Way too cool. I have edible plants!!

After blogging yesterday, I continued researching the WATER issue.  I went to my county's (Cobb County) website and learned that, not only are rain barrels permitted, but they are encouraged.  In fact, Cobb County has videos on their site which teach you how to make your own inexpensive rain barrel!!  There is a drum recycler and drum container outfit about 20 miles away who sells large 55 gallon drums for (so they say) $15 each.  So, it looks like I can build 4 rain barrels myself, hopefully for less that $40 each.  I am planning on making that trip midweek.

Okay, that said, and getting to the meat of this blog post, I also found on some gardening calendars that the first two weeks in March is the best time to be planning out upcoming raised beds and planting areas.  But being a true "dummy" when it comes to gardening, I thought that the best thing to do first would be to figure out WHAT I wanted to plant.  Since I want my homestead to be a quasi-food source & quasi-wilderness survival training ground (for my family), I decided to use Google to find out which plants/flowers are edible.  Btw, it's worth noting that my wife is an interior designer and sensitive to the aura that is created around our home, so I can't just begin planting gardens in the front yard with no regard for our neighbors.  The Home Owners Association can be difficult, but my greater concern is being considerate of my wife.  So, my thought process was, why not plant a nice looking "edible flower garden" in the front yard and I can create the larger vegetable gardens in the back yard?   My wife would be thrilled about my sudden interest in making our front yard beatiful with annuals and perrenials!   With this goal in mind, I quickly found link that listed out flowers that can be eaten...http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm.  What a great source! 

Since I don't know the names of flowers, I had to Google each name to see if I liked the looks of them.  This would help me to figure out how I would keep the yard looking nice aesthetically while achieving my food goals at the same time.   and then cut and paste the picture to an Excel spread sheet.  Also on that spreadsheet was when to plant, how to plant and how to eat the plant (for future reference).  To my surprise, I found that I have at least 4 plants that are edible due to blossom in several months:

1. Day Lilies - Wow, I'm glad I didn't chunk these when we moved them a couple of years ago!  They are really easy to maintain.  Actually, I don't do anything for them.  They just keep coming back.
2. I had not considered the Crabapple tree as a source for sowing produce, but hey....now I will. 
3. We have a small patch of Pansies that come back every year.  They're edible!! 
4. Our backyard fence has a stretch of about 15 yards of Honeysuckle.  It turns out you can eat the whole flower, not just the teeny tiny bit of honey portion . 

No question I will value these plants much more as I move forward.  I'm even looking forward to "harvesting" the Day Lillies and Pansies!  Also, on the list were several nice looking, well presenting plants that should add a lot of color to the front yard.  I just have to figure out what goes where especially when some plants need full sun and others shade. 

A very interesting addition to the planting list is the raised beds I have to build for Clover and Dandelions.  Surprising, but very nutritious members of the edible world.  I'll just have to be sure those dandelions don't get too mature....

Well, I have to go.  Still a lot of planning, thinking and preparing for late March with this new obsession.  I'll check back later.