life in fearless color

As a chef-in-training I love to use flowers in my cooking so why not witchcraft too! Flowers add a splash of colour, taste, and a little bit of whimsy. People have been using flowers in cooking all the way back to the Romans and ancient Greeks. Many cultures today still use them too; Indians use roses and Italians use artichoke flowers. The tastes also vary! Some add spice and others a sweetness.

Eating Flowers Safely

Eat flowers you know are definitely edible - if you’re uncertain look in a reference book.

Eat flowers you have grown your self or are consumption grade. Nurseries and florists commonly use pesticides on the flowers.

Do not use flowers you have found at a park or near the edge of a road as they may be contaminated by car pollution and pesticides.

Only eat the petals and remove the pistols and stamens before eating.

To keep the flowers fresh place them on a wet paper towel and keep them in the fridge for up to 10 days.

If your flowers wilt put in some ice water.

Flowers and Their Properties

Allium - Depends on which variety but means the same as the herb- All the flowers in the allium family (leeks, chives, garlic, garlic chives) are edible. Flavours go from leek to garlic. All parts of these plants are edible.

Angelica - Inspiration/protection - The colours of the flowers range from lavender all the way to a deep rose and have a licorice flavour.

Bachelor’s button -  Love - Grassy flavour. Dont eat calyx as it is very bitter.

Basil - Success/banishing - Very similar in taste to the basil leaf but milder in taste.

Borage - Courage - flowers are a lovely blue colour and they taste like cucumber.

Calendula - Love/joy - They taste spicy and have a vibrant golden colour.

Carnations - depends on colour but usually healing - Petals taste sweet but the base is very bitter.

Chamomile -  Peace - They have a sweet flavour much like the tea.

Chervil - Joy - The flowers are very delicate and have a slight anise flavour.

Chicory - Success - Slightly bitter and good for pickling.

Chrysanthemum - Relaxation - Come in a variety of colours and flavours which range from peppery to pungent. Use fresh.

Citrus - Depends which type of citrus but generally joy - Some of the flowers in the citrus family are edible (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, kumquat). They have a sweet flavour and have a very strong taste.

Clove - Protection/Manifestation - They are sweet with a touch of licorice.

Dill - Protection -  The lovely yellow flowers taste like the leaves.

English daisy - Luck - They are very bitter.

Fennel - Confidence/Protection - Beautiful yellow flowers with a licorice taste much like the herb.

Fuchsia - Love - They have a lovely tangy taste.

Gladiolus -  Strength/Beauty - Quite bland actually.

Hibiscus - Beauty -  Tastes like the tea with an interesting tart cranberry flavour.

Hollyhock - Ambition - Bland but are very pretty.

Impatiens - Motherly love - Dont have much flavour but are nice for decoration.

Jasmine - Romance - Have a nice sweet taste so they’re nice in sweet dishes.

Lavender - Relaxation - They are sweet and spicy and are great for both sweet and savoury dishes.

Lemon verbena - Beauty - The small white flowers taste like lemon.

Lilac - Beauty - They have a strong citrus flavour.

Mint - Protection - They taste minty.

Nasturtium - Victory - Very popular in cusine. They have a sweet, floral flavour and are also spicy.

Oregano - Protection - Same taste as the leaves but more subtle.

Pansy - Joy - Bland.

Radish - Protection - Very peppery.

Rose - Love - Very floral in taste which gets stronger the darker the flower is.

Rosemary - Memory - Milder rosemary taste.

Sage - Clearing - Taste similar to leaves.

Sunflower - Happiness - Dont really have a taste.

Violets - Happiness/Love - Floral taste.

As I am a baby witch all the correspondences might be wrong so please tell me if you would change anything.

I originally tried to get an article about what happened published but no one would help me to share my story so here’s what happened:

As many of you know, I’m a filmmaker and undergraduate film student and like any other nineteen-year-old Internet user, I loved BuzzFeed Video. Note the past tense. I used to drool over the idea of making videos for such a massive and millennial oriented website. So when I met a BuzzFeed Video recruiter at my university’s Cinematic Arts Career Week this March I jumped on the opportunity. After showing the recruiter my resume he urged me to apply online for their “Summer Video Internship” at BuzzFeed’s headquarters in LA. I went back to my dorm and applied the same day. The simple online application asked for a link to my “creative samples/portfolio” so linked them to my best short film,  “The Diagnosis” that I made and posted on YouTube in 2013. “The Diagnosis” got me into film school and even won Best Student Film at the Clifton Film Festival and I felt confident it would help me to stand out. 

About a week after I applied, I received an email from BuzzFeed that I did not get the internship. Though initially disappointed, moved on and I accepted internships at two other production companies instead, completely forgetting about my BuzzFeed application. Until on June 8th an actor from “The Diagnosis” posted the BuzzFeed video “If Physical Health Problems Were Treated Like Mental Health Problems” on my Facebook wall and joked that I had made the same video 2 years ago. As I watched the video, posted on BuzzFeedYellow’s YouTube on May 23rd, my stomach sank. BuzzFeed Video blatantly plagiarized of the concept and content of my film “The Diagnosis.” See below for comparison:

I may not be the first person to point out the stigma attached to mental health and its contrast to the way physical health gets treated, but BuzzFeed created this video suspiciously close to when they reviewed my film for their intern position. Ordinarily I would feel thrilled that such an influential company addressed the topic of mental health stigma, but when I dreamed about seeing my film go viral on the front page of BuzzFeed I never imagined it would be through plagiarism. When I shared this film with BuzzFeed I never authorized them to use or copy my original creative property. 

Because I applied to work there, BuzzFeed could have easily asked for my permission and/or provided credit where credit is due. But instead they took advantage of a naïve student filmmaker with a flimsy YouTube Creative Commons License and no money for lawyers. After all, why would BuzzFeed hire or pay the creator of content they wanted to use when they could steal it for free? BuzzFeed gets to profit off of this intellectual property violation and I am not the first content creator who had BuzzFeed steal their work without acknowledgement.