A flower's main job is to be beautiful - it must attract pollinators so that it can produce seeds. Not only do they beautify your garden, but they can also add aesthetics and exotic flavors to your meals. Why decorate with sprinkles when you have petals? There are so many delicious and zesty edible flowers to try. In this article you will learn how to breed them or where to find them. We'll tell you more interesting information about what you can prepare with these flowers.
People have been collecting or cultivating flowers and flower buds for food, drink and medicine for centuries. Think of squash blossoms in Italian cuisine, chamomile or jasmine tea, and rose petals in Indian cuisine. Some are spicy, others herbaceous, others fragrant. All are colorful.
Edible flowers (a listcan be found here) are so underrated and are a missing element in many dishes. They offer lots of unique flavors and a bit of fun. The question is why more people don't use them. If you read through this article, you will surely incorporate them into your recipes soon.
If you don't feel like growing edible flowers yourself, that's no problem. There are a few places where you can buy them. The first place we always recommend is farmers markets. There you can talk directly to the sellers and learn something about these plants and how they are grown.
You can also followflowering herbsKeep an eye out as these are edible. Check the produce section of your local grocery store.
You can also order the edible plants online or use a search engine to find local growers. But consider whether it might be better to grow your own. This way you know that no pesticides were used and they are completely safe to eat.
What can you prepare with edible plants?
What should you pay attention to?
Interest in edible flowers is increasing again. There are hundreds of wild and cultivated plants whose petals and buds are edible. These plants are not only pretty in the garden, but also add color, variety and new flavorsin your meals.
When preparing most flowers for food or drinks, you should only use the petals for the best flavor. Remove the sepals as well as the pistils and stamens. Most edible flowers are best eaten raw – simply pick and rinse with water. The flowers taste and look best when they have just opened, rather than when they have been open for a few days.
You should note that not allFlowers to eatare suitable. Some can even be poisonous. Do enough research to find out exactly which ones are edible. You should also avoid plants that have been sprayed with insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. Since most edible flowers - with the exception of roses - are easy to grow, this is rarely a problem.
Pasta, sandwiches and much more
If you grow flowers that you can eat, you can then brighten up your dishes with buds and blossoms. Try these variations – nasturtiums over pasta or in sandwiches to pepper them.
There is nothing more beautiful than a few colorful petalsin salad, a small bouquet of wild pansies on the birthday cake or a fried daylily bud in a stir-fry.
These plants are a fun and easy way to add color and flavor to all sorts of dishes - especially when you can pick them straight from your own garden. For example, you can also prepare delicious appetizers or baguettes with salmon, cream cheese and pickled chive flowers for your family.
Delicious cocktails
Pickled chive flowers can also be added to martinis and bloody mary cocktails.
Edible flowers – planting in the garden
Growing edible flowers is not much different than growing herbs or other herbaceous plants. Most can be grown from seed, but others are best purchased from a garden center.
Label your seedlings as they will all initially look the same. Make sure the top layer of soil is always well covered and not overwatered to prevent it from becoming soggy. Also avoid washing the seedlings or damaging them.
Once they begin to grow, avoid overcrowding by cutting off all but the strongest seedlings in each pot. If you are having trouble with germination, place the seedlings under a grow light or try to mimic greenhouse conditions with a plastic cover.
If your plants are large and vigorous, harvest the flowers for recipes when they are freshest. This is the time when they have fully bloomed but have not yet wilted. Harvest with sharp, clean scissors during the cool part of the day. Use them the day of harvest and store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy them.
Can you freeze edible flowers?
It's not a good ideafreeze them individually. They look nice when frozen, but once thawed they spoil quickly. If you want to preserve them by freezing, make flower ice cubes out of them.
* Half fill an ice cube tray with water, add a flower and let it solidify in the freezer for an hour to keep the flower in the center of the cube.
*Fill remaining top half of container with water and place back in freezer until completely frozen.
Also read:Edible ground cover plants: ornamental & useful plants in one
