#acocotli

Things to say about this: 1. Dahlias are nearly done for the year 2. If you are local and want to make your own $15 bouquet of dahlias tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6pm in West Philly, let me know by 8am! 3. My dear friend Mendal and her partner Lisa Suzanne are visiting from North Carolina and helped harvest dried dahlia seed pods and then eat dahlia petals 4. The bottom right is one of my favorite seedlings from this year 5. The bottom middle and the top right are the same variety, which we are calling Princess Isle because it was mislabeled before I got it but it may be A La Mode by the looks of it. 6. Our favorite tasting petals so far are Bodacious, Princess Isle, and Jane Cowl. 7. Dahlias are called Cocoxochitl in Nahuatl and their tubers and petals are eaten in Mexico. #cocoxochitl #acocotli #dahlia #dahlias #dahliaoftheday #edibledahlias https://www.instagram.com/p/B3YZ-_8A6o3/?igshid=12etv2bss6r6m

Since trying them I’ve been telling all the other gardeners in my allotment association and encouraged them to give it a go, as many grow dahlias, but nobody seemed particularly interested so far. I am certainly going to grow them for eating next summer now that I’ve discovered the dual-crop potential of these wonderful plants.        

Dorian stopped in to check out our farm yesterday, as he was traveling through and is interested in seed keeping as part of his agroecological and cultural preservation practices. In particular, as someone with Mexican heritage from the El Paso area, he’d like to work on edible dahlias, which are known as Cocoxochitl in Nahuatl. They are the national flower of Mexico and are traditionally grown for their edible tubers and flower petals. Check out Asociación Mexicana de la Dalia o Acocoxochitl for more info! Here, in our row of our best tasting dahlias (in terms of tubers), Dorian holds and tastes a pile of Bodacious Dahlia petals, which were part of his road snacks back to his farm in Long Island. They taste a lot like lettuce! Even better than lettuce, if you ask our apprentices. The folks at the above-mentioned Acocoxochitl association told me the petals have natural antioxidants and a nice flavor and texture. Dorian remarked how nice to have this flavor in a season that lettuce won’t grow well in. Thanks so much for visiting, @honeymesquite, and for your work in the world!! #cocoxochitl #acocoxóchitl #acocotli #edibledahlias #dahlia #dahliasofinstagram #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rPV74gpTc/?igshid=qwri71pxhco5

Simple beauty: the first dahlia to bloom in the field was named Red with Black Stripe by William Woys Weaver, the man who cracked open my love for seed saving, and also my love for dahlias. As beautiful as this flower is, she was slated for “deaccession”, a cruelly scientific word for us breaking up. However, this winter she excelled in our tuber taste tests, so this bloom is now overlooking a long bed of the best tasting dahlias from which we will be saving seeds in hopes of selecting even tastier ones from future seedlings. We also plan to make these true seeds available through Truelove Seeds so that you too can select for flavorful and abundant tubers. Dahlias are called Acocotli and Cocoxochitl in the Aztec language of Nahuatl, and continue to be eaten in their native Mexico. #cocoxochitl #acocoxóchitl #acocotli #dalia #dahlia #edibledahlias #dahliasofinstagram #aztecfood #mexicanfood #seedsaving #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/Byc1mP_A5QZ/?igshid=wjw3ktnxecog

Today’s dahlia/cocoxochitl blooms! The top six are in our seedling trials patch - these are among the 40 that we are testing out as cut flowers and edible tubers this year. The bottom three are Deuil du Roi Albert, Bodacious, and one we renamed Ruby Fruit Jungle because it’s name was lost in a labeling mix up and Zoe (former apprentice) thought we should have more gayly named dahlias. By the way, there is a clearance sale on our remaining tubers - each bag (containing two tubers) is now only $1! Please order them all and give them homes! At www.trueloveseeds.com click on Dahlia Tubers and sort by price from lowest to highest. Please plant them and give them glorious life - they’ll do the same for you! #cocoxochitl #acocotli #dahlia #dahliaoftheday #dahliasofinstagram #trueloveseeds #dahliaseedling https://www.instagram.com/p/BzHS4oKA6iE/?igshid=uy4p9vm1rtbj

First dahlia blooms of the year - about three weeks earlier than last year. This was one of about 90 seedling dahlias last year. I decided not to keep it either because it didn’t bloom, or because I already have many single maroon varieties (seems to be the most common outcome when growing from true seed). I practice no till farming and I’m often pleasantly surprised when I find regrowth from plants I’d cut down to the roots the previous year. Our hoop house gets very cold in the winter - nighttime temperatures are basically the same as outdoors in there, but apparently this winter was mild enough to allow the five or six dahlias I left behind to come back, and come back strong. Second chances! I’ll evaluate these for eating in winter (dahlia tubers are traditionally an Aztec food crop known as Cocoxochitl) and also in the field next year for vigor, productivity, and vase life as a cut flower. #cocoxochitl #acocotli https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx_OfmIAtac/?igshid=1gqh8k3smlrw2

Farm noticings today: Bambara Groundnuts breaking through - we combined many varieties this year in hopes of creating a more locally-adapted, many-colored landrace; Peanuts spreading their leaves to embrace the sunshine; baby mantises, hopefully eating the aphid infestation in the area where I relocated nearly a dozen egg sacs (oothecae); honey bee resting on a row label in the sun; Syrian Cukes; Lunga di Napoli Squash; Balsam Apple (a type of bitter melon) having thrown off its seed coat; Sehsapsing Blue Flint Corn - a Lenape variety; and finally the remaining dahlia tubers from our taste test stash. I am so excited to say I’ve finally found modern and “pre-Hispanic” recipes for dahlias, which are called Cocoxochitl by Aztecs, who traditionally eat the tubers and flowers. The recipes were compiled, published, and generously shared with me by Asociación Mexicana de la Dalia o Acocoxochitl in their cookbook called “Recetario Flores de Dalia.” I’ll post about that more when I make the recipes! #cocoxochitl #acocoxóchitl #acocotli #dahlia #recetariofloresdedalia #bambara #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #trueloveseeds #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/seedkeeping/p/Bw3IIy3lLyk/?igshid=12tzlvafd8lmo

All of these dahlias (aka cocoxochitl) came from seed this year and continue to thrive in the hoop house post-frost. Their parents are all elaborate floofy fancy dahlias, yet these mostly turned out fairly simple, and open-centered. I’ll replant my favorite and evaluate for productivity, stem length and strength, and beauty. Many of these, plus the less fabulous, will also be saved for tuber taste tests. Cocoxochitl and acocotli are Aztec words for dahlia, and Aztecs are the original cultivators of this plant for its edible tubers. #cocoxochitl #acocotli #dahliaseedling #dahlia https://www.instagram.com/p/BpS2-UZlT7p/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=34m6fs50xbdr