Dandelions haven't been so much fun since Mama had a baby and her head popped off.
Foraging, if you hadn't heard, is the new repurposing. Going out and finding ingredients for your dinner either in the woods, your front lawn or ... if conditions are right, your neighbours back lawn.
Most foraging takes research, education, some professional guidance, and let's face it ... bravery. It takes a brave soul to a) rumble around the bush with all it's spiders and such, looking for an edible mushroom or leaf. Because spiders are scary. Of course there's the whole, if you pick the wrong plant you might poison yourself thing too. I'm much more frightened of the spiders.
But. I wanted to forage. I'm nothing if not willing to jump on every single food/farming bandwagon that comes along. In fact, I'm so into bandwagoning that if you are on that bandwagon and there's no more room for me, I will jump up on the bandwagon, shove you off, stamp on your hands as you hold on for dear life and laugh, hands raised over my head, as you tumble down the dirt road until you're nothing but a faraway spot with hair.
So this foraging business. It got me to thinking, if it seemed like kind of a pain and a bit risky to me ... the wild child of the farm world ... what must others think of it? I'm totally going to learn how to forage, but I needed an immediate fix. So I got my research cap on and went searching around the big, fat liar of an Internet to see what I had right around my house that could be eaten this very moment.
I found a lot.
And chances are if you have a regular type garden with pretty common flowers YOU have a lot in your flower garden you can eat too.
So, after researching I set out with a pair of scissors, a baggie and a set of teeth and a tongue. The baggie was borrowed (from my mom), the teeth and tongue were my own.
As you probably know by now, I can't present you with anything, or recommend anything that I haven't tired myself. So I gathered up all the flowers, sat down and ate em.
Here are my findings:
Edible Flowers & What They Taste Like.
Nasturtium: Not a lot of flavour, definitely wouldn't overpower any dish. Peppery with a hint of nutty sweetness. Beautiful flower for putting in salad or on an open faced sandwich as well as garnish.
Dandelion: Again not a lot of flavour, but there is some flavour there. Like plant basically. Others recommend pulling the petals off and scattering them over rice which I think would work well.
Rose: Roses taste like ... roses. Honestly. Probably best on a dessert item and garnish for cakes. The white part in larger petals can be bitter.
Impatiens: These were among my favourites. They're actually meaty and almost have the flavour of arugula without any bitterness. Would be FANTASTIC in salads. But go for rustic, not cutsey please. Oh hell. Do whatever you want. It's your salad.
Thyme Flowers: Very strong flavour of thyme. Use wherever you would use thyme. Would be really nice as a garnish sprinkled over a stew or any soup that has thyme cooked into it.
Squash Blossom: Very mild squash flavour. Beautiful smooth, velvety texture. Nice raw, but watch for a fried squash blossom recipe coming up soon.
Phlox: Surprisingly strong floral taste. Good for fruit salads. Only the perennial phlox is edible. Those are the ones that come up every year and are about 3 feet tall.
Tuberous Begonia: These were my hands down favourite. The flower petals have an incredibly strong lemony taste. Sort of a cross between rhubarb and lemon. The stalks and stems taste almost exactly like rhubarb, but a bit brighter tasting. It's that undertone of lemon. Use anywhere you want a punch of sour lemon flavour like salads, fish, garnish. They'd be beautiful floating in a glass of lemonade. Begonias should not be eaten by anyone with gout, kidney stones, or rheumatism.
Obviously this isn't a complete list of edible flowers. These are just the edible flowers I found around my garden or my mother's garden. Here's a good source I found with lists of edible flowers if you're interested in learning more.
Now come on! Hop on the foraging bandwagon with me. Honestly. I'm willing to shove off anyone necessary to make room for ya.
note: don't eat any flowers unless you're sure they haven't been sprayed with pesticide. Or urine. Duh.
The purple flowers from chives are great in salads instead of onion.
Pennyroyal is actually more trailing than most mints. If you are going to harvest from the "wild", do your homework and be really sure what you are getting.
Here in California, the poisonous Amanita mushroom is much more common than it used to be, so it has become easier to get the wrong one. The biggest medical challenge with mushroom poisoning is that the organ damage has started by the time you realize you are sick. That makes it hard to treat.
