A new job, edible flowers and a wedding

I’ve been a Greenhouse aide and co-manager of the compost program at Lufa Farms for a bit over a year now but in one week I will be away honeymooning in Bavaria (I can wait!) and when I return I will be starting a new position within the greenhouse team - Plant Science Assistant, R&D and IP Manager with the side gig of freelance blogger.

As a greenhouse aide I have mostly focused my crop maintenance duties on a few varieties of tomato but I have been responsible for various other crops including, hot pepper, cucumber and eggplant. Eggplant, though I love to eat them are an incredibly pest prone plant, which here at the greenhouse we call an indicator plant. Since the eggplant leaves are so attractive to many pests, if they are present in the GH, we will most likely see them first on the eggplant. Their gigantic leaves are havens for such pests as whitefly, aphids, and spider mites.

In a garden, flowers are often used as both attractants and repellents to keep pests away from your delicious vegetables. For example, nasturtium attracts many pests including caterpillars while marigolds are often planted with tomatoes to ward off aphids.

We haven’t grown many flowers in the greenhouse because of their tendency to attract pests however we did try out camomile and it was a pretty sight.

(picture to be added later, due to a technical difficulty)

There has been some talk at Lufa Farms about trying out growing edible flowers but we have been at a loss at which varieties would be interesting to try. If you have grown edible flowers or have had them on the menu, we would love to know your thoughts on them!

Here is a picture of some flowers I was allowed to grow in the greenhouse for my upcoming wedding! Sweet pea and ornamental cabbage (not yet flowering). 

(pictures are unavailable for the moment. Will be added later!)

Amanda