After purchasing your new piece of real estate in the Hernando and Citrus County Florida area, it’s time to spruce up your yard. Why not make it both beautiful and functional? When preparing to plant all of your pretty new flowers, choose some that are edible. During the hot summer months of West Central Florida try exploring a whole new source of food. Food that has been disguising itself as ‘just pretty flowers’ for years. Yes, it’s true! When picked just before your meal, you can mix them into a green salad, sprinkle them over homemade ice cream or freeze them to add to your summer ‘ade’ of choice, the choices are unlimited.

There are some rules to flower eating, however. Avoid eating flowers from florists, nurseries or picking roadside flowers, these sometimes can be sprayed with pesticides or polluted with exhaust fumes. Orgnically grown is always the best. Use only the petals and eat them in small portions at first to make sure that you don’t have any reaction to the flowers.

Calendula petals, also known as the pot marigold is great for using to accent soups and stews. Just let the petals dry out, they will still keep that orange and yellow color. Nasturtiums are good for salads with their spicy flavor. Nasturtiums grow from seed very easily and are beautiful bedding plants. Pansies are very popular for decorating desserts. With the striking color, they would be a great flower to freeze then add to summer drinks, as well. Bringing the beauty of your garden to your kitchen, somehow just makes the food taste better.