Yeah, this is just meant to be for foraging from the annuals you've planted in your yard. I definitely don't condone mushroom hunting anywhere. Too difficult and dangerous. ~ karen!
Enjoyed the post and the comments. Another surprising wild edible that I was served this summer was common milkweed pods. They were cut in halves or quarters, stir-fried and simmered several minutes with several other things--delicious!
I read the part about bandwagoning several times, At first I laughed then I thought that we have the same way of thinking, except your way of writing is way better, and then I tried to memorized that paragraph and screw the rest of it, because I just love bandwagoning!
You always give me a good laugh and today was no exception. Nothing like threatening violence over your latest obsession. Cheers!
Thanks for this post! You always make me laugh, and today I loved seeing this about edible flowers. You do for me what I'm too lazy to do, and that's put the time and research in to find these things out. I have tea's now and then, and have always wanted to include edible flowers. Thanks for gettin' on that bandwagon for me!
When in China we ate battered and fried squash blossoms and lightly seasoned (soy sauce and sesame oil??) and stir fried elm pods. Both were deeeelish! Any recipes for sage brush and dead grass? Scrub oak? That's about all we've got out here:(
Actually, all parts of a nasturtium is edible. The leaves have a much stronger peppery/mustard-y flavor than the flowers. Once it goes to seed in the fall, the seeds are referred to as "poor man's capers" especially if they are pickled (recipes all over the internet). I grow loads of them, since they are also varmint deterrents in the garden.
Also edible (if not sprayed with pesicides, of course): lilacs, mums, violets, flowers of any herb (basil flowers are especially good)... the list is long.
Hi Susan. Yes, I know. As I said in the post this isn't an exhaustive list, just a rundown of what I had immediately available in my garden. - karen!
Thank you.
This is one tiny step more work than just the 'pop off plan, put in mouth' method, but well worth it. You can totally make simple syrup and infuse it with your flowers. We did it with sage flowers (the details are over here: http://www.violentlydomestic.com/2012/05/23/science/ ) and it made the BEST lemonade base ever in the history of eating. It may or man not also have found its way into an adult beverage or two. I wouldn't know. Best of all...there's a magic color transformation that happens with the sage syrup when it hits the acid of the lemon juice.
Science and snacks, what more can you ask for!
Another distinction to make is the difference between mint and penny royal. Penny royal is of the mint family (square stemmed) but is used for insect repellant and should not be consumed as it can cause severe liver damage. Penny royal grows upright in dry uncultivated areas, most mint trails on the ground and likes moisture.
I recommend Fat of the Land website for foraging adventures and receipes.
Great Post, When talking about eating things in the forest I always think of a long ago Thanksgiving in Oregon. There where 4 people of which was an "expert mushroom picker" they took them home and cooked them. In the next 10 days all 4 had to have a liver transplant. That took care of me eating things in the wild till now. Now, since I have little boy dogs the whole pee thing is a problem. I have the fella in the house trained now, the dogs no such luck.........................
Great post! Make room for me on the bandwagon! Also I thought you said "bagel" instead of baggie...guess that could work for an open faced sandwich with some Nasturtium, huh (eh)?
We grow nasturtiums every year..they are very good in salad plus we just think they are pretty..we also have impatiens every year as they are so easy to grow and bloom into the Fall season..never tried eating them..will give them a try today..When I was little my Mom used to get me to pick Dandelion greens..she would make a bacon dressing for over them..it was very good..Thanks for the info Karen..I did not know some of those flowers were edible!!
Just so happens I started picking some "Poor Man's Saffron" (Calendula) yesterday morning... I carefully 'manage' how much will grow, and where, because they re-seed and spread so easily. Of course, I have already indulged in chive blossoms, with other alliums on the horizon. All this hardly makes up for the near-total loss of my strawberry crop to drowning...(in a raised bed!!).
Who knew my squash plant was a hermaphrodite?! Thanks Karen!
I have a sister/brother inlaw that excepted some wild mushrooms picked by a friend. Lets just say it made for a very interesting/trippy night! Lesson be very careful when excepting from others! LOL!
http://www.dawnajonesdesign.com/
Where?! Dawna, come on, share the love!
Karen, that photograph would make a BEAUTIFUL poster!
(Floral) food for thought ...