Nasturtium

I first read about the Nasturtium plant when I was flipping through my FAVORITE book of all time: John Seymour’s Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It.

A section from his book “Food from the Garden” helped me understand the importance of keeping an open mind.  I learned that Nasturtium is a great asset to the organic garden because it keeps pest away from other plants, especially beans and peas.  Needless to say, my nasturtium is situated right next to my green beans and sugar peas…  No pest problems this year! 🙂

LOOK at how beautiful this herbaceous flowering plant is.  It’s 100% edible.  Leaf, flower, seed.  All edible.  🙂

Nasturtium is incredible.  The more you neglect it the better it thrives.  It prefers full sun, occasional watering and well drained soil but other than that, neglect away!

A good choice for the busy gardener because it’s cheap (planted from seed), easy, and doesn’t disappoint.

Plus I get nostalgic when I see giant Nasturtium leaves.  They remind me of the movie “The Land Before Time.”

Hey 80’s babies…. Remember when Little Foot finds the star leaf?  I do ❤

Experimentation in the garden is fun.  Every spring I try new plant varieties and if they pan out well they stay in next years rotation.  Nasturtium is a keeper! 

“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.” – Janet Kilburn Phillips

A lot of people think seeds expire after one season but that’s NOT TRUE.  I almost always have extras that get used the next season.

For more information on how long seeds can actually be harvested, check this out:

Oldest Viable Seed

The leaves are used as a substitute for pepper and often added to salads as a tangy peppery alternative.  The best way to harvest the leaf is to chop and dry it before shredding and storing it.  The flowers are best eaten fresh and you can use them as cute food decor at parties, etc..  The young green seeds, also referred to as “poor mans capers” can be pickled and used as a substitute for capers – although I haven’t tried them yet.

Nor will I… I’m not a fan of capers……….

One of the blooms from the Jewel Mix

Another bloom about to open up.

Gardening Tip:  To aid germination, I rubbed the seed with a nail file before I planted it. 🙂

They are container friendly, but I prefer to use them as ground cover bordering one of my garden walls to keep pests away from my beans and sugar peas (as mentioned before).

I love this plant and I love John Seymour for introducing me to it.  You can get his book on Amazon for cheap… it’s 400 pages of pure WOW!

Amazon | Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It

I hope this inspired you to consider trying Nasturtium (From Seed) in next years garden. 🙂