Wordless Wednesday: Teeny Tiny Snails

Edible House Plants

Cardamom and kaffir lime enjoying the view from the computer room window

When I visited the Edible Garden Show in March, I was inspired by James Wong's talk to bring home a cardamom (the green one i.e. true cardamom, not the black) and a kaffir lime plant. NAH and I use both of these extensively in our cooking, so it made sense to have a go at growing them for myself.

I hadn't set out with the intention of extending my GYO activities to embrace edible houseplants, but reading the cultivation notes, I soon realised I'd inadvertently branched out. They're both relatively tender plants (OK with temperatures down to around -2 to -5 ^oC), so most places in the UK will have to keep these indoors for the winter at least. I might let them out for a holiday out in the garden sometime, if the weather ever warms up again.

My track record with house plants isn't that good, so the fact I still have these a few months further on is encouraging. I've also spotted a new flower spike forming on one of my orchids this week, so things are definitely improving. As a result, I'm very tempted to get a vanilla grass plant and I've started looking speculatively at the root ginger in our fridge to see if I can spot any shoots...

Do you grow any edible house plants? Any hints and tips for a newbie?

GBBD: Sunshine After Rain

Early June mornings are made for dew and bare feet. I got a little more than I'd bargained for today as it rained overnight, but to be up early with the sunshine slicing through the garden made everything seem fresh and clean. The chores can wait. It's time to enjoy the moment.

One of my favourite moments in the garden is when the Allium christophii start to flower. They have an other-world quality about them; the kind of flower I imagine would be quite at home in a John Wyndham novel. Luckily they're quite at home in my garden too and I have a self-sown 'river' of them in the large terrace border. I really should think about editing them soon.

The chores can wait. It's time to enjoy the moment :)

Garden Bloggers Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

A Year of Salad Flowers

The silver lining from a bolting salad: oriental mustard and mizuna flowers

Since starting the Salad Challenge last year, I've expanded the range of flowers we eat in our salads. Like many people, I started off with peppery nasturtiums and was surprised to find ultra-conservative NAH enjoyed them too. Now he happily munches away at any flowery offerings in our salads, rather than shooting me a look of deep suspicion. Remember, here is a guy who only liked peas when I first met him ;)

Marigold alerted me to the virtues of Mizuna flowers last year and it's just as well she did, because my salad mixes this year have been quick to bolt. I've been flinging handfuls of their flowers into our salads over the past few weeks in a desperate attempt to keep leaf production going to give my later sowings a chance to catch up. The above picture shows that mustards and mizuna are close botanical cousins, despite their variety in the leaf department.

As well as these and the aforementioned nasturtiums, NAH and I have tried violas, the odd tulip petal and primroses. Tulips were the surprise discovery last year but one we take in moderation, not because they don't taste good, but because we'd quickly use up our garden display. I've also tried daylily flowers and on one memorable occasion demonstrated their edibile qualities to my fellow choirmakers on holiday in the Czech Republic. They kindly waited 24 hours to make sure I didn't drop dead from the experience and then joined in with my flower grazings.

Petra once commented she couldn't see the value in eating flowers - we were discussing the merits of Dahlias if I remember correctly. Agreed not all edible flowers are tasty - indeed some are flavourless -  but I recalled the wise words of Taffy Tatty when I met him at a potato day a few years ago. We taste first with our eyes, then with our tongue, he told me, and whilst his remark was nothing to do with edible flowers, I believe it still applies.

At Sarah Raven's Grow, Cook, Eat study day at Yeo Valley* in March, she provided a list of floral suggestions to scatter over the top of salads throughout the year as follows:

• November to February - Violas, particularly the heartsease variety. NB some are awful (like the red one I grew a couple of years ago), so it's good to have a pointer to a tasty variety
• March to April - Polyanthus (all of the family are edible) and Rocket
• April - Gold/silver laced Polyanthus
• May/June to first frosts - Calendula, borage (a prolific self-seeder, so eat the flowers!), courgette, Dahlias, Nasturtiums (her favourite) and Anchusa

And repeat. Looking back at my notes from the Alys Fowler* study day I went to last year she adds:

• Viola 'Rebecca'
• Sun lovers - Nasturtiums, marigolds (= 'poor man's saffron' - petals only), cornflowers (petals only), sage, pinks, pelargoniums, primulas, roses, daylilies (a cornflower substitute), sweet williams, chives, mallow, rocket
• Dappled shade - Campanulas, violets, mouse garlic and golden garlic (Allium moly)

There's plenty of flowers to add an attractive decoration and taste to your salad! Which ones have you tried?

Related Post

Edible Flowers for Your Salad - includes a recipe for primrose salad and the surprise discovery that tulips are edible

* = both in support of Horatio's Garden
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The 52 Week Salad Challenge is sponsored by Greenhouse Sensation.

Note to readers: sponsorship goes towards my blogging costs and does not affect my independence.