Growing Flowers for the Table 

I once spent hours upon hours listening to Mandarin Chinese in the University of California, Santa Cruz language lab.  The lab was dark, dank and grindingly depressing.

Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Growing Flowers by the Sea for the Table at the Farmers Market

When my study session was over, which ususally was when I couldn’t stand the dark anymore, I would stumble out of the lab and sit on a log in the sunshine because, just beyond a deer fence, was Alan Chadwick’s French-Intensive Biodynamic garden.  And his garden was always full of pretty girls digging in the dirt.

Of course, with all the pretty girls, there were boys as well, but they did not seem to enjoy digging in the dirt to the extent of the girls.

Though the garden held all manner of edible and medicinal plants, it excelled in its profusion of flowers.  Beautiful girls in a beautiful garden filled with beautiful flowers.  Too good to be true. And it was…

The parents of Chadwick’s students would eventually figure out how their children were spending their time digging in his living soil, instead of their chemistry or literature books, and raised hell with the University administration.  “What are you doing with our children?” they would yell into the phone.

I tell this story because I really do believe the eyes are first to feast, and what better way to make a meal taste better, or to get out of trouble, then with a bouquet of beautiful flowers.

And who better to talk about flowers and food, than a farmer who grows flowers by the sea, and sells them alongside food at farmers markets…

Leave a comment: Which flower is best to feast on?

Tune in here, for the syndicated Michael Olson Food Chain Radio Show #1379 January 11, 2025 Saturday 9AM Pacific