For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
a big list of my favorite (and surprising) edible flowers 🌼
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I've seen a lot of vegetable gardens over the years, big and small: private gardens, community gardens, demonstration gardens, school gardens. I get it. If you've got limited space, why waste it on flowers when you need to maximize every inch for your tomatoes and squash? Sure, you might grow a patch of milkweed for the butterflies or plant some bee-friendly annuals here and there, but for the most part, flowers tend to be an afterthought in many of the edible gardens I've visited. But let me say this: If you're not treating flowers as an integral component of your garden, you're very much missing out (and doing your crops a disservice).Not only are they pollinator magnets, they also attract other beneficial insects, act as trap crops for vulnerable plants, provide ground cover and help suppress weeds, add organic matter, and improve the structure and health of your soil. But my favorite thing about growing flowers? MANY of them are actually edible, so you can harvest them alongside your vegetables all summer long and even into fall! While you commonly see petals sprinkled over salads or floated in fancy drinks, some flowers can be eaten like vegetables. They can be stuffed and fried, or used as little "boats" for appetizers, or even have shoots and leaves that are 100% edible and most importantly, delicious. (I've got a few favorites in this category, and I bet you'll be surprised at what they are.) You might even be growing some of these ornamental flowers right now and had no idea you could eat them! Check out my HUGE list of edible flowers—over 65 of my favorites that I've personally tasted! (Yes, that's a lot! And I currently grow or have grown most of them, so I also share what they taste like.) Seasonal tipsP.S. Check out this huge list of over 65 edible flowers that you need to add to your vegetable garden. P.P.S. Bean flowers, sunflower buds, dandelions, hostas, and hollyhocks aren't the only bonus crops in your garden. Many parts of the plants you're already growing (like radish pods, tomato leaves, squash shoots, and sweet potato leaves) are edible too—and I've gathered them all in this exclusive resource that helps you double your harvest, simply by knowing what you can harvest.
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Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."