When I speak with others about my edible garden, most assume that means I only grow fruits and vegetables. On the contrary, I have several types edible flowers in my garden during any given season.  Many people have no clue what I could use them for. Some assume I just make tea with them, and others know that many flowers a great for embellishing salads.  But one of my favorite uses for edible flowers is making sweet treats.

Last spring I successfully experimented in adding  culinary lavender to ice cream. Over the winter I made some lovely lavender jelly as Christmas gifts for my clients.  This spring my attentions turned to the  gorgeous pansies growing in a hidden corner of my backyard.  They would be beautiful used to dress up a salad, or possibly a cake. But I decided to see what they could do for cookies.

Now, my all-time favorite cookie has always been the shortbread cookie with its simple, yet rich buttery flavor. I couldn’t leave well enough alone this time, though.  Since I knew pansies really don’t have much taste I decided to add just the tiniest bit of lavender (can you tell I love lavender?) to the cookie dough.  I believe these are the prettiest cookies I have ever made.  And definitely one of the tastiest.  Baking with edible flowers was definitely a hit this time!

Note: the key to cooking with lavender is to make sure you use the culinary variety.  Others do not taste good!

Pansy Cookies with Lavender

1/4 cup sugar (plus more for sprinkling on top)
a pinch of dried culinary lavender
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter (not margarine)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 egg white
about 16 pansies from your pesticide-free organic garden.

Stir lavender into sugar and let sit for several hours (or several days) to allow the lavender to flavor the sugar.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir  flour into sugar, add vanilla, then cut in butter.  With your hands, work the dough into a ball.  Roll out to about 1/4″ – 3/8″ and cut with cookie cutter. Use a cookie cutter just a little larger than your pansies. Place on nonstick cookie sheet and bake about 25 minutes. Do not let top brown. Cool thoroughly. While cookies are cooling, rinse pansies, trim stems and pat dry. Using a pastry brush, brush cookie with egg white set pansy on top and gently press pedals down, using more egg white as needed. Then coat the entire top of flower and sprinkle with sugar and place back on cookie sheet. Once all the cookies are finished, put them back in the oven for about 5 minutes to dry the egg white.  Store in single layer.

Yep, it’s that time of year again.  I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sweet potato slips so I can get them in the ground.  We plant sweet potatoes here from the beginning of May until the end of June.  This year I am planting Murasaki and O’Henry varieties.  I had planned to only plant a dozen, but had forgotten I had ordered some several months ago, and ordered more just a few weeks ago.  There will be no complaining here when we have an abundance of sweet potatoes in the fall.  In the meantime, I will enjoy their beautiful vines in my edible garden landscape.

I have found it very easy to grow sweet potatoes in Arizona.  The only issues I have run across is a bout of Gopher Grief that has not reoccurred since my California king snake decided to meander through the gopher holes during a temporary escape (I am assuming his scent has deterred any return visits), and a temporary failure in my automatic drip system that caused the vines to wilt and die back a bit, and some of the sweet potatoes to crack.  Beyond that, I pretty much sit back and enjoy their beauty until harvest time.

When you receive your sweet potato slips there is a good chance they will look pretty bad – wilted and almost dead after their long journey.  But don’t worry, you will be surprised how quickly they recover.  Get your plants in the ground as soon as you can.  If you are unable to do it right away follow instructions that came with them as to how to keep them moist until you plant.  If you have a lot of clay in your soil, I suggest you add some organic material before planting.   I like Kellogg all natural garden soil as well as some homemade compost.  Once planted, I don’t fertilize sweet potatoes as often as I do many of the other plants in the garden.  I have read mixed reviews on use of fertilizer on sweet potatoes and its effects on their flavor, so I just keep it to a minimum.  When I do fertilize, I ALWAYS use organic.

Once it’s close to harvest time check the sweet potatoes by digging around one of the plants to see if they are large enough.  Most sweet potatoes are ready for harvest in 90 – 120 days.

I recently read about trellising the vines.  I may try it this year.  I am sure it would be beautiful.  Last year I planted one next to my garden bench and let it climb up and over.  A definite bonus in the edible garden landscape.

It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.  ~ Lewis Grizzard

Tomatoes are one of the most popular garden plants and come in many different varieties.  My favorite is the Roma because of its dense and meaty flesh, low moisture content, and few seeds.  They are ideal to use for cooking.

