Leaf Mallow

Malva verticillata 

Story: We originally came across this seed from the wonderful company Real Seeds and it has become a firm favourite here at Omved Gardens. It produces beautiful, curly-edged, lush green leaves that are lovely and tender in salads when young or make a great cooked green as they get older. The plants get quite big - up to one meter so you only need a few to feed many and they produce tonnes of seed. If you do save lots of seed, it also makes a great microgreen crop. 

Here is some information kindly provided by Yu Duan, a member of our network and enthusiast for this crop 'Recipe-wise, they are regarded as a colder month delicacy in SW China. I think in London they get hit by frost more quickly, so they function more like a summer–autumn vegetable, as described on your website. The most common recipe is to add it to a savoury rice porridge, blanching it briefly in the porridge to preserve its texture and taste, then stirring in a pinch of salt and pepper at the end; or in a simple broth, boiled briefly with a small amount of ginger slices. Otherwise, it can be used exactly how you would use spinach, with a more slimy, milder, and sweeter taste. To me, the taste and texture are somewhere between spinach and Basella alba (love it or hate it!).'

Seed saved by: Omved Gardens

Sow: March - May 

Requirements: Leaf mallow is a great grower, it does prefer full sun and plenty of water to keep producing tender leaves but it will even grow well in a wild flower bed or border.

When to harvest for eating: Anytime it is in leaf, usually from May to August. The green seed heads can also be added to salads or pickled - though they are labour intensive to  pick.

When to harvest for seed saving: Towards the end of summer once the seed heads form and begin to dry on the plant. 

Seed Saving: Mallows are insect pollinated so they can cross pollinate. There isn't a lot of info about the cross pollination of various Malva species and varieties but our hunch is that leaf mallow is at least partly stabilised which means it probably won't readily cross pollinate. However it is still best practice to grow it as far away from other flowering mallows as possible. 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 5minimum, 10 or more is ideal

Pollination: Insect pollinated

How to send back seed: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1/3 cup of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups, seed guardians and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.