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LEFT: Little Wild Things Farm is unique in its offering of a variety of edible flowers year-round, supplying many local bakeries, restaurants, and bars. Photo courtesy of Little Wild Things Farm.
MAY FLOWERS Edible & Delicious
Article and Photos by Rindy O’Brien
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pril showers bring May flowers, and we certainly had enough April rain this year to make that prophecy come true. Besides brightening our spirits with wonderful bursts of color everywhere we look, these spring flowers can also delight our palate. Cakes, cocktails, and salads are often decorated with edible flowers and petals, yet another way of enjoying the fruit of our gardens.
Little Wild Things Farm Amazingly there is an indoor farm on Capitol Hill that actually produces edible flowers, year-round. Little Wild Things Farm is located at 906 Bladensburg Road, NE, next to the WS Jenks Hardware building. The little farm specializes in salad greens, microgreens, shoots, and edible flowers. It is a womanowned and woman-managed enterprise. The farm’s mission is to “inspire the next generation of farmers to build a brighter and more sustainable future.” The edible flowers are all grown hydroponically. Hydroponic farming means the flowers or vegetables are grown indoors without soil, basically in water and good light. Hailey Rohn, Senior VP of Operations at Little Wild Things Farm, says the biggest advantage of growing the flowers this way “is that you
don’t have to depend on the weather and can grow them year-round.” It is also important to have good circulation of air, and something to hold the roots like perlite or peat moss. At Little Wild Things Farm, the rows of greens are well spaced to give easy access to the flats of micro-greens and give them the space to flourish. The farm moved to this method a year ago so they are still experimenting with the varieties of flowers that grow best in the hydroponic conditions. But violas, marigolds, and borage are already three successful flowers. Hailey says she really likes the taste of the violas best. “It is a soft floral taste.” Edible flowers are most often used in decorating cakes and cookies, floating in cockOksan Bihun, Operations Managers for Little Wild Things Farm, busy tail drinks, and, of course, are eatcollecting edible flowers like cosmos and cornflowers. en in salads. Peach and cherry blossoms are the current flower of choice have found them to have four to six times more nutrifor locals. ents than mature leaves of the same plant. Often, they Many common flowers are edible, and herbs ofare a great source for vitamin C, vitamin E and beta ten produce flowers that have strong carotene. Little Wild Things microgreens and shoots taste and aromas. Many Asian and are certified as naturally grown (CNG) and they use African recipes make use of these “biologically intensive agriculture” principles. flowers. Wikipedia has a very good Over 200 DC households are currently enlist of edible flowers, as well as othrolled in the Little Wild Things CSA. The CSA proers to avoid. https://en.wikipedia. vides five sessions each running ten weeks long. Parorg/wiki/Edible_flower ticipants can choose the number of sessions they take
CSA – Salad Share
Little Wild Things Farm is located on Bladensburg Road and is hard to miss thanks to a colorful mural painted by Marcella Kriebel in 2021 on the side of the building.
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For salad enthusiasts, Little Wild Things Farm operates a CSA for greens and microgreens. Microgreens are smaller than baby greens or sprouts. They come in sweet and spicy flavors and feature many vibrant colors. Researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service have been studying microgreens since 2012 and
part in. Each week, the farm offers large salad ingredients, microgreens, and a third “surprise” item, which can be edible flowers, dried flowers, body scrubs, and other specialty items produced by the farm. Each session costs $300. The weekly order can be picked up onsite, delivered to you, and there is even a hub site where members can pick up on a Capitol Hill front porch. The farm also brings greens to the Dupont Circle Farmers Market on Sundays. Recipes are also included to help expand knowledge and improve use of the greens. In addition to the CSA,
