Edible flowers can be found in many backyard landscapes and herb gardens. Many annuals and perennials produce flowers with culinary potential. Roses (rosa spp.), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), and apple blossoms are well-known perennials with edible flowers. Borage (Borago officinalis), calendula (Calendula officinalis), garden sage (Salvia officinalis), scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), and pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) are perhaps the best-known annuals that can be used in this way.

Before eating any flowers make sure you have properly identified them as being edible. Since many plants have similar names, always use the scientific name when choosing a flower for an edible purpose. If you are not sure, do not eat them, because many flowers are poisonous or toxic. You should also be certain that the flower is free of pesticides and herbicides. For a detailed list of edible flowers, see Edible Flowers from Colorado State University Extension.

Edible flowers have been used in cooking for thousands of years. During the Victorian era candied flowers were used in salads, sweets and pastries. Rose water and orange flower water are still being used daily in Middle Eastern and South Asian homes

We often use edible flowers today without even thinking about it: saffron strands are the dried stamens of crocuses (Carthamus tincorius), lavender is the secret to Herbs de Provence and the flowers of the hops plant are crucial to the production of many kinds of beer.

Take a walk through your backyard garden to inventory what you might be able to use in the kitchen. If you are lacking appropriate flowers, spring is a good time to plant annual flower seeds to create an edible flower garden.

Flower seeds are widely available online or in your local nursery. They are easy to start by scattering them into the landscape or starting them early in small pots indoors near a sunny window. Follow the directions on the seed packet. For a sunny spot in your garden you might opt for calendula, borage, sage, pansies or squash/pumpkin blossoms (Cucurbita spp.). Nasturtium (Tropseolum majus) is a shade-loving plant that needs room to wander.

If you have space for a few perennials, lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) work well for our region and are very drought tolerant and deer resistant.

When your edible flowers bloom, the best time to harvest them is in the morning after the dew has dried. Rinse them in cold water and allow them to air dry. They will need to be used right away or stored for a short time in the refrigerator. Many of the flowers can be used whole. If the flowers are large, like sunflowers, you may need to remove the petals, which is the part of the flower that you will use.

Some flowers have a hint of flavor, so you may want to taste them before adding them to a dish to make sure they are appropriate and gauge the amount to use. Nasturtium has a slight peppery taste. Calendula has a saffron flavor. Sage flowers are both sweet and savory. Borage has a slight cucumber flavor. Some flowers (like orange blossoms) can be bitter.

Using Edible Flowers

You can add flower petals or whole flowers like nasturtium, borage, or pansies to a salad of spring greens, or use them as a garnish.

Flower butters are an easy way to incorporate flowers into a meal. Add chopped flower petals to softened butter, then refrigerate before using on sweet or savory dishes. Butter mixed with chive blossoms or sage blossoms is good on top of vegetables, fish or grilled chicken. Rose petal butter can be a nice addition to pancakes or biscuits.

Hibiscus flowers (Hibiscus syriacus) can be used to make a refreshing iced tea. Add rosemary or lavender to lemonade for an interesting summer beverage. You can also infuse ice water with the flowers of herbs like mint (mentha spp.), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), tulsi basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), or thyme (Thymus spp.) for a subtle flavor, or freeze those flowers with water in ice cube trays to make a pretty addition to summer drinks.

Making candied flowers is an easy way to decorate cookies and cakes. Beat an egg white and use a small brush to paint the petals of the flowers you are using. Pansies work well for this. Once the flower is coated with the egg wash, sprinkle very fine granulated sugar over the flower. Let air dry for a couple of days before using to top a dessert.

Lavender flowers and rose petals can be used to infuse sugar. Chop dried lavender flowers or dried rose petals and place them in a small container of granulated sugar. Let the mixture sit for two to three weeks. You can either strain out the flowers or leave them in. The flavored sugar is beautiful sprinkled over freshly baked sugar cookies or sweet breads.

The possibilities are endless: there are many books on this subject and plenty of recipes available online to help you incorporate edible flowers into everyday meals. Consider how festive and colorful your meals might be with the addition of some beautiful flowers straight from the garden.

Master Gardener Spring Workshop Series begins on February 12^th

This series of 12 workshops includes seven new topics: Firewise Landscaping (a four-part workshop); Gardening with Chickens; Companion Planting; How to Grow and Use Herbs and Microgreens; Raised Bed Cover (Hoop House) Opportunities; What your Weeds are Telling You & Weed Identification; and Vegetable Seed Starting. For the full list of workshops, and to register, go to ucanr.edu/p/56426.

