Speaker 1: People are just getting so incredibly experimental with design, with
Speaker 1: cakes and with food in general. Just wow, the way
Speaker 1: that they're able to incorporate things you wouldn't put together,
Speaker 1: and it just looks like this beautiful masterpiece almost and
Speaker 1: it's a natural masterpiece that you can literally eat.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the Plant Based Diet podcast where we
Speaker 2: talk about all things plant based. I'm mister Garfin, the
Speaker 2: host of this show and founder of Alternative Food Network.
Speaker 2: Join me in my amazing array of guests who are
Speaker 2: a mix of healthcare professionals, industry executives, and people with
Speaker 2: an interesting story to tell about their plant based journey.
Speaker 2: Let us help you with your journey wherever you're at
Speaker 2: to learn the what, why, and how to eat plant
Speaker 2: based Hello everyone, I hope that spring is in the
Speaker 2: air where you live, and spring reminds me of flowers.
Speaker 2: So today's episode is all about edible flowers. Last month,
Speaker 2: we published an episode about microgreens, their visual and flavor
Speaker 2: appeal and their health properties. So in today's episode, I'm
Speaker 2: continuing with that theme of function and form as I
Speaker 2: chat with the founder of Just Keep Growing, Holly Pugsley,
Speaker 2: who specializes in growing a variety of edible flowers and
Speaker 2: other good stuff. She, by the way, sent me pictures
Speaker 2: of her edible flowers with shots of them on some
Speaker 2: baked goods and a cocktail, and they are gorgeous. I've
Speaker 2: never used them myself, but I'd like to know how,
Speaker 2: because they really elevate a dish. So we're going to
Speaker 2: learn today together. Normally, the episodes of this plant based
Speaker 2: diet series are audio only, but because these edible flowers
Speaker 2: can be used to create such beautiful products, this episode
Speaker 2: will also be available in video on the Alternative Food
Speaker 2: Network YouTube channel in the podcast section, so you can
Speaker 2: also see what we're talking about. Just go over to YouTube,
Speaker 2: find the Alternative Food Network channel and find this episode
Speaker 2: and please subscribe. By the way, I'll also put the
Speaker 2: YouTube link in the show notes and now let's get
Speaker 2: to it. Welcome to the show, Holly, So nice to
Speaker 2: have you. Hi.
Speaker 3: How's it going? Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so excited, as you can see, in honor
Speaker 2: of this episode, well, for those who are listening to
Speaker 2: the audio, you won't be able to see this, but
Speaker 2: for those watching on video, I am wearing a flowered
Speaker 2: shirt in honor of doing this edible flower episode be beautiful.
Speaker 1: I feel like we're kind of matching here too, a
Speaker 1: little bit of the pinks.
Speaker 3: The pink's going on right right right.
Speaker 2: You know, in my intro I mentioned that you, among
Speaker 2: other things, you grow edible flowers. So I thought we
Speaker 2: could just start off right off the bat. Could you
Speaker 2: give us some context? What what do we mean by
Speaker 2: edible flowers and when it's used in baked goods or cocktails?
Speaker 2: And I know you've brought to our little set in
Speaker 2: quotes that some stuff. So can you show me what
Speaker 2: you do with these edible flowers?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll explain what edible flowers are because I think
Speaker 1: there's a little bit sometimes a little bit of confusion sometimes.
Speaker 1: I think people think, you know, I want to display
Speaker 1: with some flowers, I want to use them as a garnish,
Speaker 1: and they'll just pick them up from any store, any
Speaker 1: flowers store, plant store kind of situation. But it's not
Speaker 1: great that way. You can't use edible flowers that aren't
Speaker 1: organically grown. So that's what edible flowers means. It means
Speaker 1: that they are edible. There are a lot of flowers
Speaker 1: that are grown, mass produced and sprayed and toxins are
Speaker 1: used on them, so we don't want to use those.
Speaker 1: But edible flowers means that they're flowers that we actually
Speaker 1: can eat. For sure, they aren't poisonous to us, but
Speaker 1: also they aren't being sprayed by toxic solutions to try
Speaker 1: to get.
Speaker 3: Keep bugs at bay. It's really the way.
