Food Garden

Most often used to decorate the table, many flowers are also edible

Interesting Ways to Use Edible Flowers

Flower Petal Ice Cubes: Add petals to your ice cube tray to give drinks a flowery flare! Decorate a Cake: Either fresh or dried, a mix of blooms and buds can turn the simplest cake into a stunning centrepiece. Sprinkle into Salads & More: In small amounts, adding petals to salads, breads, dips and appetizers can add a vibrant pop of colour to your culinary creations. Stir Fry or Stuff: Large blooms like daylilies and squash blossoms can be stuffed with cheese or other fillings or thrown into a stir fry for a flowery twist. Infusions: Fragrant flowers like lavender and chamomile can be used to infuse oil, simple syrup or honey. Preserve Flowers: Dry, candy or press low-moisture blooms for later use. Floral Teas: Hibiscus or rose petals, lavender, chamomile or mint flowers can all be steeped in boiling water for several minutes to make a fragrant floral tea.

With information from www.provenwinners.com

Harvesting Tips

• Only harvest flowers you are 100 per cent positive are edible.

• Choose flowers that are grown organically.

• Gather them early in the morning when their essential oils are most intense.

• Remove the stamens and pistil before eating.

• Consume edible flowers in moderation.

You may not realize it, but you could already have a veritable feast of edible flowers growing in your garden. Many familiar flowers are edible, and can grace the side of your dinner plate as well as being the centrepiece of your table.

The often-overlooked flowers of many herbs and vegetables are also edible. Fresh garden squash is great, but have you tried stuffed squash blossoms? Or how about chive blossoms to flavour your butter? With a bit of creativity and a new perspective, you can get the most out of the many phases of the plants in your garden.

You can serve edible flowers raw, cooked with vegetables or sprinkled on cakes and other desserts. Adding flavour, texture and beauty to your dish, many also come with health benefits such as antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties.

One thing to remember is that most flowers bought in garden centres were not intended to be food. You’ll want to allow your plants to grow long enough that new flowers are blooming, before harvesting and eating them.

Did You KNow These Are Edible?