If you haven’t discovered about nasturtium, this is an amazing plant to grow.
When I first discovered about nasturtium I was researching on natural pest control of my garden. I didn’t even know what the plant looked like. At the time of researching, my roses were suffering from aphid attack, none of tomatoes nearby were growing well. Nasturtium was my pick to address this issue. I was attracted by the sound of edible feature of it. It was easy to find seeds from my local garden center. So I tried growing this plant as insect repellent. They were easy to grow. The cheering flowers came in yellow, orange and red. The variety I had only grows till 20cm in height, ideal as a ground cover too.
This year, I have tomatoes growing very well on high stakes. At the bottom of tomatoes, nasturtium flowers are thriving, attracting bees. There is no sign of aphids around there. The odd corner of my garden gets strong sun in the late afternoon but mostly shady during the day. None of flowers seemed to mind that condition. I haven’t eaten this plant yet because I want to take seeds for next year.
I found green pods on the spent flowers last week. I wasn’t sure how or where the plant makes seeds but the pods shaped similar to the seeds I purchased from the garden center. Only difference is the bought seeds aren’t green, they are brown and look much drier. I thought the green pods were not mature to be collected yet so decided to wait for a while.
This week, while I was checking on the green pods, they fell off from the stem. They were still pale green, not even close to the brown color I was looking for. It was the time to head to the Internet to find out when they are ready to be collected as seeds.
It turns out that the pale green is good enough to pick as seeds. They usually fall off at that stage. Then, they get dried and brown on the ground. I searched for any fallen seeds on the ground but didn’t find any. I decided to tie ribbons on the young green pod stem so that they are easily found and collected before disappearing into the ground. The Internet research on nasturtium gave me an extra bonus. I found about more edible feature of this plant. The flower and the leaves are well known to be edible (mostly mixed in salad) but the soft green pods are also edible. They are apparently great substitute for capers.
Capers to me are gourmet food. You only need small amount at once but they make any meal look and taste fancy. They are usually sold in a small container. I bought them only in special occasions in the past when I was making special gourmet meals. What a nice surprise to know that the gourmet food substitute is right there in my garden!! When I save enough seeds for next year, I’ll try making nasturtium capers.
Oh my!! I just found that nasturtium is also good for my hens too. Hens can eat it as remedy of worming, nervous ailments and depression. It apparently works as natural antiseptic too.
Natural pest control, ground cover, ornamental and edible plant that also works for my hen’s health. I can’t complain at all. They are easy to grow for beginners. They do well in pots, hanging baskets or ground. They don’t need much watering. I totally recommend to grow your own nasturtium.
VP from Veg Plotting is very kind to share her recipe here, she makes capers from small nasturtium seeds. She recommends to pick the seeds when small, since the larger ones taste like cardboard. Check this out!!
Nasturtium capers recipe from Veg Plotting:
http://vegplotting.blogspot.com/2009/09/seasonal-recipe-nasturtium-capers.html
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