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Picking Flowers | Edible Flowers

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* WHAT TO DO

Buy organically grown flowers from greenmarkets, farm stands and specialty produce stores.

Use flowers quickly. They look and taste their best when they've just been picked.

Know your flowers; some just aren't palatable, and others have inedible or even poisonous parts. A good reference guide is Edible Flowers: From Garden to Palate (Fulcrum) by Cathy Wilkinson Barash.

* WHAT TO AVOID

Stay away from florist's shops, where flowers are often treated with pesticides.

Don't clip roadside blossoms--fumes from passing cars can contaminate them.

Don't pat washed flowers dry, it can bruise them; air-dry flowers instead.