To learn more about UC Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated varieties which were either introduced commercially before 1940, or grown from seeds that have been passed down at least 50 years through several generations of a family, religious, ethnic, or tribal group, without the plants crossing with another variety of the same species.

Seeds from an open-pollinated variety produce offspring that are identical to the parent plant. As long as cross-pollination can be prevented, seeds that are saved will produce identical tomatoes year after year. Seed saved from a hybrid tomato plant or from cross-pollinated plants will not generally grow true to type.

Heirloom tomatoes come in a multitude of sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors. In addition to red, they can be purple, yellow, green, orange, or pink, and they can even be striped or marbled. They also vary in shape (pear, oblong, round, oval) and size (from small grape-sized fruit to giant two-pounders). And heirlooms can have a long harvest season, producing fruit into fall if conditions are right.

Heirlooms have often been named along the way with quirky monikers like “Black Krim,” “Cherokee Purple,” “Missouri Pink Love Apple,” or “Hillbilly Potato Leaf.” If the seeds have been passed down within a family there is usually a written history about the variety. They may be mentioned in an old seed catalog, a state agricultural report, or a garden book or journal.       

We grow them for their wonderful flavor, texture, and taste, but it is interesting to learn the stories that go along with each tomato. The person from the past that created a certain variety over 50 or 100 years ago reaches down, through time, to deliver the same tomato seed that we can plant from year to year in our own gardens. These unique stories are usually included along with the tomato's description in seed catalogs or the back of seed packets.

For example the Dester Tomato is described in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog as “having been donated by Missouri farmer Larry Pierce, who received his seeds from an Amish woman in Seymour, Missouri. She originally got her seeds from a doctor she worked for whose family had brought the seeds with them from Germany.”

There are both determinate and indeterminate varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Determinate varieties are sometimes smaller plants that work well in containers. The fruit ripens all at once so they are good for batch projects like making tomato sauce for canning or freezing. Indeterminate tomatoes bloom and ripen at different intervals throughout the season and bear fruit for a longer period of time.

The Back Story

The tomato is a New World fruit, native to Mexico and Central America, where the Aztecs and Incas cultivated it as early as 700 AD. During the Age of Exploration in the 1500s it was introduced to Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In the mid 1800's the tomato became a staple in kitchen gardens in the United States.

Over the next 100 years tomatoes were grown by home gardeners or by farmers for local markets. These tomatoes were fragile and did not travel well. Hybridization began commercially, in order to breed a tomato that could travel long distances. Hybrid tomatoes were developed for uniform shape and size and thicker skin. They were not bred for flavor. Hybrid tomatoes remain a major commercial crop; they are the tomatoes generally found in grocery stores today. They are picked greener for shipping and are often lacking in the best flavor and texture.

Consumers are starting to show interest in some of the old heirloom varieties that are full of flavor. During the summer months, heirloom tomatoes can be found in local farmers markets and in some grocery stores. They can also be planted in backyard vegetable gardens.

Cultivating Heirloom Tomatoes

There are some challenges with growing heirlooms. They can be less reliable than hybrids from year to year, and may produce less fruit. Their fruit can develop cracks in the heat, or be less disease resistant. They might produce well in one climate zone and not in another one.

Every heirloom variety is genetically unique and with this uniqueness is an evolved resistance to pests and diseases as an adaptation to specific growing climates and conditions.  Experiment and find what works well in your area.

You can find heirloom tomato starts in some local nurseries in the spring; popular varieties include “Brandywine,” “Jubilee,” and “Big Rainbow.” Or you can start your own plants from seed: heirloom tomato seed can be found in most seed catalogs or at your local seed saving exchange. The seed can be started indoors, in a sunny window, about six to eight weeks before the last frost (in Chico, a minimal chance of a last frost occurring is April 24). Follow the directions on the seed packet. All tomatoes are a warm season crop. Transplant the seedlings deep into the ground when nighttime temperatures are consistently 50 degrees. The plants (especially indeterminate varieties) can get quite large, so it is recommended that the vines have some sort of support for their growth). Tomato cages, trellises, and stakes can provide good support.

To learn more about UC Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

“I want them to all feel like they know how to grow food,” says Vicki Wonacott, describing the fundamental goal of the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County School Gardens Program.

This program brings how-to horticultural knowledge to first-graders in four of our local elementary schools. Why first graders? According to Wonacott (a retired elementary school teacher), at that young age children are easy to engage, they retain their sense of wonder at scientific phenomena, and they are just plain fun to work with. In addition, the School Gardens Program imparts basic biological and botanical information. For Wonacott, this is science teaching at its best.

