Rapunzel is one of the most well loved characters by the Brothers Grimm. It's about a princess with extremely long hair and she's kept in a tower by a cruel witch until a prince arrives. Rapunzel's long luscious hair is what stands out in the story and is the main theme. Her name comes from the same root vegetable that her mother used to eat. It's believed that eating the Rapunzel plant gave her daughter very long long hair that she braided and used for the witch to climb up, and then for the prince who loved her.
The Rapunzel vegetable isn't a fairy tale invention. It's most commonly named today the rampion bellflower, or the scientific name Campanula Rapunculus. It grows anywhere from woodlands to roadsides, as it's a hardy winter plant. It appears as pretty flowers throughout Spring and Summer. It grows edible roots that resemble turnips, radish and spring onions. Rampion Rapunzel can be used as a crop that should be first fertilised on fresh soil consisting of carbon, sand, phosphorus and nitrogen in June. The vegetables need to be harvested when they're grown full and ready by October or November.
Besides the fairy story, Rapunzel plants were served on gold plates and were offerings to Apollo. In Italy there was a negative superstition that keeping rampion root at home was believed to cause aggro amongst children. They interpret dreams about rampion plants was a sign of conflict. But it stays as a positive heirloom in Germany, a special herb said to be "king's cure all".
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