Time Is Ripe: East Bay farmers’ market flowers fresher, last longer
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.”
― Luther Burbank
Cut flowers are one of life’s simple pleasures. We take enjoyment in the sensory pleasures of their fragrance, color and variety in everyday life, whether they’re sitting on your kitchen counter at home in an old mason jar or next to a stack of files at the office in a vase. There’s no way better than giving a lovely bouquet of fresh-cut flowers to show others you care.
Bouquets from the farmers’ market are exceptional in their just-picked freshness and seasonal variety. Stop by your local farmers’ market and follow your eyes to a booth filled with big buckets of colorful blooms. You’ll find single-variety bouquets and mixed bunches to select from. There are many ways to enjoy cut flowers instead of just adding them to a vase. Below are a few ideas.
- Corsages, boutonnières, napkin rings: Don’t just enjoy them for special occasions like proms and weddings. Make tiny floral arrangements for your hair or clothing just to enjoy them! Make small arrangements and glue them to wooden napkin rings to use during a special dinner.
- Decorate your baked goods with flowers. Add small rose buds or daisies to cakes for some color. Garnish your desserts with lavender or status (these are for decoration, not eating!).
- Dry your favorite flowers inside the pages of heavy books or in the oven and then frame them for your walls or make candles with pressed flowers. Make dried wreaths for your front door or table centerpiece.
- Pull the petals off roses and other fragrant flowers and place them in a small bowl to use as potpourri in bathrooms or living rooms for a touch of natural aroma.
- Sprinkle edible flower petals on your salads. Ask your florist or nursery worker to point out the edible ones like nasturtiums, pansies, violas or calendulas.
Another fun activity to enjoy with cut flowers is to learn how to arrange them in different ways. Other cultures have lovely ways of presenting them, from Japanese ikebana, a minimalist and highly stylized way of arranging flowers in shallow containers to the European and American way of flower arrangement with a rich gathering of flower varieties in a tall vase or container. In between these two methods are myriad different styles and arrangements. Arrange flowers any way that makes you happy!
We highly recommend you get your cut flowers from East Bay farmers’ markets, where local nurseries get their fresh-cut flowers to you within 48 hours, as opposed to one or two weeks for nonlocal growers. They will last longer once you get them home, having spent less time in transit. You’re also supporting local farmers and your local economy!
At the Concord Farmers’ Market, for example, you’ll find flowers from Watsonville’s Sunrise Nursery brought to the market within a day or two of harvesting so you know they’re fresh and will last longer. Enjoy!
Debra Morris is a promotions coordinator for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association. Contact her at debramorris@pcfma.com.