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Lil doesn't have much patience for gardening some days because "it's all about vegetables!" She plants her garden in flowers instead of food and she's taught me to appreciate beauty for beauty's sake alone. But most of the food we grow comes from flowers too. Can you identify these flowers from edible plants?
Answer key: 1. chamomile 2. cucumber 3. elderberry 4. pattypan squash 5. potato 6. sesame 7. tobacco 8. tomato 9. seed poppy
Lil doesn't have much patience for gardening some days because "it's all about vegetables!" She plants her garden in flowers instead of food and she's taught me to appreciate beauty for beauty's sake alone. But most of the food we grow comes from flowers too. Can you identify these flowers from edible plants?
Answer key: 1. chamomile 2. cucumber 3. elderberry 4. pattypan squash 5. potato 6. sesame 7. tobacco 8. tomato 9. seed poppy
Every year I commit to growing something completely new to me. This year, that distinction went to sesame.
The pods are swollen and dark green now. In time they will dry to brown. I'll pluck the pods from the plant and shake out the dry seeds for eating or saving for next year.
I imagine the harvest of sesame seeds will be minimal, yet I will certainly plant sesame again. It is a tall attractive addition to a flower border and an unusual edible to tuck into sunny spaces.
Are you growing anything unusual this year? How's it going?
A recent post of mine is eligible to win a ticket to a blog conference in Asheville North Carolina. Will you do me a favor and vote for me, @racheltayse? Thanks!!
Back in the spring we dedicated one raised bed to Lillian for her own garden. She loved the idea and made an adorable sign to mark it as hers.
And then we started arguing. Despite planning to grow peas, carrots, strawberries and other edibles, Lil soon changed her mind and wanted to grow flowers. I had built the soil in the raised bed for two years with the intention of growing food there. Food trumps flowers any day in my book.
We compromised throughout the summer until the garden was a disfunctional mish-mash of marigolds, carrots, and more.
I finally had a breakthrough when looking at our tree yard (the area between the sidewalk and street): why not let Lil establish a garden there?
So in the last two weeks, we turned soil, spread sand, installed pavers (lifted from my parents backyard), planted perennials and a few annuals, mulched, and watered. I sneaked in several edibles including the peach trees that were already there, blueberries lining the walk, and several herbs. Other plants are valuable attractors of pollinators like bees and butterflies. I promised Lil is that every plant has beautiful flowers.
Still to come is a remade sign. The original one was less waterproof than we thought and we want to make something more permanent.
With the help of a lot of discount plants, the project cost an affordable $52. (Now is a GREAT time to search garden centers for clearance perennials.) Here's the breakdown:
6 24x24 paving stones: free from my parents 5 bags leveling sand: $20 4 blueberries: free, moved from another bed 2 butterfly bush: $12 2 yarrow: $2 2 echinacea: $2 2 mums: $4 4 thyme: free from clintonville coop 3 extra large bags mulch: $12
As for the old garden bed? It is going to be remade into a cold frame for the winter!
This post linked to Simple Lives Thursday.
Most annual vegetables send out flowers. It's their way of ensuring their own reproduction. The home gardener must manage flowers, tending the ones that will develop into fruits we want and removing those that distract the plant from its functions.
Leave the flowers on these plants, as they develop into vegetables:
tomato
cucumber
pepper
eggplant
peas
beans
squash, including zucchini, acorn, and pumpkin (a special case, as the blossoms are edible but if you eat them all, no squash will grow)
Remove the flowers on these plants, as their desirable leaves will bitter if flowers are allowed to bloom:
greens including spinach, kale, mustard, bok choi,broccoli raab, and lettuces
radish
herbs including basil, cilantro, thyme, and mint
Harvest from these plants before they go to flower:
broccoli
cauliflower
brussel sprouts
These flower stems are edible in addition to their root. If you do not remove these, the plant may use energy producing flowers at the expense of making root bulbs:
garlic (picked as curlicue scapes shown above)
onion
The delicate potato flowers may be picked or left on the plant. Marie Antoinette is said to have enjoyed these beauties in her hair. They may pull a slight bit of water and energy from growing tubers, but I enjoy leaving their blooms in the garden.
Of course, you may grow these flowers as edibles:
sunflowers
nasturtium
violet
These lists are by no means exhaustive. Which flowering vegetables have I forgotten? Which do you have questions about?