Loving this new ceramic basket prototype with a paracord handle adapted from Windy Chien's The Year of Knots. You can expect to see more buckets and baskets for the Fall & Winter restocks.
I've been intrigued by flower ice cubes for a while and decided to use my stay home, stay safe time to preserve the plethora of blooms in the garden. My first attempt to suspend the flowers in ice was a disaster because all of the flowers floated to the top if the ice tray and bunched up.
Here's the trick. After picking edible blooms from the garden (nasturtium, marigold, oregano, chamomile, calendula, fennel, and salad burnet), place one or two flowers at the bottom of a large silicone ice tray and slowly freeze the flowers in 1/3 increments of distilled water. Layering the flowers in batches takes a little extra time to freeze each layer solid but it was well worth it.
When using my ceramic basket as a ice bucket, I place regular ice at the bottom, fill with a little water, and add 6-8 flower ice cubes at the top for color. I'll save the rest to use in the depth of winter as a reminder of the season to come.
