Cathy Wilkinson Barash was born on Long Island, New York in 1949 and spent much of her life there. She is a life-long organic gardener. From childhood she has held firm a belief in economy of space and time in the garden mainly by planting edibles among ornamentals, "so many fruits, vegetables, and herbs are beautiful themselves"--instead of relegating them to the back 40. Anne Raver of The New York Times was the first to call her a "gourmet horticulturist," as she practices edible landscaping--specializing in edible flowers--and is a gourmet cook. A freelance photographer, writer, designer, and professional speaker, Cathy is best known as the author of "Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate," which Martha Stewart described as "very excellent." Published in 1993, "Edible Flowers" was nominated for a Julia Child Cookbook Award and garnered an Award of Excellence from the Garden Writers Association.