Edible Eastern Redbuds

Freshly-picked Eastern Redbud flowers from my garden on a bed of lettuce. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Edible Eastern Redbuds

When people think of growing plants in a garden for cooking, most people think herbs, or at least that is what a garden visitor told me during a recent visit. And for the foragers, they’re after morel mushrooms. But there’s an ornamental tree in most of the US that has quite edible parts, the Eastern Redbud.

Eastern redbud tree flowers at the end of their blooming cycle. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Eastern redbud trees have been grown as ornamental trees since the 1600s although some may not realize several parts are edible. Native Americans have used the flowers in dishes for centuries.

The beautiful pink flowers, young seed pods and young buds of Eastern redbuds are all edible. They each have a mild, sweet flavor and a crisp texture.

How to Use Eastern redbud Tree Flowers

The flowers can be sprinkled into a salad, used as a garnish or even baked into cookies or cakes.

The young leaf and flower buds can also be added into a stir fry, salad, or even lightly sautéed with other greens as a vegetable side dish.

The long seed pods, when young and purple, can also be plucked from the tree. These make a brilliant addition to a stir fry, or when finely chopped, they can be added to dressings and dips.

Preparing Eastern Redbud Flowers

Pick the flowers early in the morning. Make sure you are not picking from an area that has been treated with chemicals.

Wash gently with cold water. Let drip dry.

Store in refrigerator until you plan to use.

The flowers will last in a storage container for a couple of days. So pretty!

For more cooking, gardening, beekeeping and easy home decor tips, subscribe to Garden Notes.

Charlotte

Types of Honey

most states require honey to be labelled with type and where it was collected. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Types of Honey

There are more than 300 different types of honey produced worldwide. They can be simply divided into monoflorals, which are honey from one type of flower, and multiflorals, honey from a variety of flowers.

When not sure, beekeepers are encouraged to label their honey as wildflower honey. Bees collect flower nectar from a 2 mile radius around their apiary. It takes 1.5 million flowers to produce enough nectar for one cup of honey, or 12 ounces. Honey in US is sold be weight.

The following are the most common types of honey:

• Clover honey: This is the most popular type of honey in the United States. It has a light, sweet flavor and is often used as a general-purpose honey.

• Wildflower honey: This honey is made from the nectar of a variety of wildflowers. It has a more complex flavor than clover honey and can range in color from light yellow to dark amber.

• Manuka honey: This honey is produced in New Zealand from the nectar of the manuka tree. It has a strong, slightly medicinal flavor and is known for its antibacterial properties.

• Tupelo honey: This honey is produced in the southeastern United States from the nectar of the tupelo gum tree. It has a mild, sweet flavor and a delicate, floral aroma.

• Buckwheat honey: This honey has a dark color and a strong, earthy flavor. It is often used in baking and cooking.

• Sage honey: This honey has a light color and a mild, sweet flavor with a hint of sage. It is often used in tea and salad dressings.

• Eucalyptus honey: This honey has a strong, minty flavor and a light amber color. It is often used for its medicinal properties, such as relieving coughs and colds.

The type of honey you choose will depend on your personal preferences and the use you have in mind for it.

If you are looking for a general-purpose honey, clover honey is a good option.

If you are looking for a honey with a stronger flavor, wildflower honey or manuka honey may be a better choice.

If you are looking for a honey with medicinal properties, eucalyptus honey or buckwheat honey may be a good option.

Prices for honey vary based on a number of factors. Time of year and how the beekeeper extracts are two considerations that impact price. In general, it is recommended that $1 per ounce is the going rate. Additional costs are added to cover the cost of jars, labels and consignment prices.

For more cooking, gardening, beekeeping and easy home decor tips, subscribe to Garden Notes.

Charlotte

Edible Eastern Redbuds

Freshly-picked Eastern Redbud flowers from my garden on a bed of lettuce. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Edible Eastern Redbuds

When people think of growing plants in a garden for cooking, most people think herbs, or at least that is what a garden visitor told me during a recent visit. And for the foragers, they’re after morel mushrooms. But there’s an ornamental tree in most of the US that has quite edible parts, the Eastern Redbud.

Eastern redbud tree flowers at the end of their blooming cycle. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Eastern redbud trees have been grown as ornamental trees since the 1600s although some may not realize several parts are edible. Native Americans have used the flowers in dishes for centuries.

The beautiful pink flowers, young seed pods and young buds of Eastern redbuds are all edible. They each have a mild, sweet flavor and a crisp texture.