Speaker 1: We're growing them that makes the difference of being edible
Speaker 1: and non edible. But there are flowers that are poisonous
Speaker 1: to us that we should not be picking up every
Speaker 1: flower that's organically grown and eating it because it isn't
Speaker 1: great for us. But there are some flowers that are
Speaker 1: pretty fantastic and actually quite medicinal too, which I've come
Speaker 1: to find. But I will show you some of the
Speaker 1: things I brought the first, Yes it is. That's my favorite,
Speaker 1: so anyone that has come to my house ever, this
Speaker 1: is exactly my element right now. So I just brought
Speaker 1: some basic orange juice and I dehydrate fruit as well.
Speaker 1: So that's a little section of my company that I'm
Speaker 1: growing a little bit, just for more garnishes. But yes,
Speaker 1: so the beautiful grapefruit looks awesome there, but I've got
Speaker 1: a gorgeous bogonia flower to garnish the bogonia is quite sour.
Speaker 3: It's actually very candy like.
Speaker 1: It's one of my favorite edible flowers and one of
Speaker 1: the ones I've been growing for so long and had
Speaker 1: actually no idea that it was edible until I started
Speaker 1: my business, and I couldn't believe it it was. It's
Speaker 1: the most sour candy like. I'll never eat candy again
Speaker 1: or anything.
Speaker 3: It's just delicious. I brought a beautiful as well.
Speaker 2: Here we are.
Speaker 1: So I will move my drinks so I don't make
Speaker 1: a huge mess. But here are some edible flowers on
Speaker 1: the side. It's an angel food cake, my favorite, with
Speaker 1: some cool whip, just some classic cool whip with some
Speaker 1: strawberries and blueberries on the top. But we've got some
Speaker 1: violas and pansies on the sides, and a little bogonia
Speaker 1: in there as well. But you can just see the
Speaker 1: faces of them like they just look gorgeous and elevate
Speaker 1: any meal. So there's I have a lot of baker clients.
Speaker 1: I love private chefs, but for the edible flowers, it's
Speaker 1: a lot of those bakers and like more caterers, designers
Speaker 1: who really see a vision in the colors or textures
Speaker 1: or design and can kind of add it to their
Speaker 1: own creations. I think that's my favorite part about my
Speaker 1: business is seeing the other people create with what I'm growing.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. So for example, that cake, like you were saying,
Speaker 2: has different flowers on it. Yeah, they all have different tastes.
Speaker 1: These so these these flowers specifically, they're all the exact
Speaker 1: same so they just actually have different faces and different colors,
Speaker 1: so they're the same variety. These ones are violas and pansies,
Speaker 1: so they have a little bit of a they're a
Speaker 1: little bit of a lettuce texture, but.
Speaker 3: They have a little bit of a sweet taste at
Speaker 3: the end.
Speaker 1: It's really nice on cakes and cocktails as well. I
Speaker 1: do have a bogonia on here too, and that gives you,
Speaker 1: like that nice sour taste, and I think it goes
Speaker 1: nicely with the strawberries too, that citrus, that very sour taste.
Speaker 3: It does add a lot to it. These guys, I
Speaker 3: would say they taste I would say a little bit sweet,
Speaker 3: but we do.
Speaker 1: I do grow borage as well, which is one of
Speaker 1: my other favorites. I'm not sure if you've tried borage,
Speaker 1: have you seen that? They're blue star flowers and they
Speaker 1: taste like sweet cucumber. So you taste them and it's
Speaker 1: just this burst of freshness in your mouth. I love
Speaker 1: having them garnished on a salmon, smoked salmon with some
Speaker 1: lemon and some rice.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, it's delicious. But it really adds.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever grilled cucumber with your
Speaker 1: salmon dish, but oh my gosh, a little bit of
Speaker 1: cucumber freshness as well. And the color it really does
Speaker 1: add to it. The blue with the pinks. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: the meal just becomes elevated. But also these flavors are
Speaker 1: coming out as well from these beautiful garnishes.
Speaker 2: So is it correct to say that there are some
Speaker 2: flowers that go well with savory dishes and then other
Speaker 2: edible flowers that go with sweet dishes.
Speaker 3: Definitely? Yeah, you can mix and match for sure. Yep, yep.
Speaker 1: Each flower has its own palate, it has its own
Speaker 1: flavor palate, and it's just it's beautiful.