The classroom visits commence in the fall, when days are becoming shorter and cooler: a perfect time to explore some horticultural basics indoors. Lessons take place each month except December, following a logical progression, and culminating with outdoor planting in the spring. Here are the details:

SEEDS: Together, the kids and the adults (Master Gardener volunteers, school teachers, and classroom aides) soak lima bean seeds to soften them up so they can pull them apart to examine the inner parts. The magic here is that visible within the seed are the seed coat, the leaves, and the root; the seed halves will provide food for the new sprout when it grows.

PLANT PARTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS: With help from the Master Gardeners, children draw the plant parts on paper, identifying the xylem (vascular tissue that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root) and the phloem (vascular tissue that conducts sugars and other metabolic products downward from the leaves). This leads directly into a discussion of photosynthesis, that miraculous process by which plants make their own food by converting the light of the sun to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. This lesson culminates in a very clever teaching approach, as the kids eat each of the plant parts they have identified: carrots for the root; celery for the stem; spinach for the leaf; broccoli for the flower; cherry tomatoes for the fruit; and sunflower seeds for the seed.

SOIL: After a discussion of soil constituents (sand, silt, clay, and humus), students make their own soil by loading each of these components into a quart jar, filling it with water, shaking it, and watching it settle out into layers. This leads to discussion and exploration of ideal combinations for plants.

THE NEEDS OF A PLANT: This experiment highlights the five components a plant needs to thrive: soil, water, light, air, and space. In each of six disposable cups, a radish seed is planted. In Cup One all five needs are met – this is the Control Cup. Cup Two contains soil, but is given no water. Cup Three also contains soil, but is covered against the light. In Cup Four, the seed is planted in pure clay, so the seed receives no air. Cup Five does not contain any soil, but the seed is watered. And in Cup Six, so many seeds are planted that they are too crowded, and don't have space to grow. The kids watch and water (or not) their cups twice a week for the next four weeks and record what is happening by charting (drawing) what they observe. After four weeks, they show their results and what they have learned.

One of the best memory aids is singing, and there is a catchy tune with lyrics to help remember these plant essentials, titled The Needs of a Plant Chant. It goes as follows: For a plant to stay alive, it needs five things so it can thrive. It needs water so it can grow. And it needs soil down below. Plants need space, they can't be tight! The sun helps plants by giving light. Don't forget to give plants air. Repeat the needs if you dare: water, soil, space, sunlight, air, AND DON'T FORGET THE LOVE!

WORMS: The contributions of worms to soil health are highlighted, accompanied by adults singing and acting out the Wormy Wiggle (another catchy tune). Students build a worm hotel: a clear plastic container is lined with another, leaving approximately one inch of soil on the outer circumference. Moist sandy soil is added, and food is placed on the top. With this device, the kids can observe the worms doing their work of eating, tunneling, and effecting decomposition of organic matter. While they are not being observed, the light-sensitive worms are protected by sliding a paper sleeve over the outer container.

PESTS AND PALS / POLLINATORS: This lesson focuses on insects that act as pollinators, beneficials, and / or pests in the garden. After learning about the various roles insects play to help or hinder plant health, the class is taken outside to play a game of Treasure Hunt. They search for evidence of bugs, or try to find the bugs themselves.

GARDEN MAINTENANCE / PREPARATION FOR PLANTING: After the indoor explorations and experiments, it's time to plant seeds in the outdoor garden beds! This usually takes place in March, so that the crops can be harvested before school lets out for summer. The seeds chosen to plant have high success rates and lower maintenance requirements. They must be able to sprout, grow, and be harvested within the school year.

Although summer vegetables are some of the easiest to grow, they are not suitable for school gardens, because no one is there to tend the gardens during the punishing heat and drought of our summers. Instead, the focus is on fall and winter vegetables. Great success has been achieved with leafy greens such as bok choy, lettuce, kale, and chard. The tendency of these plants to bolt is turned into a lesson on how to attract and provide sustenance to pollinators. Carrots have not been successful, but peas have. Wonacott wants to add pumpkins to the planting list: they can be planted in spring and harvested just in time for Halloween.

A TAKE HOME GARDEN: In the past, the program has culminated with a field trip to the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch. Unfortunately, the cost of busing and other logistics have now made this trip difficult to accomplish. Instead, students build their own miniature garden to take home with them: they make paper pots, fill them with soil, and plant two with veggie starts and two with seeds. Squash, sunflower, and watermelon seeds have been the most successful.

The value of lessons like these, taught by dedicated volunteers who want to see kids succeed, and which are age appropriate, exciting, and effective, cannot be overstated. The kids get excited when they see the Master Gardeners enter the classroom because they know it is time for “science class.” One child, who during regular school lessons has difficulty staying still and paying attention, recently said “I really like it when you guys show up, because I never get in trouble.” Plus, he's learning how to grow food.

