A bouquet of flowers delivers instant and lasting joy. It may be a small gesture, but the sentiment is big. In lieu of flowers, might we offer a bouquet of produce instead? With a produce-inspired edible bouquet, you’re not only brightening someone’s day, you’re providing fresh and healthy nourishment as well.

What types of produce to use in an Edible Bouquet

There are no hard and fast rules to building your own edible arrangement. However, a good rule to keep in mind is the wilting factor. Hardier veggies and fruits will look fresher longer. Things like broccoli, rosemary, and squash don’t wilt as quickly as delicate berries or tender lettuces and herbs.

Also keep scale and structural integrity in mind. A honeydew melon may be aesthetically appealing, but it could be too big for your edible bouquet. Instead, look for smaller items that will be easier to secure.

Which means you’ve got a lot of unique options to incorporate into your Edible Bouquet with produce. In addition, our people are diverse too, bringing their own unique perspectives and skills to the agricultural community. When you choose food from California, you’re supporting family-run farms and local communities.

Find unique produce at local farmers markets or produce stands

Visit local farmers markets to find a unique variety of fresh fruit and vegetables that you may not find in grocery stores. Incorporating something like kohlrabi or less common produce varieties into your bouquet not only looks stunning, but it can spark conversation and introduce people to new fruits and vegetables! Check out this bouquet and the Kale Radish + Kohlrabi Salad with Cheese Frico that was made from it; it uses gorgeous Lacinato kale, a lesser-common radish called Purple Ninja Radish, and kohlrabi, all from Babé Farm in Santa Maria, CA.

Babé Farm is known as the pioneer in specialty vegetables. For over 40 years, this farm has been run as a “family-style” business, sustainably growing unique crops year-round. They offer over 70 varieties of gourmet greens, baby root vegetables, lettuces, and specialty seasonal produce.

It could be as simple as following your own personal tastes, using what you’ve already got in the crisper drawer, or crafting a theme based around just about anything! Look for different shapes, vibrant colors, or new-to-you vegetables that might be less common, like kohlrabi, pattypan (scallop) squash, or watermelon radish. This is a great opportunity to introduce new fruits or vegetables

Here are some produce-inspired Edible Bouquet themes to get your ideas growing

Salad Bouquet- Combine all of the fixin’s for a fresh and healthy salad. Try Becky’s Kale Radish + Kohlrabi Salad with Cheese Frico!

Sweet & Simple – Keep it easy and elegant by combining a bunch of spinach with strawberries and thyme in a pretty vase.

Seasonal Spice – Go bold with a warm arrangement combining an ear of corn, bell peppers, spicy jalapeños, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, etc. A summery spectacular that can turn into a fresh and spicy meal

Tone on Tone – Let the produce lead by pairing elements that land in the same color family like reds and purples or yellows and oranges. Keep it tonal with purple beets and carrots, red radishes and beets, and red-stalked chard.

Step 2: Gather Your Tools

The next step is gathering your tools. Building a produce bouquet can be as easy as bundling up a handful of pretty produce and tying it together with twine. But, if you’re looking to really wow ‘em, there are a few tools that’ll make the job easier.

Tools for making edible bouquets

• Kitchen shears for trimming produce.
• Bamboo skewers can be used to stack produce. Use the sharp end of the skewer to create a kabob of cherry tomatoes or use the wooden skewer like a lollipop stick to secure a focal artichoke or slide a skewer up the spines of rainbow chard or herbs to provide structure.
• Toothpicks help hold things in place and adhere smaller ingredients to larger ones.
• Sharp knife if you need to do any trimming or want to cut anything into fun shapes.
• Kitchen twine is the best way to secure stems together. Use it to tie stems or bamboo skewers together and give the whole bouquet a finished final look.
• Butcher paper or a paper bag are a great way to wrap up your bouquet as a gift.
• Ribbon for wrapping it all up with a pretty bow.
• Vase if you’re building a bouquet for home or want to gift a lovely vase, arrange the produce bouquet in a vase as you would flowers.

Step 3: Arranging Your Produce-inspired Edible Bouquet

Once you’ve got a theme in mind, it’s time to build that edible, beautiful produce bouquet. We took the basics of floral arranging and applied the same building principles when working with produce. Just like floral arranging, there are 3 categories to consider: Foliage, Focal, and Filler.

Foliage – Think of the foliage as the backbone of your bouquet. The foliage sort of sets the structure of the arrangement by providing walls to work within. Fanned lettuces, sprays of herbs, or curls of cabbage can block out the perimeter and add movement to the bouquet.

Focal – The highlight of the bouquet; this is where you showcase the shining stars. These are the big, bountiful ingredients that command the stage and make a statement. Things like artichokes, broccoli florets, twisty squash, bunches of beets, or curvaceous peppers.

Filler – Finally, the filler. Just as the name suggests, these are the smaller to medium-sized elements that help to fill in the gaps between the foliage and the focal pieces. Filler adds visual interest and movement while supporting the bold, focal elements. Here is where you can flex your creativity with a variety of fruit and veggies to create fanciful flourishes or punches of color. Use the kabob skewers to create wands of smaller fruits or veggies. A tomato skewer here, a snap pea skewer there. Then tuck them in between the foliage and the focals to fill out the bouquet with a bounty of freshness.

Putting your Produce Bouquet together.

Once you’ve established what’s what, you can begin arranging the bouquet. Depending on the mix and size of your ingredients, each bouquet will be built differently. Be sure your foliage, focals, and fillers are all similar-ish in length.

• Begin by gathering together some foliage to rough out the parameter of your bouquet. You can use skewers to add structure and twine to hold things in place as you build. Again, the foliage is sort of the backbone that sets the tone of the arrangement. You can always add more as you build, but start here.
• Then, incorporate your focal pieces. Secure the stems and sticks with twine to hold them together. It helps to keep the large, focal features in the center for structural integrity.
• Next, add in the filler. Slide your filler herbs, edible flowers, and smaller fruit and veggie skewers into the spaces between the foliage and focals to fill out the bouquet.
• Now, secure your bouquet with twine to hold it together. At this stage, either store the bouquet in the fridge to keep it cool or place it in a vase with some water until you’re ready to wrap it up and gift it. You may want to mist it with water to keep the bouquet fresh too.
• To finish, wrap up the bouquet with butcher paper or a repurposed paper bag. Packing tape helps secure the paper in place. Finish the wrapped bouquet with ribbon or twine as an added touch of detail. Or add a ribbon to the vase for a fancy finish.

Now you’ve got a bountiful bouquet of CA GROWN freshness! Fill vases with your bouquets for your next party or wrap a produce bouquet up and bring it as a host gift to the next gathering you attend. Everybody loves getting their flowers, but nobody expects a bouquet of fresh, edible produce! As with flowers, handle your edible produce bouquets with love and care.

Need a new soundtrack for your kitchen? Check out this CA GROWN Spotify playlist:

Are you creating your own edible bouquets? We’d love to see your creations! Share your photos with us by tagging #CAGROWN on social media.

Don’t stop here! Follow us on Pinterest for more fresh and fabulous recipe inspiration. Dive into the world of CA GROWN goodness, and let’s make every meal a celebration of the Golden State’s bounty.

This article was written and photographed by Becky Sue Wilberding, one of our CA GROWN Creators.