Restaurant chefs often find themselves on a waiting list to receive the pretty food and cocktail garnishes. Photo / Supplied
Restaurant chefs often find themselves on a waiting list to receive the pretty food and cocktail garnishes. Photo / Supplied
A pretty addition to restaurant and cafe fare, here’s how to grow your own edible garnish.
Louise Penny and Daryn Rickwood cannot keep up with demand for the edible flowers they grow on their 20-hectare property, located on a tidal arm of the Kaipara near Wellsford.
Told it would be too small to be viable when they settled there five years ago, the couple's Salty River Farm now produces the lettuces, herbs, zucchini and scallopini, pumpkin, silverbeet and kale they sell (often aided by sons Sam, 16, and Joe, 13) at their stall at Hobsonville Point's Catalina Bay Farmers' Market, at Wynyard Pavilion's new Saturday market and at the shop at Te Hana Orchard, near their home.
The couple has recently started running not only the shop but its adjoining 40-hectare orchard which grows many old varieties of fruit (including grapefruit at one time used in Fruju ice blocks).
"We grow and sell Salty River Farm produce the old-fashioned way: fresh, seasonal and without chemicals. A simple idea but it requires plenty of hard work, especially when you're new to it," Daryn says of the venture the pair undertook three years ago and one they admit has been trial and error.
"The orchard shop sells Salty River Farm produce alongside the fruit, and the Te Hana fruit is taken along to the market – it's a partnership that works well," they add.
The edible flowers make only an occasional market appearance – they are too sought after by restaurant chefs who often find themselves on a waiting list to receive the pretty food and cocktail garnishes.
Salty River grows dianthus and Sweet William, nasturtiums, borage, pansies, violas, roses, calendulas and cornflowers to provide year-round supply. Although most will grow happily from one season to another, seed sowing is stopped in mid-summer when the heat becomes too much for the tender seedlings.
Some of the petite blooms are grown on the farm in a paddock and others are grown in flower mixes in pots elevated on a tabletop. This not only makes the harvest more efficient, Louise says, but can also help thwart slugs and snails.
Generally, she adds, the flowers don't have much flavour; their popularity lying in their good looks and the freshness they offer. Nasturtiums are another matter. Louise says they are the team's favourites – the stalk and base of the flowers provide a satisfying crunch and peppery taste.
"The leaves are also harvested at around the size of a $2 coin and are liked by chefs for both flavour and visual appeal – especially the ones with splotches!"
Restaurant menus aside, the dianthus and Sweet William flowers are popular for decorating cakes – they last well. The picked pansies, violas and borage are not so sturdy so are best used immediately, Louise adds, "although, with the right post-harvest treatment [see tips below], they might last longer".
Want to grow and use edible flowers? Here are Salty River's tips:
• Most of the varieties appreciate a bit of shade through the hottest part of the day. Harvest flowers early morning, before the sun can wilt them.
• Remember to use only natural, organically certified bug deterrents on the flower plants, such as a chilli/garlic homemade spray (lots of recipes online) or Neem Oil (note the withholding time if using).
• At certain times of the year, little bugs will love to live in your flowers – especially the calendulas. We find it useful to drop the flowers gently onto the bench after harvesting … bugs stowed away in the petals will drop out. You can do this a few times to get most of them out.
• Wash and dry the flowers gently by dipping them in a bowl of water and gently shaking. Store them in a single layer on paper towels in a container in the fridge until use.
• Petals are the best parts of many edible flowers. Remove the heel at the base of the petal (it's bitter), as well as the stamens, pistil and calyx of larger flowers. Some, like pansies and nasturtiums and their leaves, you can eat whole.
• One of our favourite ways to use edible flowers on the farm is to make the prettiest ice cubes and ice rings for special occasions – have fun with your creativity and impress your guests over summer!
Gardener's glossary: Pineapple sage
The sweet-tasting, minty-citrussy flowers are lovely strewn as decoration over a cake or added to fruit salads. Use the leaves to garnish summer drinks or make a tea from them. Photo / Getty Images
The striking red tubular flowers in late summer make it worth planting for beauty alone, but pineapple sage offers more. Its leaves, as the name suggests, really do smell of pineapple when you rub them between your fingers and, chopped, they add a not-overpowering tropical flavour to baked goods – cakes, bread doughs and fruit tarts.
The sweet-tasting, minty-citrussy flowers are lovely strewn as decoration over a cake or added to fruit salads. Use the leaves to garnish summer drinks or make a tea from them.
With calming and digestive properties, a pineapple sage tea may be the perfect brew for this hectic time of year. The herb is also good with meats, especially pork. You'll never find pineapple sage in supermarkets but it is easy to grow.
This relative of common sage is best grown from cuttings or seedlings. It will live in a container too but, because it forms a shrub, it needs to be a sizeable one. A perennial herb, it is often grown as an annual.
Pineapple sage is not keen on frost and needs full sun and free-draining soil. Pinch the tips to encourage it to bush and prune annually to keep it compact and to prevent it becoming too woody.