Speaker 3: It really can't accentuate each meal, each dish.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how many do you grow different? How many different varieties.
Speaker 1: I would say right now about thirty to fifty varieties
Speaker 1: of just edible flowers. But it's growing the challenge is
Speaker 1: just growing in my space. So I grow in my
Speaker 1: spare bedroom, so it's pretty tight. Yeah, exactly, So I grow.
Speaker 1: I try to grow a lot of flowers that grow
Speaker 1: about like six inches tall to like twelve inches tall,
Speaker 1: Like my shelves are about yeah, like twelve to fifteen inches,
Speaker 1: so they yeah, as long as I kind of keep
Speaker 1: within that space. And I do grow other plants around
Speaker 1: my house as well, other flowers, but I do try
Speaker 1: to keep all my edibles in one room just to
Speaker 1: keep it contained. I started growing with aeroponic towers as well,
Speaker 1: so I'm able to grow a lot longer flowers. So
Speaker 1: I do a lot of Bachelor's button borage dill flower
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 3: We haven't even gotten into herb flowers. Herb flowers are the.
Speaker 1: Best, so I've this is like the biggest wow. I
Speaker 1: can't believe how many people don't understand that you can
Speaker 1: eat the herb flower. So the flower that comes out
Speaker 1: of the basil, chop it. It's so fragrant, it's actually
Speaker 1: more fragrant than the leaves sometimes, So if you're garnishing
Speaker 1: with that, it's fantastic on like a nice pasta dish
Speaker 1: or something like that you can really get into things,
Speaker 1: especially with dill. I don't know if you've seen the
Speaker 1: it's like a nice tou tou. The dill comes up
Speaker 1: like a little too too. I grow a lot of
Speaker 1: them more in the summer. I have some in my
Speaker 1: towers right now, not blooming but coming up.
Speaker 3: But they're beautiful. You can just make some beautiful, beautiful
Speaker 3: art with them. They just they look gorgeous. They look
Speaker 3: like little umbrellas. They're beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker 2: On the health side of things, do you have other
Speaker 2: examples for when you consume them, when you eat them,
Speaker 2: other examples of edible flowers that have foot properties.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're packed with vitamin sea Vitamin C is one
Speaker 1: of the big ones, especially in Boradge.
Speaker 3: So I see a lot of people actually eating them
Speaker 3: in the morning feed and the kids in the morning.
Speaker 1: Putting it in with their into their fruit bowls and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, into smoothies, just to pump up the
Speaker 1: vitamin C in the I do eat them a lot too,
Speaker 1: just like little little candies, to be honest, but just
Speaker 1: because they're so good, I'm blown away.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And if someone, let's say a chef calls you up
Speaker 2: and to place an order or someone a baker or whatnot.
Speaker 2: Are they asking you for specific edible flowers because they
Speaker 2: know exactly what they want, or are they saying, you
Speaker 2: know what, Holly, I want to make this kind of cake,
Speaker 2: what would go well with it?
Speaker 3: Both? I would say both.
Speaker 1: I would say my bakers ask for they kind of
Speaker 1: have their ideas. So I get a lot of like
Speaker 1: Pinterest boards, I got a lot of mood boards for
Speaker 1: what the cake is going to look, a lot of
Speaker 1: inspiration that's for bakers, But for chefs, I would say,
Speaker 1: they know what they're looking for and they will ask
Speaker 1: me to specifically grow those things for them.
Speaker 3: So I do.
Speaker 1: I partner with private chefs just so it's easier and
Speaker 1: they know what they're getting throughout the year. So I'll
Speaker 1: partner with them, find out what they want at the
Speaker 1: beginning of their season and make sure I have that
Speaker 1: grown for them.
Speaker 3: Throughout throughout their year.
Speaker 1: I do a lot of microgreens with the private chefs,
Speaker 1: and I find that herb flowers are the biggest hit
Speaker 1: with the private chefs because they love to garnish it
Speaker 1: on all their main courses rather than just their desserts.
Speaker 1: They love to get into the incorporated into the whole meal,
Speaker 1: which is really nice. It elevates the experience for all
Speaker 1: of their clients.
Speaker 2: And are you seeing an increase in demand for edible flowers?