Here in Maricopa County we have a  couple short windows of time to get our tomatoes planted.  It’s best to get transplants out between mid-February and end of March.  Then we can have a second planting mid-July to mid-August.  If you are lucky, and don’t get frost damage, the latter planting may over-winter for an early spring harvest.

Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow in Arizona.  They just need plenty of water, soil rich in organic material and staking up off the ground helps promote better fruit production. Be sure to fertilize tomatoes regularly with an organic fertilizer. I have found a fertilizer specifically made for tomatoes, like Dynamite Organic Mater Magic is best.

With just two plants, I can pick up to half dozen tomatoes a day when it’s high season.  Now what?  Well, I must admit once people find out I have home grown tomatoes, I have no trouble giving away any extras.  But my two favorite uses are making sauce and roasting them.  The roasted tomatoes are wonderful additions to many recipes, including the white pizza and Caprese muffins pictured below.

White pizza with spinach, chicken and roasted tomatoes

Roasted Tomato and Basil "Caprese" Mini Muffins

Roasted Tomato and Basil “Caprese” Mini Muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (I use aluminum-free)
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh mozzarella cut into very small cubes
1/2 cup roasted tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 cup buttermilk
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 350°F and position an oven rack in the center. Spray mini muffin tins with nonstick spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, olive oil and egg until well blended.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and stir gently with a spatula. Mix just until combines. . A few small lumps scattered throughout are fine.

Stir in cheese, tomato and chopped basil.

Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop and drop into mini muffin tins.

Bake about 8 minutes, until the tops are slightly browned, feel firm.  Cook a few minutes before removing from pan.

Makes about 3 dozen mini muffins.

Fava beans, also known by windsor beans or broad beans, have been cultivated for thousands of years.  As I learn more about them it’s understandable why.  They are extremely hardy, easy to grow and not picky about the soil they are grown in.  On top of that, like other legumes they are nitrogen fixers, so can also be used as a cover crop.

I planted my favas late fall in the middle of the yard, with direct sunlight and no protection from frost.  We have had some cold nights this winter, but the favas, along with the broccoli, lettuce and rapini easily made it through with no cover.

Now that we are having some nice warm afternoons I am getting to enjoy their beautiful blossoms.  As you can see from the photo, the centers of these large (for a legume) white blossoms are what appears to be black or possibly a very deep burgundy.

Fava beans can be eaten fresh when young, or dried and stored for later use.  However you choose to use them, it is recommended that fava beans are always cooked before consuming.

Nutritionally, fava beans are very healthful. They are low in calories and in fat, with no cholesterol as well as being high in protein, iron, and fiber. They also have high concentrations of L-dopa (dopamine), an amino acid that is a neurotransmitter in the brain which declines as we age. Dopamine plays a role in the brain in such activities as memory and energy.

Tasty, easy to grow, healthy to eat and even supplements your soil with nitrogen.  What’s not to like about fava beans?

Note: Plant fava beans in November in Maricopa County, Arizona. Soak seed 12-24 hours before sowing. Plant 1″ deep, 1″ inch apart.  Do not thin.

Jerusalem artichokes, a.k.a. sunchokes, are not related at all to the artichoke.  They actually are from the sunflower family. Its name references the artichoke because of it has a similar flavor.

These impressively tall native American plants (some of mine reach over 7 feet) are covered with bright yellow flowers summer and early fall.  Its cheerful flowers make a welcome visual addition to the edible garden.

As cool weather arrives, before the first frost and as the plant’s beauty begins to fade, it’s time to harvest what this garden giant has hiding beneath the soil… its sweet tasty tubers that can be enjoyed either raw or cooked.  These tubers can be sliced raw and added to salads or cooked and used in many dishes just like potatoes.

The Jerusalem artichoke is a good source of thiamin, potassium and iron. It is also low in saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium.  They are an excellent alternative to potatoes, especially for diabetics.  The leaves have been used to treat jaundice and liver conditions for centuries . They have also been shown to lower cholesterol.

The Jerusalem artichoke one of those “forgotten vegetables” which have become an unforgettable part of my AZ Edible Garden.

Note: Plant tubers in spring for fall harvest.