conscious eating
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Flower Power Edible Blooms Add Flavor and Color to Summer Fare by April Thompson
18
Grand Traverse Region
HealthyLivingMichigan.com
ruits, leaves, stems and roots are commonly eaten as part of a plantbased, farm-to-table diet, but until recently, the only flowers on the table were in a vase. Today’s health-conscious foodies are finding edible flowers to be a fantastic way to eat the rainbow, adding fun flavors and colors to all sorts of dishes. Urban homesteader Holly Capelle turned her family’s backyard in the Portland, Oregon, suburbs into expansive edible gardens, enjoyed by their flower-eating chickens and children alike. “We grow everything from seed, including 15 to 20 edible flower varieties, from spring through fall,” says Capelle. “I love to grow edible flowers for two reasons: one, to eat, and second, for the natural pest control they provide. I think of flowers as a beautiful army that I can eat along the way.” Capelle’s favorite edible flowers are pansies and violets, as they “pop up again and again all growing season and make a beautiful garnish without overpowering flavor.” The home gardener likes to freeze the fresh flowers in ice cubes, press them on the outside of herb butter or dry them between pieces of wax paper to later add to the tops of homemade chocolate bars, along with dehydrated strawberries, lemon balm, mint or other botanical flavors. The family’s fowl get in on the flower fun, too. “We make frozen treats for the chickens out of edible flowers, corn and