Speaker 3: I would say so.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The more people are learning about organic growers and
Speaker 1: indoor growers in Canada, I think it's becoming bigger. I
Speaker 1: find that a lot of people are searching on Pinterest
Speaker 1: and seeing on Instagram a lot of growers doing growing
Speaker 1: edible flowers in different places. Like California, for an example,
Speaker 1: is a really popular hub for edible flowers right now.
Speaker 3: But yeah, you see it coming more to like b
Speaker 3: C area.
Speaker 1: I see a lot of edible flowers coming up, And
Speaker 1: I think the population is just becoming a little bit
Speaker 1: more educated on edible flowers and what is considered a
Speaker 1: garnish because you don't want something that's been sprayed and
Speaker 1: poisoned touching the cake that you're about to sell to
Speaker 1: somebody else.
Speaker 3: Right, It's a little bit of a risk.
Speaker 1: So I think people are, especially with everything going on
Speaker 1: in our world, I think people are becoming more self
Speaker 1: sufficient minded at least. I think this kind of comes
Speaker 1: with that. It's an interesting niche, but it's got some
Speaker 1: poll and it's got some interest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's really And you mentioned the herb herb
Speaker 2: flowers chefs are to sit in that. Any other trends
Speaker 2: that you think are happening in this area.
Speaker 1: Oh, I would say people are just getting so incredibly
Speaker 1: experimental with design, with cakes and with food in general.
Speaker 1: Just wow, the way that they're able to incorporate things
Speaker 1: you wouldn't put together and it just looks like this
Speaker 1: beautiful masterpiece almost and it's a natural masterpiece that you
Speaker 1: can literally eat.
Speaker 3: I think that's trending the most.
Speaker 1: Just something fantastic and unconventional that you're looking at that
Speaker 1: you can actually consume, and it's safe and healthy for
Speaker 1: you to actually consume. I think that's like the direction
Speaker 1: a lot of my clients are going, and I think
Speaker 1: that industry is going. Yeah, just more artistic. I think
Speaker 1: people are getting more experimental with their food, and I
Speaker 1: think why not. I think people want to eat pretty things,
Speaker 1: all right, And.
Speaker 2: If someone's not a chef, they're at home, they're making
Speaker 2: a beautiful meal. What would you recommend they start with?
Speaker 3: Basil flour.
Speaker 1: It's an incredible garnish, smells so good in any honestly
Speaker 1: any cocktail.
Speaker 3: But really, it's such an amazing garnish in.
Speaker 1: Cocktails as well as any dish like cakes. I've seen
Speaker 1: them on cakes look stunning. The shoots of the flower.
Speaker 1: Shoots are almost like a stalk, a tiny little stalk,
Speaker 1: so the shapes of them are but you can use
Speaker 1: them on cakes. And then I love garnishing with basil
Speaker 1: any meal, honestly, any meal. I could put a little
Speaker 1: bit of basil on there. Yeah, some flour too. The
Speaker 1: basil flower actually is white and gorgeous. It comes up
Speaker 1: like a stalk and there's little bell white flowers that
Speaker 1: come across and you can pick each one off, or
Speaker 1: you can just lay the stalk on it.
Speaker 3: It's just it's beautiful.
Speaker 1: And if you get into colored basils, like tie purple basils,
Speaker 1: you start getting more magenta flowers too, which is really
Speaker 1: really beautiful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and is that for like a savory dish?
Speaker 3: I would say, yeah, what about for pansies?
Speaker 1: Pansies all the way, mostly because you can flatten them.
Speaker 1: They do really well with a baked good. I love
Speaker 1: to press mine first and then you get that preserved
Speaker 1: color and then you can kind of you can I've
Speaker 1: seen people almost use a sugar sugar liquid and just
Speaker 1: paint and just press them right on, just paint them
Speaker 1: right on the cookies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's more delicate, very delicate flower.
Speaker 1: But they look beautiful. The faces are so unique on them,
Speaker 1: and it really Yeah, it adds a lot to a
Speaker 1: cookie face for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, And I actually I have a question. I'm asking
Speaker 2: it on behalf of a friend of mine. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: he grows an amazing garden at home, lots of vegetables,
Speaker 2: and he had a question. To be honest, I don't
Speaker 2: know a lot about this stuff, but he does. And
Speaker 2: he had a question about male versus female flowers and which,
Speaker 2: for example, he gave the example of a zucchini, which
Speaker 2: can you eat.
