rotted compost applied to the plot if not already mulched.
Good King Henry doesn't suffer from most common pests or disease, so while it won't give you much food in the first year, it won't give you any trouble either.

Good King Henry being cooked in the same way as spinach

You will need to allow plants to grow for a year before harvesting, but pretty much all of the plant can be eaten.
Some of the new shoots can be cut as they appear (usually from mid spring to early summer) and cooked like asparagus.
All cutting should then cease so that shoots are allowed to develop.
After June leave the shoots to develop, then you can eat the young leaves and flowering stems in salads, or saute the flowers in butter.
They wilt quickly after picking so should be used as soon as possible after harvesting.
Because of their high oxalic acid content, raw leaves should be eaten only in moderation.
Later into the autumn, leaves can be cooked and eaten as spinach. Cooked like spinach, in several changes of water, they are tastier and have less oxalic acid.
Don't over-harvest though, as you want the plant to continue to crop the following year.
The seeds can be ground and mixed with flour to make bread and other baked goods. They should be soaked in water overnight and thoroughly rinsed before being used.

Good King Henry won't store well, so if you have an abundance of leaves, freeze and use for cooking.