A little known herb that packs a BIG punch and if a favorite of many professional chefs is the agretti herb, which is also called salsoa soda. Chefs like Jamie Oliver and others are HUGE fans of this small herb, but what IS agretti, and how do you grow it? Keep reading to find out how to grow agretti, aka salsoa soda, as well as learn more about what exactly it is!
How to Grow Agretti, AKA Salsoa Soda – A Gardening Guide
Popular in a lot of high-end Italian restaurants, the agretti herb is a long, annual herb, that looks a lot like chives! Also known as roscano, friar's beard, saltwort, barril, or Russian thistlewort, the agretti herb has a salty and bitter-like taste and grows in the Mediterranean.
The name “salsola” means salt, and is appropriate to this herb that DOES actually taste salty and has also been used to desalinate soil.
Today, agretti is mostly used for culinary purposes and is most often used fresh in salads or sauteed with garlic and olive oil and served as a side dish.
Planting Agretti:
- IF you can get your hands on agretti seeds, you're in luck! Recent popularization of the herb as well as flooding in Italy has made this seed very hard to come by!
- Plant seeds immediately in the spring once temperatures have reached 65F (18C).
- Sow the seeds and cover them with 1/2 inch of soil.
- Space each seed about 4-6 inches apart and thin the plants to 18-20 inches apart in a row.
- Seeds should germinate within 7-10 days.
- Harvesting should be done once the plant is around 7 inches tall.
- Harvest by cutting the tops off with gardening shears, much like you would with chives!
- Whatever is leftover will simply regrow!
So now that you know how to grow agretti, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to planting!
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