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Skirret (Sium sisarum)
Skirret was a reasonably well known plant in Europe from the middle ages into the 19th century. It has names in many different European languages and most of them appear to translate into some variation of “sugar root”. It can be prepared similarly to carrots. We love it simply fried in some butter. It is sweeter than carrots and beautifully creamy and soft when cooked.
You will receive a seedling with some storage roots and shoots (see image further below). Simply plant into your garden as soon as you receive it and watch it emerge in spring. Growing tips are below.
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Grown organically at KoruKai Herb Farm, Banks Peninsula. Free from synthetic fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides.
Skirret is in the Apiaceae family alongside carrots, parsnips, parsley and celery. It grows to be a bit under one meter and can flower in its first season. It is a true perennial and will come back year after year. It forms a small clump of thick storage roots, producing a kind of squid like appearance. Being a member of the Apiacea (carrot) family, the flowers are very attractive to beneficial insects such as lacewings and ladybirds.
Skirret is a powerhouse of nutrition, packed with high levels of vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber. These nutrients not only boost your immune system but also support overall health.
Additionally, skirret contains antioxidants that may help reduce oxidative stress in the body. This means it can play a role in protecting your cells from damage caused by free radicals.
You will receive a crown with some storage roots and growing shoots similar to one of them in the image below.
Growing Conditions Skirret grows wild in Europe and Asia. It is a fairly adaptable crop. In the wild, it is largely a streamside plant, but it does just fine row cropped in a garden as well. It produces best in full sun but will tolerate shade at a small cost to root production. It makes a fine understorey plant in a food forest and can be used around the edges of orchards or in a transition zone between a cultivated area and native trees and shrubs. It can handle a fairly wide range of temperatures, given sufficient water. If temperatures will climb above 32°C for long, it will benefit from afternoon shade and will need regular watering.
It can survive fairly cold winters as it goes dormant and can manage with frozen ground, making it suitable for growing everywhere in New Zealand.
We don’t have experience growing skirret in posts, but skirret can be grown in large pots of 20 litres or larger. As is always the case with containers, keeping it well watered is the tricky part as root growth is greatly slowed by dry conditions.
Planting and Management
Skirret performs well in acidic to neutral soils. Well drained soils are best, but skirret grows well even in heavy, swampy soil. Skirret loves soil rich in organic matter and is very responsive to applications of compost at planting time.
Choose a sunny spot in your garden or food forest. It will die back each autumn and reemerge in spring, so make sure to mark the spot so you can find the plant in order to harvest the fleshy roots in winter. Prepare area with compost, well rotted manure or vermicast and if planting more than one plant space them 30-45 cm apart. They can stay in the same spot for years. Mulch with compost and autumn leaves every winter to feed the plants. Water deeply and often until the plant is well established, especially during dry spells and during summer.
As basically a wild plant, skirret doesn’t need much attention during the growing season. Make sure that the soil doesn’t dry out. Otherwise, skirret fends for itself.
Please also see our video below about planting skirret:
Harvest Skirret is a true perennial. Skirret is ready for harvest at the end of its first year, once the top of the plant has died back. The yield gets a lot better in the second year and then increases a little more in following years. If you have a lot of plants, you can harvest some and leave the others to grow larger. Once a plant has passed its first year, you can harvest any time, so this can give you a year round harvest. Because it can survive freezing soil, you can leave it in the ground year round for harvesting whenever the soil is workable. At KoruKai Herb Farm we harvest skirret in mid winter. We separate the crowded plants, snip off most of the fat storage roots for eating and replant them at 30cm spacing with some fresh compost added to each planting hole.
See the images below with a one-year old plant before and after harvesting some of the fat storage roots for eating. The one on the right gets replanted with some storage roots in place.
Skirret stores perfectly in the ground as long as your soil doesn’t get too wet in the winter and as long as you don’t have problems with grass grubs. If you can’t leave it in the ground, remove any plants that you will use for replanting and then store the intact, unwashed root ball as close to 4°C and 95% humidity as possible. Under those conditions, skirret lasts three or four months in storage. You can keep intact root balls in good condition for about a week at room temperature.
The young shoots can also be harvested in spring.
Nutritional Benefits
Skirret is a powerhouse of nutrition, packed with high levels of vitamin C and potassium. These nutrients not only boost your immune system but also support overall health.
Additionally, skirret contains antioxidants that may help reduce oxidative stress in the body. This means it can play a role in protecting your cells from damage caused by free radicals.
One of the standout benefits of skirret is its ability to support digestive health, thanks to its high fiber content. Fiber is essential for a healthy gut, promoting regularity and preventing constipation.
Moreover, skirret may possess anti-inflammatory effects, which can be beneficial for those dealing with chronic inflammation. Incorporating this nutritious vegetable into your diet could lead to improved overall well-being.
Uses Skirret boasts a sweet taste that many liken to a blend of parsnip and carrot. This unique flavor makes it a delightful addition to various dishes, enhancing meals with its natural sweetness. Skirret can be prepared similarly to carrots. The roots are very sweet and can be eaten raw or cooked. We love it simply fried in some butter. It is sweeter than carrots and beautifully creamy and soft when cooked.