How to Use Eastern redbud Tree Flowers

The flowers can be sprinkled into a salad, used as a garnish or even baked into cookies or cakes.

The young leaf and flower buds can also be added into a stir fry, salad, or even lightly sautéed with other greens as a vegetable side dish.

The long seed pods, when young and purple, can also be plucked from the tree. These make a brilliant addition to a stir fry, or when finely chopped, they can be added to dressings and dips.

Preparing Eastern Redbud Flowers

Pick the flowers early in the morning. Make sure you are not picking from an area that has been treated with chemicals.

Wash gently with cold water. Let drip dry.

Store in refrigerator until you plan to use.

The flowers will last in a storage container for a couple of days. So pretty!

Charlotte

Purslane Power

Volunteer purslane growing in one of my deck pots in my potted vegetable garden.

Purslane Power

Poor purslane, relegated to a "weed" and other names in a derogatory expression. No one could have missed the mark more!

Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid i than any other leafy vegetable plant. Although considered a weed in the US, it is much more appreciated in other parts of the world. The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible.

Purslane may be used fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked as spinach is, and because of its mucilaginous quality it also is suitable for soups and stews. The sour taste is due to oxalic and malic acid, the latter of which is produced through the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) pathway that is seen in many plants living in dry conditions. Best time to harvest is early morning.

Greeks use the leaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil. They add it in salads, boil it, or add it to casseroled chicken.

In Turkey, besides being used in salads and in baked pastries, it is cooked as a vegetable similar to spinach. 

Good Companion Plant

As a companion plant, purslane provides ground cover to create a humid microclimate for nearby plants, stabilizing ground moisture. Its deep roots bring up moisture and nutrients that those plants can use, and some, including corn, will follow purslane roots down through harder soil that they cannot penetrate on their own.

When in bloom, I sometimes find butterflies visiting their tiny flowers.

It is considered a weed but a beneficial one where its not specifically grown for a crop. In my potted garden, purslane volunteers on its own so I just watch for the telltale signs of their fleshy leaves.

Pass the purslane, please!

Charlotte

Delicious Daylilies

Orange daylilies in bloom June 2016 along one of the Bluebird Gardens paths. 

Missouri's Orange "Ditch" Lilies

Missouri’s orange "ditch" daylilies were once a staple of European gardens, every part of the plant edible.  I was intrigued to find that our European North American settlers carefully packed these lilies in their first shipments to their new world home, along with bee hives, in 1622.

Not having been raised to disdain these flowers, I have gladly welcomed discards over the past decades. I now have orange day lilies lining rock-filled garden paths, popping up behind shrubs and adding spots of color in mixed borders.

When my house was first built in 1982, I used these lilies for soil control and color where nothing else would grow. Today leaf drop decomposition has created soil and now every year I have new surprising spots of orange day lilies. A bit backwards, I agree, but then I had daffodils planted in my garden before we broke ground on the house.

All Plant Parts Edible

Orange day lilies are completely edible from root to flower. Flowers are rich in protein and can be eaten in bud or full flower.

Hemerocollis fulva are native to Asia.  Chinese cooking uses them in such dishes as moo shu pork and hot and sour soup.

They grow well in both sun and part shade USDA hardiness zones 5-10.

Although the flowers only bloom for a day, they are prodigious bud developers and will bloom continuously for several weeks. No riding lawn mowers, either. A friend’s husband inadvertently mowed over one of her orange day lily flower beds last year and they came back looking totally unscathed. I suppose that could be a bit scary.

Charlotte

Eastern redbud Delicious Garnish

Eastern redbud tree flowers are edible and make a lovely garden garnish.

Eastern redbud Tree Flowers Edible

When people think of growing plants in a garden for cooking, most people think herbs, or at least that is what a garden visitor told me during a recent visit. 

Besides herbs, I pointed out these lovely Missouri native trees that I carefully prune to grow in my garden. Eastern redbud trees have been grown as ornamental trees since the 1600s although some may not realize their buds are edible. Native Americans have used the flowers in dishes for centuries.

How to Use Eastern redbud Tree Flowers

Pick the flowers early in the morning. Make sure you are not picking from an area that has been treated with chemicals.

Wash gently with cold water. Let drip dry.

Store in refrigerator until you plan to use. Sprinkle on salads or other dishes for garnish.

The flowers will last in a storage container for a couple of days.

Charlotte