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs.  Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. To learn more about the Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

One of the ways the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County serve our community is through their School Gardens Program. Currently this program serves four schools, reaching 300 children a month in a total of twelve first-grade classrooms. (Before the Camp Fire, the program served eighteen classrooms).

The School Gardens Program is headed by Master Gardener Vicki Wonacott, in collaboration with Master Gardener Candice Boggs. It began in 2013 when Wonacott, a recently retired elementary school teacher, designed four basic lessons about plants to share with children who were visiting the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at the Patrick Ranch Museum on school field trips. Those initial four lessons focused on seeds, plant parts, soil, and the history of Patrick Ranch. Children learned that they were touring property which in the 19^th century had been the ranch family's “Safeway Store,” because back then, they raised what they ate.

The Master Gardeners' School Garden Program has since grown into a collaboration between the UC Master Gardeners, local elementary schools, and CalFresh, part of California's Nutrition Education Program. Plant starts are provided by local community-supported agriculture farm GRUB (Growing Resources Uniting Bellies), and previously also were supplied by the Plant Barn nursery. All of the schools involved are defined as “underserved” and many, if not most, of their students qualify for reduced or free lunches. It is important to note that the Master Gardeners' School Garden Program is just one of many local programs focusing on bringing agricultural knowledge and hands-on experience directly into schools.

What is the ultimate goal of the School Garden Program? Wonacott hopes to instill within these children a love for and connection to the earth; to teach them that they can grow their own food; to lure them away from electronic screens; to engage them, delight them, and show them how fun science can be through teaching how plants function; and to encourage in each child a sense of self-direction and empowerment.

When Wonacott wanted to expand from teaching kids at Patrick Ranch to bringing her lessons into classrooms (and schoolyards), she tweaked her materials to ensure they complied with California's educational standards. Initially, the Master Gardener School Gardens Program team worked with first-graders at Oroville Elementary School. In quick succession, they introduced programs to first grade classrooms at Little Chico Creek Elementary School and Citrus Elementary (both in Chico), and Paradise Elementary School. Among the multitude of devastations wreaked by the Camp Fire was the destruction of an extensive outdoor garden and classroom already in place at Paradise Elementary School; it included tables, benches, and 20 raised garden beds, 15 of which were equipped with timed irrigation equipment. Wonacott and Boggs, in collaboration with the staff of Paradise Elementary, have plans to rebuild a state-of-the-art school garden and outdoor classroom in Paradise. Currently, the School Gardens program serves Paradise first-grade children at Paradise Ridge Elementary school, and in Oroville, the program works with first-graders at Stanford Avenue Elementary School.

The lessons are designed specifically to “hook” the kids – grabbing their attention, and appealing to their imagination and as-yet-unjaded sense of wonder. To do this, lessons are age-appropriate, clear and simple, fast-paced, and often entertaining (for example, the performance of the “Wormy Wiggle” song and dance is unforgettable!). Master Gardener volunteers visit each classroom for one hour every month and get the kids outdoors to plant, grow, observe, harvest, prepare, and eat nutritious food.

CalFresh shares these goals. This state-sponsored nutrition program helps provide healthy food to low income families, with an emphasis on fresh and locally-grown produce. Both CalFresh and the Master Gardener Program headquarters are housed at the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Oroville, and the two programs share a coordinator, Karina Hathorn. The School Gardens Program benefits from that relationship through access to funding for, or direct provision of, curriculum, books, and other garden education supplies. Each teacher who participates in the School Garden Program can obtain classroom supplies that fall within approved CalFresh lists. CalFresh provides curriculum and other resources to interested schools within their five-county service area.

Wonacott's love for the earth and its bounty was developed early in her life by her father, an amateur naturalist who loved to garden. Her own passion for gardening is infectious; she notes that the classroom teachers love the School Gardens lessons as much as she does, noting “We have to turn teachers away.” There is a core group of six or seven dedicated Master Gardener volunteers who work in the schools each month; most are committed to a particular school. Wonacott says the classroom visits require at least two volunteers (preferably three), plus an engaged and committed participating teacher to make each lesson engaging and worthwhile.

The carefully-devised science-based lessons are inspirational and impressive. Our next Real Dirt article will focus more squarely on the classroom lessons, along with Wonacott's ambitious goals for the future of the Master Gardener School Garden Program and for the bigger picture of all school garden programs in our area. Schoolchildren in our county are lucky kids indeed!

To learn more about UC Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.

Photo credit:  Bok Choy: JS [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]