Fleurs Gourmandes

From seed to table an innovative approach to please the palate and the eye. From garden design, soil preparation and installation that marries the edible with the sensorial flavors of the garden. The potager includes vegetables, herbs, fruit, woody plants and flowers. 

In lieu of the 100, 50 mile diet this in your own backyard diet.

This web site will be regularly updated with new information pertaining to the edibles, this is a labor of love and everything takes time to research, grow, harvest and I love to play both in the garden and in the kitchen. There is something for every budget and every taste. The recipes are a general guideline on how to use what is locally grown and harvested, from easy to needing some culinary knowledge.

The edibles list are grown locally in Ottawa which is a zone 5B and harvested for the table.

Recipes have been tested for taste, visual appeal and facility to execute. Feel free to submit your own recipe creation, it may be highlighted and credited to you on this site. 

Growing from seed or planting cuttings can give you a season’s worth of edible produce. Companion planting will reduce the need for pesticides and hand picking will not be an arduous task.

Garden maintenance and proper care requires watering, weeding, mulching, plant support, and pruning, in addition to fertilizing with compost or manure, and evaluating damage caused by insects and rodents.

Harvest time: what to do with all your garden goodies including drying herbs, canning and preparing tasty treats from hors d’oeuvres to desserts.

In 2006 while attending Algonquin College in the Horticulture program I did a 40 week internship with the Creative Arts Program at the Perley and Rideau Veteran’s Health Centre located in Ottawa. Interacting with numerous World War II Veterans many with vivid memories of their survival in Holland, hardships including foraging for anything edible including eating tulip bulbs, foraging for mushrooms and anything else that they could eat from fields to forests.

In 2007 the Fleurs Gourmandes brand was developed: Red for passion and Purple is the 7^th Chackra which is associated with enlightenment and consciousness. The outline is in the form of a tulip to pay homage to the veterans including my father that went fought in wars and their survival skills. The inner circle is the hemerocallis (daylily) considered as a perfect flower; the young shoots, leaves, flowers and rhizomes and edible.  Pistil and stamens are a fork and spoon – in what knowledge and zest for life we bring to the table.