Now Harvesting Bird’s Milk! What? What kind of bird has milk? Is it like milking a cow? Do their wings get in the way?
Don’t worry, Sun Valley hasn’t gone into the bird milking business. Birds Milk is actually the root of Ornithogalum’s botanical name. Ornith pertaining to birds; galum pertaining to milk. It is a tall spiked flower, with star-like florets grouped on a leafless stem.
The season for this durable and versatile flower is really heating up at our Oxnard farm. The crop is predominantly the white variety; however, we are also harvesting orange and yellow. Different varieties are native to South Africa, Southern Europe and the Middle East. There are many references to Ornithogalum woven through history. The ancient Greeks boiled, then ate the bulb and also prepared the young shoots as a substitute for asparagus. It has been a staple of peasants in the Middle East for centuries, right up to current day.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Sun Valley Group's Flower Talk