Edible flowers bring a splash of colour to salads. But they add taste, too

ByJulie Biuso 13 December 201630 August 2023 2 Comments

Nikki Green has the right name for gardening, but she reckons it is her sister, the horticulturist of the family, who got the green fingers. Lucky for Nikki she and her partner bought a lovely block of land on the Te Whau peninsula on Waiheke Island some 20 years ago when such land went for a song (yes, green with envy!). Nikki had spent 17 years working overseas in hotel tourism and the land was great to come back to. Ironically, it is now her sister Deb’s turn to work in tourism.

When the couple moved to Waiheke permanently, about 16 years ago, she worked in tourism for awhile but after having children, she looked for a job that would give her flexibility, and when a friend suggested she grow salad greens, it gave them the idea to do something with the land.

“I’m not a gardener. My grandmother was. She’d grow everything and put the excess out on the front steps in cardboard boxes for people to help themselves to. I...