"COcon28932" wrote in message
...
This is a strange question. I am going to get Marigold seeds, and want to
know
how do I find out which flowers are good to eat, and what I should stay
away
from!

If you go to www.amazon.com and do a search on "edible flowers" you get
several hits, including:
The Edible Flower Garden: From Garden to Kitchen: Choosing, Growing and
Cooking Edible Flowers by Kathy Brown

(Christopher Hamel) wrote:

-snip-
1) I am growing squash, and the blooms are giantic. My father tells
me they are very good to eat. I haven't tried it, but he's usually
right about these things. Then again, maybe he's trying to kill me.

Finally, after 30-40 yrs of growing them, I tried them last year.
1. Pick in the AM before the bees get in them.
2. Use the male flowers- [the ones without fruit] ,
3. leave a tail, and place in a vase in a sunny window-- that might
get them to open in the afternoon-- [if there is another trick to
getting them to open so they stuff easier, could someone speak up?]
4. Stuff with mozzerella cubes & whatever 'feels good'- I've used
mushrooms, various spices, cheeses-- and I'm going for the anchovies
this summer.
5. use a simple batter of 1 cu. flour, salt, pepper, 1 Tbl oil & water
to make runny like pancake batter.
6. grab by the tail & deep fry. . . .

This year I doubled my Zucchini hills & intend to use them mostly for
blossoms.


2) On two occasions, people have told me that the entire Dandilion
plant is edible.

-snip-

I'm not crazy about dandelion greens-- but if we're eating weeds, I
love the two most prolific weeds in my garden- Lamb's quarters &
Purslane. [I'll grab the occasional handful of clover-like sorrel, too
to dress up a salad.

Jim

On Thu, 05 Jun 2003 13:05:32 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

On 5 Jun 2003 08:19:19 -0700,
(Christopher Hamel) wrote:

1) I am growing squash, and the blooms are giantic. My father tells
me they are very good to eat. I haven't tried it, but he's usually
right about these things. Then again, maybe he's trying to kill me.

They are edible. I believe people batter and deep-fry them
- and I'm sure they'd be good that way. Anything is good
that way!

A literal LOL here. More a guffaw than a laugh. I agree completely. I
believe I'd savor a bat wing if it were battered and deep fried. :-)

Googling on "squash blossom recipe" (without quotes) yields a lot of
info. Many uses are based on not only battering and frying, but
*stuffing*, battering and frying.

On 5 Jun 2003 08:19:19 -0700, (Christopher Hamel)
wrote:

1) I am growing squash, and the blooms are giantic. My father tells
me they are very good to eat. I haven't tried it, but he's usually
right about these things. Then again, maybe he's trying to kill me.

I don't think so. :-) See posted suggestions.

2) On two occasions, people have told me that the entire Dandilion
plant is edible. One warning: One was a French lady I worked with in
Germany who was a little on the nutty side, and the second was a
neighbor across the street when I lived in Pennsylvania who was an
extreme nature person. I'm not saying they're not right, but I
haven't been bold enough to try it myself. I've had the greens in a
salad before. They weren't bad, but I kept wondering if some dog peed
on them before they ended up in my salad.

Young dandelion greens are a famous 'edible weed.' The flowers are
eaten, battered and deep fried, as well as being made into dandelion
wine.

Caveat: do *not* rely on nutty neighbors or work colleagues (or
newsgroup lore). There are many excellent guides to "wild foods" and
edible flowers that will keep you from convulsing in agony after a
pretty salad.

On Fri, 06 Jun 2003 11:40:32 GMT, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

Finally, after 30-40 yrs of growing them, I tried them last year.
1. Pick in the AM before the bees get in them.
2. Use the male flowers- [the ones without fruit] ,
3. leave a tail, and place in a vase in a sunny window-- that might
get them to open in the afternoon-- [if there is another trick to
getting them to open so they stuff easier, could someone speak up?]
4. Stuff with mozzerella cubes & whatever 'feels good'- I've used
mushrooms, various spices, cheeses-- and I'm going for the anchovies
this summer.
5. use a simple batter of 1 cu. flour, salt, pepper, 1 Tbl oil & water
to make runny like pancake batter.
6. grab by the tail & deep fry. . . .

