Sunday 19 August 2012

Summer on my balcony: green herbs and colourful edible flowers!

Even if I don't have a garden, I never stopped loving having green plants around me. So during the warm moths of the year the balcony at home becomes our ("tiny") garden, thanks to the great care&dedication of Nico. Due to its limited size (1 by 3 meters) its of course nothing big, but I am so happy with our yummy selection of green herbs and colourful flowers.
We have been growing and enjoying watching following plants&herbs in the past months:
-> rosmarin and basil (for giving the final touch to Italian dishes and salads);
-> 3 types of peppermint, lemon verbena  and camomile for fresh&delicious teas (or ice-teas depending on the weather);
-> marigold and cornflower for their fantastic colours but also for their healing powers ( for wound-cremes or in teas);
-> sky blue borage and yellow& red nasturtium: for their edible blossoms (the first one has a refreshing cucumber flavour, while the yellow/red/orange flowers of the second surprises one after the first honey touch with its peppery aftertaste);
-> and last but not least my absolutely favourite flowers (my great-grandmother was always having some in her garden): the pansies (in Bulgarian "теменужки");
And here today I am sharing also some impressions of how I do use this yummy green treasures while cooking.  Personally I do love to add freshly cut mint leaves to my fruit salad (like in the picture above). I have also put on the top for the salad the edible flowers of borage&nasturtium. The blue borage flowers decorate on the next picture as well my home-made tiramisu desserts! The drying herbs (for teas in the coming winter months) are a lovely&aromatic deco at home too... Hope you have enjoyed my balcony-flower-herbs-tour!

13 comments:

Lies said...

Super, Jana ! Lekker, gezond en heel mooi !
Bernagie bloempjes doe ik ook in ijsblokjes.
Lie(f)s.

Erika said...

I like very much your balcony and your little garden. Thanks for your suggestions.
Have a nice new week. A big hug from Italy.
Erika

Dietmut said...

je hebt een gezellige balkon Jana. Je witte tafel aan de muur is ook heel mooi en praktisch.Groetjes Dietmut

stardust said...

I love your balcony garden and the way how you enjoy and make use of greens and flowers. How nice it would be to eat your tiramisu dessert (so tempting!) at the table on the balcony!

Yoko

Kristie said...

Jana,

I love your balcony of flowers and herbs, it's so pretty. I am a big fan of the herbs rosemary and basil and I use them a lot in dishes I prepare. Your tiramisu looks delicious! :)

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Although your space is very small you are using it to bring delight and to feed your body and soul. Excellent.

betchai said...

you are very creative Jana, love your garden, the colors and the food!

FilipBlog said...

Creative balcony, like the smiling fruit.

Greetings,
Filip

Barb said...

What a delight Jana! I'd love having that colorful fruit salad while sitting on the balcony. Maybe some tea too! I also grow several types of herbs and edibble flowers. I love fresh basil with heirloom tomatoes! I also have some wonderful spearmint for teas. It smells good next to my deck.

Marco Luijken said...

Hello Jana,
It looks very cozy on your balcony.
Nice to see all the flowers and funny that smiling face of fruit.

Many greetings,
Marco

fiziskandarz said...

Love all the images in this post! The composition, the colors, the bokeh are awesome! Hope you had a great weekend there :D

AVCr8teur said...

Your garden is beautiful. I do not have a green thumb so I will just admire your flowers. Your pictures are so nicely presented. The clam-like plate is lovely and the colorful fruits on a white table just make all the colors pop! Wonderful!!!

Erika said...

In my Puglia, dear Jana, there is a speciality called "risotto with potatoes and mussels".
I love very much your flowers and their colors.