They do not need to be peeled, although older roots can have some tough skin that is sometimes better removed. It is actually easier to do this once the skirret is cooked, when the skin can usually be slipped right off. Some roots also have a thread of woody material running down the center especially older roots or when they had a dry spell in summer. This is also easiest to remove after cooking. The simplest operation is to hold the root down with a fork and pull out the core, which gives no resistance in cooked roots.
Skirret makes a great addition to soups, where its soft texture will cause it to break apart and act as a sweetener and thickener.
The spring shoots are also edible. They can be blanched or eaten raw.
A thick bundle of harvestable storage roots on this 3-year old plant.
Ingredients: live dormant plant material to plant into your garden
Finally cooked some the way you suggested and they are yum! Replanted and am looking forward to a bigger harvest next season. So pleased I gave them a try. I did have a job digging up my original plant which I had left 2 seasons but got there in the end.
Sue Leeon Dec 23, 2023
Doing well
Both the skirret and evergreen comfrey are doing well.
judithon Dec 18, 2023
Skirret and Hail
My skirret took a while to sprout but was doing well until the hail storm came along last week. It seems to be recovering slowly now.<br />
Trudyon Dec 18, 2023
Thought I'd try something new
Had never heard of Skirret, thought it sounded tasty, so gave it a go. Plant is growing well and I am looking forward to trying it.
Jesson Dec 16, 2023
Doing very well
My skirret is doing very well 6 months after planting, can't wait for it to be ready.
Daniel bernieon Dec 15, 2023
Perfect purchase
Originally wondered why I brought it, now I realise this plant offers a great return for investment. Mine have just taken off and produced so much food for little effort. Would recommend it to anyone.
graham joneson Dec 15, 2023
skirret plant experience
My plant adapted well, didn't experience any 'check' and is growing strongly. Looks very healthy.
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Curcuma longa
Family: Zingiberaceae Turmeric is one amazing plant with numerous health benefits. Here an extract: "An M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre review of curcumin research, in the journal Phytotherapy Research in 2014, found that it regulates inflammation that "plays a major role in most chronic illnesses, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases."
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Smallanthus sonchifolius
Order is for 1 crown (see sample images below).
"Yacon" means "water root" in the Inca language and its tubers were historically highly valued as a wild source of thirst-quenching refreshment for travellers. It taste like a sweet cross between early apples and watermelon with a touch of pear. The liquid can also be drawn off and concentrated to produce yacon syrup. The yacon is a species of perennial daisy traditionally grown in the northern and central Andes from Colombia to northern Argentina for its crisp, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots.
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Valerian is a well-known medicinal herb traditionally used to support restful sleep and help with insomnia.*
Each order includes 1 healthy valerian crown cutting with a growing tip. Plant directly into your garden over winter and it will emerge again in spring. See photos below for examples of the growing tips.
Organically grown at KoruKai Herb Farm without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides.
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Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa
Family: Asteraceae
Aromatic and flavoursome herb, narrow green foliage with tiny yellow flowers in summer. Use fresh or dried. Delicious in hollandaise, bearnaise and tartar sauces.
Height in summer: 30-40cm
You will receive a dormant plant in its first year with visible shoots with no or very little leaves (plant is dormant in winter, see example photo below). It will emerge in spring and grow into a lush plant. Prune to create a bushy appearance.
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Marshmallow is a traditional medicinal herb valued for its soothing properties. The leaves and roots have historically been used to support inflammation and irritation of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems, including dry coughs, stomach irritation, and urinary tract discomfort.*
Each order includes 1 healthy marshmallow crown cutting with a growing tip. Simply plant into your garden over winter and watch it emerge vigorously in spring. Examples of growing tips are shown below.
Organically grown at KoruKai Herb Farm without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides.
Available in July 2026. Sign up below to go onto the waiting list.
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Wormwood dies down in winter. You will receive a dormant crown with established shoots.
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Solidago virgaurea
Family:Asteraceae
Common names: Goldenrod, European Goldenrod, Woundwort, true Goldenrod
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Plant is shipped during its winter dormancy. It will be a bare rooted, dormant crown without any leaves or stalks, but with growing buds already in place (see image below). Simply plant into your garden over winter and watch it emerge in spring. Growing tips are below.
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Common names: Earth chestnut, pignut, great pignut and earthnut
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You will receive a seedling with roots and young shoots (see image further below). Simply plant into your garden as soon as you receive it and watch it emerge in spring. Growing tips are below.
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Elecampane is a striking medicinal perennial traditionally valued for supporting respiratory health and herbal wellness practices.*
Each order includes 1 healthy elecampane crown with active growing tip(s) (see images below). Simply plant into your garden over winter and watch it emerge vigorously in spring.
Under good growing conditions, a single plant can often be lifted and divided the following winter, producing approximately 3–6 new plants within a year.
Organically grown at KoruKai Herb Farm without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides.
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Allium schoenoprasum
Easy-care multiplying spring onions, also known as giant chives, that return year after year with minimal effort.
This hardy perennial forms expanding clumps that provide a continuous harvest from September through to May. No more repeated sowing, fiddly pricking out, or constant replanting—simply plant once and harvest fresh spring onions as needed for most of the year.
Perfect for kitchen gardens, raised beds, and permaculture systems.
Planting instructions can be found below.
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