Nasturtium Flowers

Grow nasturtiums together with other annuals and tender perennials that bloom in the same color palette and that will tolerate the same lean growing conditions such as:

1. 'FIESTA GITANA' DWARF CALENDULA (Calendula Officinalis Fiesta) ANNUAL
2. 'YELLOW FLAME' GAZANIA (Gazania 'Yellow Flame' Big Kiss Series) ANNUAL
3. CHOCOLATE COSMOS (cosmos atrosanguineus) ZONE 8

Do you see the green beans? These "nastys" are growing at the end of a garden row. (I made sure that I didn't fertilize them.) See the beans, they seem to be loving them there.

I like to mix bee-loving flowers into my vegetable rows. This not only attracts bees to pollinate the vegetable blossoms, but also adds pleasing color to my garden.

When growing your nasturtiums in containers, remember to use soiless potting mix or just plain peat moss that's been well-moistened; the least hint of nitrogen will produce leaves like lily pads, but not a single flower. Nasturtiums manufacture all the food they require through photosynthesis, so lay off the 20-20-20, and simply savor the flavor.

If sowing outdoors in beds or containers, sow seeds one centimeter deep in a full-sun location, one week before your last frost date.

In beds and borders, sow seeds in nutrient-poor soil. If you have rich soil mix in sand and peat moss.

Harvest young leaves and flowers as soon as they're fully open.

Nasturtiums have always been featured in old-time kitchen gardens. Both flowers and leaves were salad-fare, and its round green seed pods were pickled in vingegar to use as a delicious substitute for capers.

So let us bring our nasturtiums out of their flower-garden banishment, and promote them into the ranks of the Kitchen Guard. They will work wonders for us.

I will reproduce for you, some of the recipes that I found interesting and taste yummy.

Have you ever tasted nasturtium seeds? They're nutty and peppery. (You can see some off to right in the picture above.) I knew that they could be pickled to make an English version of the continental caper but I'd never found a recipe when the seeds were green and perfect for pickling.

So I was delighted when Mary, a reader and friend of mine, sent me her recipe. She had already road tested it.

I sampled my first batch yesterday and wow they are good! (My Nastys are now starting to grow in the garden. The ones that reseeded themselves are much bigger than the ones I planted.) It won't be long now when I can just scoot down to the kitchen garden where trailing nasturtiums are romping across the borders. Find a handful of seeds and over the next couple of weeks collect a small bowl of them. If you do this check the seeds carefully before brining and reject any brown ones.

My small bowl of nasturtium seeds won't fill a pint jar so I'll search in the storage shed for dinky jars that seemed really too small to keep. Thank goodness I'm a hoarder.

Pickled Nasturtium seeds recipe

Pick the Nasturtium seeds when still green. Place in a wet brine made of 50g salt and 450ml /1 pint cold water. Leave for 24 hrs.
Drain the seeds and rinse really well, then pack into warmed (sterilised) jars and cover with boiling *spiced vinegar and seal with plastic lined metal lids.
Leave for 3 weeks to mature.

*For the spiced vinegar - I used 500ml of white wine vinegar plus 1 tsp of black peppercorns, a small piece of blade mace, 1 tsp of celery seeds, 1 clove of garlic crushed, 1 small dried red chilli pepper (crumbled), I bay leaf, I tsp of juniper berries, 1 tsp of salt. Brought to the boil and simmered gently for 10 minutes and then strained through muslin. (You can adapt this recipe to your own taste.)

Spice up salads this season with spring nasturtiums! The lovely flowers are easy to grow and have a slight peppery taste and spicy notes to them. They also contain Vitamin C. It is delightful to discover these common nasturtium flowers and leaves are edible so long as no pesticides are used. They're from the watercress family and add a similiar tangy flavor to pasta salads, soup garnishes and both fruit and vegetable dishes.

The salad above is a combination of organic wild arugula, nasturtiums, carrots, clementines, sprouts, and a splash of citrus zest and olive oil with lemon pepper to taste.

These delicate yellow and orange flowers need to be washed and soaked before eating. Recipes include making a lovely vinegar, tangy butter or spread, or garnish. Next time I pick some I'll try stuffed nasturtium flowers, which may be a bit like stuffed squash blossoms but with more of a lemon pepper flavor.



Here's a tip:
You can use the nasturtium flower all summer long. Use the chopped leaves to make a zesty addition to mayonnaise or vinaigrettes. As the summer sun gets hotter though, so does the "pepper" in the nasturtiums and leaves. More sun and heat, the spicier the taste. So if you are looking for a milder tang, choose flowers from nasturtiums grown in shade or semi-shade.