Borage—A Companion Plant With
Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Borage, originally from Syria, is a herb that you can use as a companion plant, or enjoy its flavor in foods and drinks.

Gardening Use

Borage protects tomatoes from the tomato hornworm when grown near the plants.

The moths have difficulty finding the tomato plants to lay their eggs, which hatch and eat the tomato plants.

Borage also nurses or protects legumes, brassicas, and spinach. Some gardeners have reported success when planted with strawberries.

Growing Borage in North America

This annual herb grows best in slightly acid to neutral soil to a height of 12-36 inches (30-90 cm) in full sun.

Sow seeds outdoors in the fall saved from the previous season.

Borage flowers open in summer when there's enough heat (remember, the plant is originally from Syria). It needs a warm climate to grow, usually in zone 9 on the hardiness map.

This plant is easy to grow, drought resistant and low maintenance. It will continue to grow for most, if not all, of the year in the warmer climates.

Since its growth is classified as indeterminate, it will continue growing. So it could overtake parts of your garden if you let it get out of control.

Medical Uses

What makes borage so important as a food is that its seeds have a very high concentration of GLA, a fatty acid used to treat inflammation and auto-immune problems.

It also helps balance the adrenal gland's functions. In Latin America, it's used to help lung problems, including colds and other respiratory infections.

It's been used to help with menopause symptoms, and to regulate hormones and the metabolism.

Culinary Uses

The flower, which has a unique star shape, is edible, with a taste similar to honey's. Due to its cucumber taste, borage itself is used as a vegetable in dishes where it can replace cucumber, such as salad.

The Chinese use the leaves like others use grape leaves, that is, stuffed and rolled. Germans use the leaves in stews and bouillons, and in Frankfurt's famous Green Sauce.

The English have a gin-based drink, Pimm's No. 1, where borage is used as a garnish. It's also used in some gins as a flavoring.

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