Happy St Patrick’s Day! Since it’s the closest we’ll get to a green holiday, I’m taking full advantage today the spotlight on one of the day’s most prominent symbols: the clover. Botanically known as the trifolium, which translates from Latin to “three leaf”, the cousin of sweet peas and soybeans has a strong agricultural use, which makes it more important than you may think.
Where did they come from?
Unlike any other plant I have covered thus far, the clover has a very well-documented mythological past. First popularised by Saint Patrick in the 5th century as a figure of the Holy Trinity because of the shape (each leaf represented the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) and coupled with the fact that 3 is Ireland’s lucky number, it’s not too surprising that its popularity has stood the test of time.
In the coming years, the symbolic use of the shamrock took a shocking swerve with the era of Henry Grattan’s Parliament in the 1770s. The Irish Volunteers used the clover as a symbol of their party, but since the draconian government considered it an act of rebellion and banned the use of shamrocks as an emblem, so all signs of the three leaves were replaced with red and green crosses.
How do I grow them?
Thanks to everyone wanting to grow a St. Patrick’s Day related souvenir, clover seeds are pretty ubiquitous at this time of the year, so unless they’ve sold out by the time you read this, picking one up shouldn’t be too much trouble. Clover loves long, bright days and does great at this time of the year, all the way up to summer. Avoid fertilisation as Dutch clover (the more common kind) isn’t too tolerant of excessive nitrogen and be sure to keep the young plants well-watered.
What can I do with them?
Unless you have livestock in your back garden, not too much. It’s used as an organic agricultural food source and is very rich in nutrients (a lot of grass-fed cows hulk up on clover) but you’re a little limited in terms of culinary usage. For the tee-totallers among us today wanting to get in on the St. Patrick’s Day craze, I’d suggest giving clover tea a try. Steep the leaves in a pot of pre-boiled water over a low flame for about 6-7 minutes and sweeten to taste.
Although this works quite a bit better with red clovers in terms of taste and health benefits, you’d be missing out on all of the festivities!
