Food-Lover's Garden: Grow Your Own Desserts
Desserts
Find all your sweet fixings right out back.
Roses: Use Tradescant red rose petals to make homemade rose water and give desserts a subtle floral flavor and a pink color. Make sure to purchase a fully grown bush and toss a banana peel into the bottom of the planting hole; it'll act as a fertilizer. Rose petals and leaves don't like to be wet, so water the plant at ground level only.
Tip: To make your own rose water, pour boiling water over a packed cup of petals; chill the water overnight and strain the petals in the morning.
Raspberries: Try the thornless Canby variety. Buy and plant a fully grown bush, clear four feet of space around it and you'll enjoy years of raspberry harvests. The first summer's yield will be just enough to use as a garnish, but the following year, the bush will produce enough berries for a pie. You'll know the raspberries are ready to pick when they come off the stem easily; if you have to tug at the berry, it's not ripe.
Strawberries: Small strawberry plants quickly start producing fruit early in summer. Try a non-runner type, like alpines, which won't take over your garden floor. Use straw or pine needles as mulch to keep berries off the soil.
Lemons: Meyer lemons taste like a cross between an orange and a lemon, so they're less acidic and good for sorbets or lemon curd. Dwarf Meyer lemon trees can be grown in a 12-inch wide container. Bring the tree inside during winter, and its fragrant flowers will continue to bloom. Be patient: The trees yield only about three lemons the first season but twice as many the following year.
Mint: Plant chocolate mint -- it's unbeatable in mint ice cream. Mint isn't picky; it will grow in sun or shade, as long as the soil is moist. It's also an aggressive herb, so keep it in check with regular pruning.
Use your home-grown produce to make Charlotte Russe With Raspberries.