Speaker 1: I would eat the males because I believe the females
Speaker 1: will produce the fruit.
Speaker 3: This don't hold me to this, but like that, that's
Speaker 3: what I'm thinking, and that my first thought.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think any edible flower, it's not that it's
Speaker 1: not to be good for you, or it's gonna hurt
Speaker 1: you or something like that. It's more actually about preserving
Speaker 1: the plant being more sustainable. That's where I'm thinking right now.
Speaker 1: It's just to keep that life cycle going, and also
Speaker 1: don't eat too many blooms from an herb. Well, herb
Speaker 1: plants are okay because they love to be chopped like that,
Speaker 1: but from cucumber or vegetable flowers, you want to make sure.
Speaker 1: You want to make sure you're not taking too many
Speaker 1: so that that plant actually produces something for you too,
Speaker 1: just so that you get the best of both worlds.
Speaker 1: Because not every flower will pollinate in bloom, not every
Speaker 1: single one, hope you hope, but not everything the one,
Speaker 1: So you can take and remove a few as you go,
Speaker 1: but yeah, you want to you want to make sure
Speaker 1: that plants preserved. Unless you have many of them, then
Speaker 1: you can kind of sparsely go ahead. Yeah, but with
Speaker 1: like violas and other flowers that I grow, Viola's love
Speaker 1: to be picked. They will love it. Same with borage,
Speaker 1: so the more you pick them, the more they grow back.
Speaker 1: It's it's quite amazing actually, But yeah, with a.
Speaker 3: Cucumber example, I think that's what I would say about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, stick with the mails all right, and if someone
Speaker 2: wants to get in touch with you, maybe you can
Speaker 2: tell listeners where you're located, where you shift course, and
Speaker 2: your contact info like your Instagram handle and all that
Speaker 2: of course.
Speaker 3: Yes, so just keep growing Company.
Speaker 1: I'm in London, Ontario and my Instagram is just keep
Speaker 1: Growing Company, and if you'd like to reach out to
Speaker 1: me on email, it's just keep Growing Company at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. Yeah, I ship every two weeks to Toronto
Speaker 1: and the GTA area, and I do free delivery in London, Ontario,
Speaker 1: So if you are looking for edible flowers, definitely let
Speaker 1: me know. And I also co host a podcast called Growability.
Speaker 1: It's at growabilitypod dot com as well if you'd like
Speaker 1: to check that out. We do interview lots of cool
Speaker 1: professionals in the urban agriculture industry, and yeah, we talk
Speaker 1: a lot about food security, community, lots of good stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry to my US listeners that you won't be
Speaker 2: able to enjoy Holly's products.
Speaker 3: But maybe one day, maybe one day.
Speaker 2: One day, very one day. And for those who are
Speaker 2: closer geographically to Holly, she has agreed to help us
Speaker 2: do a giveaway of a box of her edible flowers.
Speaker 2: So if you live in the Greater Toronto area or
Speaker 2: anywhere in between the GTA and London, Ontario, please sign
Speaker 2: up for our newsletter because in our next newsletter, we
Speaker 2: are going to do a giveaway. Thank you so much, Holly.
Speaker 2: It was a pleasure to meet you and see your wonderful,
Speaker 2: beautiful cake and cocktail, and I wish you much success
Speaker 2: with your business.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for connecting with me. I hope
Speaker 3: you have a lovely day. Thank you.
Speaker 4: I hope you found this episode helpful. Please share, rate,
Speaker 4: leave a review, and follow Plant Based Diet on your
Speaker 4: favorite podcast listening platform and on the Alternative Few Network
Speaker 4: YouTube channel, where you can also find recipe videos. If
Speaker 4: you're on social media, please follow us on Instagram at
Speaker 4: Alternative Food Network. We also publish a monthly newsletter that
Speaker 4: includes plant based recipes, our latest podcasts, and the occasional giveaway.
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Speaker 4: Until next time, Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2: All content provided or opinions expressed in this podcast or
Speaker 2: for informational purposes only, and are not a substitute for
Speaker 2: professional medical advice. Please seek advice from your doctor or
Speaker 2: other qualified healthcare practitioner.