Video: Garden Success with Good Watering Practices
Success in the garden can occur with proper watering. Learn several ways to water to your vegetables In the Home Garden with UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
New Flavors with Edible Flowers
More and more homeowners are incorporating edible plants into their home landscape in order to enjoy the fresh taste of fruits and vegetables. Another trend to consider this coming cool season is to start a few common flowers that can serve as flavor enhancements for many of your dishes.
There are numerous plants that we commonly grow that have edible flowers but before striking out on your first taste test, be sure to research first. Always remember the common saying that every flower is edible once. Find a reputable reference guide from a friendly neighborhood Extension office for a list of common edible flowers, then be ready to start from seeds. It is best not to purchase transplants from an ornamental nursery unless you are sure of all the treatments for that plants. Nurseries are often selling these for beauty alone, not with intention that they will be eaten.
Here are a few edible flowers to try:
Pot marigold or Calendula is a wonderful cool season flower on its own. Brightly colored orange or yellow flowers improve the drab colors of our cool season and plants are sturdy annuals for borders, mass plantings, or in containers. Petals have a peppery flavor and add spice to salads and sandwiches. You may also add flowers to soups, fishes and butters for added coloring. Calendula petals can be a saffron substitute.
Calenduala is easily started from seeds and will reseed in your garden once established. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
The well known dianthus is a great transition plant as our days cool and warm up again the spring. Use as front of the border plantings or in containers as a filler. When harvesting petals of dianthus, you will want to remove the white petal base which is a little bitter. The flavor is a little more delicate than cloves so you can add petals to punches, desserts, and fruit salads.
If you like a little more spice, try nasturtiums. We often plant these after the last frost and they grow until we get too hot. Since our fall weather is so unpredictable, you may be able to start some seeds for a fall planting and have flowers before our first cold spell. Either way, nasturtium flowers are often sliced for salads and sandwiches as a mustard or pepper substitute. You can also mince flowers to add to a butter. If you let some flowers go to seed, collect the unripe seeds to make a caper substitute vinegar.
Grow nasturiums during our transition times of spring and fall. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
If you are going to use edible flowers from your garden remember to keep all non food labeled pesticides away from plants. Harvest flowers at their peak after the dew dries. Separate petals from other flower parts and if you have allergies be sure to remove any pollen. Place flowers in a moist towel in the refrigerator if you will not use them immediately. Rinse carefully so not to damage tender petals.
There are many other ornamental plants that offer edible flowers you may want to consider growing in the future. These flowers not only enhance the look of the dish but can offer unique flavoring from a locally grown source – your own backyard.
Try Growing Microgreens
Are you a patient gardener? If not, try you hand at growing microgreens. Why wait for at least a month or so for a harvest when you can enjoy fresh greens in as little as 7 days.
Microgreens are the tender seedlings of your favorite vegetable or herb. They are grown in containers or flats and harvested when the first seed leaves are fully emerged. You may also wait until you see the first true leaf. Unlike sprouts, microgreens require light and are cut when harvesting to only include the stem and leaves. Depending on the seeds you start, you may enjoy mild or spicy greens, or refreshing lemony flavors of a young herb.
Microgreens can offer beautiful colors for your dish. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Here are the basic steps to get started growing microgreens.
- Get a commercial tray or recycled container and sterilize it in a 10% bleach solution. Make sure your recycled containers have drainage holes.
- Choose a good seed starting potting mix that is more fine textured. Many seeds you will start are small and a mix with a lot of bark may affect seedling germination. Add one to 1.5 inches of the soil in your container. You don’t need more depth of soil since you will be harvesting in a week to 20 days.
- Decide which types of greens you like. Consider arugula, radish, mizuna, or mustard for some spice. Swiss chard and purple cabbage will give you color, while collards, broccoli, and kale will offer mild flavors. Don’t forget about herbs like dill, cilantro, or basil for good flavors too.
- Once you have chosen your seed, beginners should seed one selection per container. As you learn the growth rate of your favorite selection, you may can combine different varieties in a flat.
