Broadleaf, Shungiku greens (Glebionis coronaria)
Japan

The three Japanese varieties in the Culinary Breeding Network (CBN) Collection are the result of a Japanese seed exchange project. CBN Seed Ambassador Shawn Linehan attended two ‘Seed to Plate Tours’ to Japan. These trips were organized by Portland farmer and chef Stacey Givens of The Side Yard Farm & Kitchen to connect urban farmers in Portland with farmers in Japan. Each trip, Shawn took seed from the Pacific Northwest to trade with Japanese farmers and visited a huge seed shop with unique varieties of Japanese vegetables.  The goal was to find and bring back seed of interesting varieties that taste great so regional seed companies, like Adaptive Seeds and Uprising Seeds, could start to produce the seed here in the PNW.

A deeply serrated leaf shungiku with long stems and mild favor. With its delicious mild floral flavor, shungiku is something between an herb and a vegetable that can be added to a stir fry, beans, omelets, and soups. Smaller leaves make a good all-weather salad green. Shungiku is also known as edible leaf garland chrysanthemum. Seed from Adaptive Seeds.