We love finding out all about you, our lovers of fresh, local produce!
We caught up with Rebecca, a regular customer with Your Food Collective with a colourful business that is putting colour back onto peoples plates and smiles on their faces.
Tell us a little bit about yourself
My name is Rebecca. I've been in Newcastle for a bit over 12 years, but am originally from Melbourne. I am lucky enough to be a mum to two beautiful daughters and I work casual hours as an Allied Health Professional. I am passionate about gardening, and this year I hope to grow more of what my family eats. Volunteering in and supporting our community and the environment are also important to me.
Tell us about Tea and Petals?
My interest in the garden led me to grow edible flowers and to start my small business Tea and Petals. I grow edible flowers for a local cafe Mama P and other customers who place one-off orders for special occasions such as birthdays or Christmas dishes.
Edible flowers are used mainly to decorate the plate and provide a splash of colour and prettiness to the meal. They are also safe to eat. It is important, however to only eat flowers that are known to be safe to consume. Some general guidelines are:
- Ensure flowers have been grown specifically for human consumption and have not been sprayed. Flowers from florists or nurseries have usually been treated with pesticides. At Tea and Petals, I grow my flowers without chemical treatments.
- In most cases, the flowers petals are the edible part and the other parts are often inedible or taste terrible!
- Be cautious eating flowers, especially if you have allergies.
Do you have a food philosophy?
I am a lazy cook, but I try to give my family as many home cooked meals as I can cope with, using as little processed foods as I can. We're definitely not perfect though!
What do you like about Your Food Collective?
I order from Your Food Collective because it's important to me that food has not travelled too far or sat on a shelf for too long before it gets to me. I also like the idea of being able to support food producing families by buying directly from them as much as possible.
I regularly order fruit and vegetables, but we have also just discovered the best non-meat hamburgers ever (made by Anderson's). I also love it that I can return the box that my groceries were packed in so it can be re-used. Oh, and we ordered our fresh Christmas Tree from YFC and it stayed green and gorgeous for over a month!
What's inspiring you this week? we love hearing from our beautiful community reach out and share your story with us and help others fall in love with local and all the goodness it brings!
You can find out more about Rebecca Howard’s flowers, Tea and Petals, by following her on Instagram and Facebook (@teapetal1), or by emailing her at tea.petals@yahoo.com