- Make sure your soil is moistened (but not soaking) and spread seed on top of the soil. You will be adding about 12 seeds per square inch of soil for small seeds and about 7 seeds per square inch for larger seeds.
- Sprinkle vermiculite over the seeds and then use a spray bottle or nozzle mister to moisten the vermiculite.
Vermiculite allows moisture to get to seeds and may reduce seedling disease pressures. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
- Place containers in a greenhouse, window sill, or indoor growing tray. As soon as the seeds germinate, make sure they are receiving bright light. If growing indoors, the fluorescent or plant lights need to be a few inches above seedlings. Move the lights higher as your seedlings grow.
New seedlings need bright light. Indoor lights that are 2-3 inches from seedlings prevent thin, spindly stems. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
- Maintain a room temperature of about 70 degrees F. Temperatures above 75 degrees F can lead to disease issues
- It is also best to water from the bottom to prevent disease issues. If this is not possible, carefully water seedlings so not to injure delicate plants.
- Radish and kale will be ready for harvest in about 7 days. Swiss chard, basils, and cilantro may take 20 days.
Microgreens are ready to harvest. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
- Use clean scissors to cut stems, careful not to pull up any soil. Remaining soil and roots can be composted.
- When you are ready to use in a salad, sandwich or in juicing, place microgreens in a bowl of water to wash. Let them air dry on a paper towel.
The good news about growing microgreens, is if you find they are not to your liking or too much trouble, you it has only been a couple of weeks of effort.
Ready for Summer Heat with Portulaca
There is one tough annual plant that thrives in the summer garden and provides bright color in our sun and heat. Portulaca or moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) is strong performer, even growing well when reseeding in sidewalk cracks and stone walkways. Of course it will be most attractive when used in containers or well drained landscape beds in bright sunshine.
Containers of portulaca brighten an entrance to the herb garden at Escambia County Extension Demonstration Gardens. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
The thicker, flattened leaves of portulaca make is adaptable to drier conditions. The plants are only about 6 inches tall but branches will spread out a foot or so from the center. The attractive flowers extend just above attractive green foliage in colors of yellow, pinks, and oranges. Portulaca is extremely versatile, making it a good filler in a container or at the edges of flower beds along hardscape areas.
Bright flowers of portulaca reach for the sun. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Portulaca will not perform the best when soils remain too moist or days stay overcast for extended periods. Flowering will also be reduced if water is totally lacking. Maintain a balance by providing a quality soil that drains well.
Although many gardeners prefer perennials to annuals, portulaca can provide a big impact in the summer garden for a small investment.
African Blue Basil: A Pollinator Favorite
Many bees and beneficial wasps will be attracted to African blue basil. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Basil is a favorite plant in the summer herb garden and an absolute must for those who enjoy fresh leaves for a sandwich or delicious homemade pesto. While we grow basils as a food enhancer, an added benefit is that those basil selections that form flowers are very attractive to pollinators. If you would rather not let your favorite basil form flowers, consider adding a specific species that is grown more for its attractiveness to pollinators than its culinary uses.
African blue basil is a hybrid of two basils that has inherited a camphor flavor from one of its parents. Although edible, the flavor may not be appealing to those who are familiar with more traditional basil flavors. Plants produce abundant flowers that are pink with a dark purple base, although flowers are sterile so no seeds will be formed. If you want more African blue basil, you must purchase transplants or start your own from cuttings off the main plants.
African blue basil enhances gardens and landscapes. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Flowers of African blue basil are also showy in the garden. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Like other basils, African blue basil does like soils amended with composts that are well-drained. Plants thrive in full sun and will form rounded mounds that will be much larger than more culinary basils, up to five feet in some gardens. Plants do form woody stems and although frost tender, some plants may return in the spring in more protected areas.
Although some edible gardeners may not want to allow space for a basil that they will not use in the kitchen, the amount of pollinator activity on this selection makes it a benefit to any edible garden for all the frost-free months.