Edible Flowers: Planting Day...The Adventure Begins!

By Taffi Chandler "arasmom"
Administrator-www.TheBudgetQueen.com



Today is planting day!

Did you know that Nasturtium blossoms are edible? In fact,every part of the Nasturtium plant is edible except for the root! So, that is my flower of choice for my culinary flower adventure.

I have a book on edible flowers in my personal library entitled, "A Handbook of Edible Flowers: Their Cultivation and Use" by authors Dale and Ziga. I've owned the book for quite a while now, and originally I'd bought it because I was intrigued with the idea of trying flowers in recipes. But I hadn't actually tried it myself until now...

I thought, if I'm going to try this out, I'm going to start from square one. I want to make sure that the flowers I am going to use for food are pure and free of pesticides and chemicals. There is no better way to guarantee that than to grow them yourself.

Which leads us to today-planting day!

(This planting day was made extra special because my three year old daughter was my sweet little helper!)

We took out some Naturtium seed packets as well as some Mesclun lettuce mix seeds and some Zinnia seeds.

Each have a special purpose...you'll see!

We used one of those ready made peat pellet seed starting trays...and added water until the pellets expanded in size...



Then we laid out the seed packets...

*Nasturtiums*



By the way, despite their sweet smell, the taste is described as "hot" and "slightly peppery". I'll let you know for sure on tasting day.


*Mesclun Lettuce Mix*



We are growing the lettuces for the base of our edible flower salad...


*Zinnias*



We are growing white Zinnias...



And purple Zinnias...

Which will adorn our table in a little vase when we are ready to sample our salad...


We artfully arranged our seeds next to our planting station...




And with the help of sweet little hands...



Our seeds were placed into their snug homes.



Ready to soak up the sun.



Live long and prosper, little seedlings. Live long and prosper.

Edible Flowers. Nature You Can Eat.

By Taffi Chandler "arasmom"
Administrator- www.TheBudgetQueen.com
May 12, 2010

I've been thinking some of my thinks lately, and that always seems to get me in trouble. Not that thinking is really bad-but when it gets like this-it always leads to some adventure. Today, it's edible flowers.

Maybe it's because the flower festival (Festival des Fleur) is this weekend or maybe it's because it’s spring time or maybe I've just been bored with my salads...whatever the case-it's edible flowers on my mind. I admittedly already own a book on edible flowers. I rediscovered it while unpacking my books the other day. I recall looking at the pictures of the flowers mixed into very innocent and unsuspecting food; food that had been invaded by something so wild yet delicate. The carefully crafted photographs depicted beautiful petals adorning the plates-each little flower reminded me of a pageant contestant sailing through the competition on beauty alone-and then, well, then comes the question and answer segment. You know what happens then…you’re in the audience and think-oh, this could be really good or this could be very, very bad. You stare in silence and feel the anticipation-nervousness and confidence all at the same time. You just don’t know what could happen. When the moment of truth finally arrives-sometimes you know that’s the end of the road-but you root for them all the same-‘cause they are beautiful.

I mean, when you ask someone what's for dinner, you don’t expect to hear “flowers”. And you certainly don’t expect for them to step outside and harvest them from the garden at that moment either. In an alternate universe, perhaps, but definitely not in your backyard.

Why not? Be a little spontaneous! I’d venture to say many of us are past the “let’s do donuts in the parking lot” stage. So live a little. It’s a flower. Taste it. Or you’re lame.

Don’t try to get away with the fried squash blossoms. That’s so last year.

The new trend (that was created by me, just now, after the word “now”) is a little more-dare I say-daring.

Plant a flower in your garden this year that is edible. Refrain from using pesticides or other chemicals on the flowers that you plan to eat. Make sure to do your research, and know the exact flower and flower part that is edible. Educate yourself and learn all you can about the flower or flowers you’ve chosen and then, use your culinary skills to create something fantastic.

Sometimes it’s as simple as knowing what you need to know and having the confidence to go for it. Then you win the crown.