The Home Depot Archives

Edible Organic Flowers Cake

I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to work with The Home Depot and receive product to enhance our backyard. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Would you like to take a stroll through my garden? Go ahead, I’ll wait.

I love my garden. I’ve worked hard on it and I hope shows.

I love how healthy my garden is and how healthy the critters in my garden are.

My Organic Gardening is honestly out of laziness and fear. Laziness because I don’t want to track when I can and can’t eat something. Fear because of the kids and animals that play in my yard. I want a healthy and happy garden for family to enjoy.

Call me masochistic, but I enjoy pulling weeds by hand. I enjoy digging in the dirt and watering the plants. I love to do my “Yard Yoga” and work up a sweat while cleaning out garden beds. I do wish we had more room for more veggie beds, but I’ve got every inch possible used.

My family loves to eat the wonderful bounty from garden. So far, I’ve made Strawberry and Basil Pastry Tart, some Mint Juleps for Derby Day, and a baked Pineapple with Ginger and Thyme Granita with the herbs from my garden. Fresh herbs will always be better than dried.

This is my last post for The Home Depot and I wanted to share all the Edible Flowers in my garden. You can get all of these plants at The Home Depot. Just ask the friendly staff for help.

These are the flowers that I picked on the morning of June 26th. I went out before it got too warm and looked for flowers that were edible.

*NOTE*- If you don’t know if they are edible, don’t eat it!

There are so many resources online to research edible flowers. Check them FIRST! All the flowers listed here are edible, but a lot of times, the stems are not or the pistil and stamen are not. So double and triple check!

I brought in my flowers and gave them a good wash in the sink. I don’t use any soaps or chemicals on the flowers. I just soak them for 10 minutes to get any bugs that may have been living in them. Then I dry them off on paper towels and let them sit for an hour.

I did sugar coat a few rose petals and some pansies, but honestly, they didn’t turn out too well, so I’m not sharing a tutorial on that. If you want to research it, I did a post about it a few years ago here. (Seriously, don’t laugh. I had just started this blogging thing and didn’t have a clue!)

I baked a box cake and frosted it with a homemade 7-minute frosting.

When all of the flowers were dry, I just started placing them on top of the cake.

Nothing planned. Nothing thought out.

Just thrown together like Mother Nature would do.

If the flowers kinda make you hesitant, you can always put down some wax paper over the top and place the flowers on top of that. I did. You can see it peeking out the top in the photo.

I really didn’t expect my in-laws to eat the flowers, but there were adventurous enough to try the sugared roses and pansies that I had set aside. My Little Cup licked the sugar off the rose petal.

The wax paper also made it very easy to quickly remove all of the flowers before cutting the cake.

It sure was a beautiful cake!

I hope that you are adventurous to look into edible flowers. There are so many more that will be blooming as the summer progresses.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

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Organic Basil Cream and Fresh Strawberry Tarts

I am so excited to be working with The Home Depot to get my Organic Garden planted. I can’t wait to cook and bake with fresh herbs and flowers from my garden!

Gardening is a passion of mine. When we bought our house almost nine years ago all we had was grass and a few azaleas in the front. I was determined to have a garden with trees, flowers, evergreens, fruits, vegetables and herbs. It’s a lot of work, so I try to make things easier by buying good plants and amending my clay soil with lots and lots of organic material.

If you’re following me on Instagram, you know that I’m getting ready to plant my Organic Garden in my backyard for the season. There are many reasons why I choose Organic Gardening, but mainly it’s because I’m lazy. I have a million other things going on and I don’t have the time to spray and track when it’s safe to eat what I soe. Besides, my Little Cup and her friends are in and out of the yard and garden so much, that I don’t want to worry about them and chemicals. Well, that and all the wild animals that like to visit and take a nibble of the yummy plants – I wouldn’t want to poison them.

Organic, Gardening, strawberries, basil, seeds, plants, soil

A few days ago, I headed off to The Home Depot, to get some organic gardening supplies. My local Home Depot did not have any organic vegetables in stock, however, they did have some seed packs. I admit, I’m not very good at growing plants from seeds, but I always give it a try. I do plan on buying a Bonnie Plant Organic Plant Pack from The Home Depot.

The Home Depot, Organic, Herbs, Dill, oregano, thyme, flat parsley, Edible Gardening

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basil, chives, mint, curled parsley, Organic, The Home Depot, Edible Garden

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While there, I picked up some Organic Garden Soil and Potting Soil, some small basil plants, spearmint, rosemary, strawberries, and a pansy. I plan on making recipes with all of these plants.

Organic, Edible Gardening, Basil, Rosemary, Strawberries, Mint

When I got home, I got to work turning the soil, working in the organic material and adding the fresh soil to the beds. Use a large Gardening Fork like THIS ONE to dig down and turn the dirt over. This adds oxygen to the soil and loosens any roots from last years plants and rocks. It’s a lot of work, but so necessary to your new plants. The soil needs to have all the nutrients that the plants will need over the growing season, that’s why I spend a few extra bucks on the good stuff.

I plan on filling this bed with Basil. Lots and Lots of Basil!

When my Basil starts to come in, I plan on making Pesto for pasta, pizza, and chicken! I love fresh Basil. We’ll make about 20 batches of Pesto over the summer and freeze it to enjoy over the rest of the year.

For the Summer, you can enjoy Basil in your desserts as well. Like this Basil Sweet Cream and Strawberry Tart.

Organic Basil and Strawberry Tart from @pintsizedbaker #SpingFlavors

The Basil and the Whipped Cream blend smoothly together and the the strawberry lends some sweet without overpowering the dessert.

Enjoy this easy tart after a day of gardening while you barbeque and enjoy the Fruits of your Labor!

Basil Cream and Strawberry Tart

Organic Basil and Strawberry Tart from @pintsizedbaker

by Karyn Granrud

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: strawberry basil heavy cream July 4th tart pie spring

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Ingredients (1 tart)

1 sheet Pillsbury Puff Pastry
1 C Heavy Cream
3 Tbls Powdered Sugar
1/4 C Organic Basil
10 – 12 Organic Strawberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 Deg F.

Thaw the Puff Pastry. Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll into a 10 – 16 rectangle. Trim the uneven edges off, then cut a 1 inch strip from the sides of the rectangle. Dip your finger in some water and run along the length of the puff pastry. Attache the 1 inch strips to the edges, prick the center with a fork and bake for 20 minutes.

Allow Tart shell to cool.

Using a whisk attachment, whisk your cream until thick. Add in sugar and whip until soft peaks form. Chop Organic Basil into small slices and fold into whipped cream. Add to tart shell.

Slice Organic Strawberries and lay on top of whipped cream.

Top with Fresh Organic Basil or Organic Mint to garnish.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

I link up at THESE GREAT parties!

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