Organic Flowers
Organically grown flowers are better for the environment, and often times will be grown locally as well. Did you know that most roses bought in North America are grown in South America? That means that not only are you buying a flower that isn't exactly "fresh cut", but importers are using countless amounts of fossil fuels to bring those flowers to you. This is a bad choice for the environment since organic flowers are grown locally and have a longer shelf life due to their freshness.
Check with your local florists, or health food grocer to find out where you can get organic flowers, it's a small change for you to make, but one that has a big impact on the environment.
Flowers provide less food than other major plants parts (seeds, fruits, roots, stems and leaves) but they provide several important foods and spices. Flower vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke. The most expensive spice, saffron, consists of dried stigmas of a crocus. Other flower spices are cloves and capers. Hops flowers are used to flavor beer. Marigold flowers are fed to chickens to give their egg yolks a golden yellow color, which consumers find more desirable. Dandelion flowers are often made into wine. Bee Pollen, pollen collected from bees, is considered a health food by some people. Honey consists of bee-processed flower nectar and is often named for the type of flower, e.g. orange blossom honey, clover honey and tupelo honey.
Hundreds of fresh flowers are edible but few are widely marketed as food. It is recomended that when eating flowers, you always eat organically. Organic flowers can be used to add color and flavor to salads. Organic squash flowers can be dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. Edible organic flowers include nasturtium, chrysanthemum, carnation, cattail, honeysuckle, chicory, cornflower, and sunflower. Some edible organic flowers are sometimes candied such as daisy and rose (you may also come across a candied pansy if you are lucky).
Questions? Comments?
send email to greazer@hotmail.com (email encoded to protect against spam)