I don’t know; I can only think of removing the flowers ASAP and saving seed (which I haven’t done).
My shallots are bolting, and my garlic will soon. I found this about cooking with them.
Albuquerque Urban Homestead; The Season of Scapes
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I’ll lop off the flowers, but that sage is immortal. I don’t think I need to save the seeds.
just cut some chive blossoms to make chive blossom vinegar to use in a vinaigrette dressing. looking forward to the vinegar color change since purple is my favorite color.
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A few weeks ago, I was at the Union Square Greenmarket and stopped by Mushroom Queens. They were giving away spent mushroom blocks to use as compost, so I grabbed one and mixed it into my potting soil. Look! Baby mushrooms!
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Garlic scapes are fairly popular here. I’ve never used them.
Here are some recipes from southwestern Ontario
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Pretty
What kind of mushrooms are these? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that type. They’re sure pretty.
Pink oysters.
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Interesting! I have a ton of chives around my house, but didn’t know you could use them like this. Is the taste of the flower similar to the oniony sweetness of the chives. I do find them so pretty, and since I never cut the flowers I have random chives growing in a lot of stray pots and garden beds because the seeds drop all over the place.
I have Chinese garlic chives but their flowers are small and white and they flower in a bunches. I wonder if those can be used in something similar too. The bees love all the chive flowers, so I’ll save some for the bees.
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this is my first time doing this, so the following description comes from a food website:
“Chive flowers have a subtly sweet and delicate onion flavor with a hint of garlic. The taste is milder compared to the pungency of chive leaves.”
i’m assuming the infused vinegar will have the taste profile described above. the vinaigrette adds honey to sweeten the vinegar.
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I’ve started harvesting fava beans
I’m trying to focus on an amount that’s not overwhelming, and use for a serving or three of pesto.
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My tomatoes never seem to flower! But some are getting some disease,
so I’m digging them up. Fingerlings "Red Thumb " and "Austrian Cresent ".
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No idea what happened, this year finger lime is blooming like crazy, hundreds vs 10+ in the past years. Last summer, I moved the pot to a more shady area, only the top part is getting sun. I also noticed the fig trees and the raspberries brushes have lots more fruits this year, both are in the same place. Maybe it’s because I was a bit lazy and water less this year.
Got a new Black Lace elderberry tree in the flower market the other day. Leaves are black. Read that the berries are toxic when consumed raw, alright after cooking.
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Yes, that’s generally true of Elderberries. When cooking, they give off an unpleasant scent. Jellies I’ve made still had traces of that “elder” scent, as if some funky cheese got mixed in. It’s quite unlike the flower heads, which are used in many beverages and liquors.
Speaking of funky smells:
Amorphophallus konjac! We’re talking a righteous, dead-thing stink. Yet, the corms are the source of a non-caloric firm gel, used in many Asian dishes. Shiratake noodles are made from it.
Fortunately, the bloom is short-lived. I grow it mostly for the foliage.
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Wow; hit sure is … structural! How often does it bloom?
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When a corm gets big enough, it produces just one inflorescence, thankfully! I don’t know if the same corm will bloom again next year, or if it dies or gets weakened by sending up such a big display. They offset young corms, plants like crazy.
It’s related to the famous (infamous) Amorphophallus titanum, the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. That one is known to attract vultures! I’ve not heard of that species being eaten by humans.
Another relative that’s used for food in the tropics is the Elephant Foot Yam, A. paeoniifolius. That one needs special cooking to break down the stinging raphides in the giant corms.
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