I will remember the opening-in-water advice. How come you don't
mention any sort of chile in the stuffing? Maybe there could be a sort
of veg tur-duck-en -- chiles stuffed with squash blossoms stuffed with
cheese?

(Frogleg) wrote:

-snip-
Caveat: do *not* rely on nutty neighbors or work colleagues (or
newsgroup lore). There are many excellent guides to "wild foods" and
edible flowers that will keep you from convulsing in agony after a
pretty salad.


I'll second that-- and should have suggested it when I mentioned
eating my weeds.

I would even go so far as to say 'Get two books." I have seen some
questionable [or misleading] advice in one or two otherwise great
books. A cross reference the first time around could save you some
bad experiences.

Jim

Of course some flowers are famously poisonous. Foxgloves and Delphiniums
will kill you dead.

Daylilies (hemerocallis) are edible and since their blossoms only last one
day you aren't losing as much by eating a few.

"COcon28932" wrote in message
...
This is a strange question. I am going to get Marigold seeds, and want to
know
how do I find out which flowers are good to eat, and what I should stay
away
from!

in article , Tom Eisenman at
sorry@absolutelynospam wrote on 6/6/03 7:52 PM:

Of course some flowers are famously poisonous. Foxgloves and Delphiniums
will kill you dead.

Daylilies (hemerocallis) are edible and since their blossoms only last one
day you aren't losing as much by eating a few.

"COcon28932" wrote in message
...
This is a strange question. I am going to get Marigold seeds, and want to
know
how do I find out which flowers are good to eat, and what I should stay
away
from!


I find that pineapple guava (feijoa) petals are very tasty and do not affect
fruit production if carefully picked.

Also, the great looking oleander flowers are not very good for you; like
they can kill.

Bill

On Fri, 6 Jun 2003 22:52:07 -0400, "Tom Eisenman"
sorry@absolutelynospam wrote:

Of course some flowers are famously poisonous. Foxgloves and Delphiniums
will kill you dead.

Daylilies (hemerocallis) are edible and since their blossoms only last one
day you aren't losing as much by eating a few.

They're very pretty in salads. Not a heck of a lot of
taste, but they sure make the salad look good.

Pat

In article ,
Pat Meadows wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2003 22:52:07 -0400, "Tom Eisenman"
sorry@absolutelynospam wrote:

Of course some flowers are famously poisonous. Foxgloves and Delphiniums
will kill you dead.

Daylilies (hemerocallis) are edible and since their blossoms only last one
day you aren't losing as much by eating a few.

They're very pretty in salads. Not a heck of a lot of
taste, but they sure make the salad look good.

Pat

I enjoy pansies, violets, nasturtiums, & calendula in salads. You can
eat carnations, but they (and roses) tend to taste like they smell,
which I find unpleasant. You can eat dianthus, geraniums, hibiscus,
hollyhock, honeysuckle, lavender, marigolds, peonies, primrose, tulips,
begonias, daisies, poppies, and the flowers from most vegetables & herbs.

Don't eat flowers that you have not grown yourself. Too many have traces
of pesticides.

On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 19:52:14 -0400, montana
wrote:


I enjoy pansies, violets, nasturtiums, & calendula in salads. You can
eat carnations, but they (and roses) tend to taste like they smell,
which I find unpleasant. You can eat dianthus, geraniums, hibiscus,
hollyhock, honeysuckle, lavender, marigolds, peonies, primrose, tulips,
begonias, daisies, poppies, and the flowers from most vegetables & herbs.

I wonder about the hollyhocks - I always thought they were
poisonous?

Pat

When the ancient war dogs did battle on 5 Jun 2003 08:19:19 -0700,
(Christopher Hamel) did speak the following bit of
wisdom:

2) On two occasions, people have told me that the entire Dandilion
plant is edible.

Dandelion greens make a wonderful fresh salad, especially with LOTS of
red wine vinegar, good olive oil and fresh garlic. Yum! The blossoms
are edible, though I wouldn't consider them especially tasty. My old
Italian relatives say you can make one heckuva potent wine out of
them.


* * * * *
Karen C.
Southern CT / USDA Zone 6
Spammers be damned! I can't be emailed from this account...

"Gardeners know all the best dirt!"