Ask Professor Produce

Does the Wedge carry organic edible flowers? The roses that you have in your floral area are locally grown, but are they safe to eat? We're looking to decorate a cake.

—Melinda, Hopkins

One thing people are good at, on the whole, is taking something that is mind-boggling and getting used to it until it seems commonplace. I submit as evidence for this claim the edible plant: there are so many of them, a seemingly infinite selection of kinds, colors, flavors and textures; yet we have tamed this phenomenon by giving the name "vegetable" to some of the plants we eat. Within the plant realm, the volume of natural variations is astonishing, but when we call something a vegetable, it fits into a paradigm of objects as familiar and final as "lamp", "paper clip" or "chair".

So let's take our paradigm of "vegetable" and deconstruct it, just a little: some vegetables are roots (like carrots), some are leaves (like lettuce), some are stems (like celery) and some are, you guessed it, flowers. The only plant parts that are not vegetables are fruits and seeds, but those important little differences are topics for another day. I'm just making a point here— when you ask for edible flowers I know you are probably not asking about artichokes, broccoli or cauliflower, though they are all flowers that we eat regularly. From the professorial perspective I know you crave, the answer to your question is yes. We do sell organic edible flowers, hundreds of pounds of them every day in fact.

Lucky for you, however, we also carry the pretty, delicate kind of edible flowers you can use to decorate a cake—they are in the same case as our fresh herbs. And, like fresh herbs, many edible flowers have a potent flavor and tend to be used in moderation. During the summer months, our edible flowers are grown and packaged locally by Rock Spring Farm of Decorah, Iowa, and the quality is superb. You will find a beautiful array of edible flowers from wild roses, snapdragons and calendula to bachelor's buttons and violets available in their mix.

One of the most common edible flowers, the Nasturtium, is often available as well. Nasturtiums have a spicy-hot mustard flavor that is delicious in a salad; they are also cheerful and add color to any dish as a garnish. For decorating sweet things, roses and violets are an elegant choice, and preserving their petals is as easy as a paintbrush, an egg white and some superfine sugar. Wash and air dry your petals, paint each petal with the egg white and finish by dusting with sugar. Allow these to air dry again overnight. When they are ready, carefully store them between tissue paper layers in a box until ready to use. This is especially pretty when done with lilacs in the springtime—just be certain they have not been sprayed before blooming (extremely important!).

Other favorite edible flowers include dandelions, which can be pulled apart and their colorful petals sprinkled on salads or used as a garnish to soup. Borage blossoms, which are blue and star-shaped, taste mildly of cucumber and are the perfect summertime garnish to a gin and tonic or glass of lemonade. Lavender, which we also sell as a fresh flowering herb, is delicious in lemonade, muffins or scones. There are also flowers that make beautiful garnishes and are non-toxic (though they may not necessarily be good to eat): try floating a clean, open peony in a bowl of punch or iced tea for drama at your next party.

As a final note, I would not recommend using flowers from our (or any store's) Floral department unless you are certain they have been certified organic and handled as such. Flowers, unlike other vegetables, can be sprayed with pesticides that are toxic if ingested. Our locally grown roses are beautiful but they are not for consumption. The same goes for foraging edible flowers in the wild— you should never consume flowers that have potentially been sprayed with herbicide or pesticide. If you really develop a penchant for using edible flowers, it is best to simply grow your own organic plot. Also remember that some varieties of flowers are extremely toxic and are never meant to be eaten at all, so do not experiment with eating plants in the wild and always consult a handbook or field guide before consuming anything you are not familiar with. Better yet, buy them from a reliable source like the Wedge that specializes in what's good to eat. We're your friendly, local edible plants department, after all.