From Eat the Weeds
and other things, too
by Green Deane
Nasturtiums:
Nature’s Nose Nabber
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Nasturtiums are originally from
Peru 
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Nasturtiums:
Peppery Peruvian Natives
Do the peppery Nasturtiums make your nose twitch? Then you know how
they got their common name. “Nasturtium” in Dead Latin means “twisting
nose.”
Nasturtiums are among the most well-known edible flowers. Their leaves
and stems are edible, too, but peppery. You can steal a snack or two
out of a flower bed as long as you know the flower bed does not have
any pesticides on it. Locally they like out mild-winters.
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| Naturalized garden plant
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Nasturtium’s botanical name is Tropaeolum
majus (trope-ee-OH-lum MAY-jus). I comes from the Dead
Latin word tropaeum
or trophy. That comes from the Greek word tropaio, meaning
prize. Food used to be given to winners in athletic contests. The word
for food in Greek is trofima.
Anyway, a yellow-flowered Nasturtium twining up a post reminded
Linnaeus —the fellow who started naming plants — of the practice used
in ancient times of displaying shields and helmets of slain soldiers on
the trunk of a tree at the scene of a battlefield. Majus means big,
large or great. By the way, Latin was chosen to name plants because it
is a dead language. No large group of people are speaking it as their
native tongue so it is not evolving. Unlike the older, still living
language of Greek, Latin is static.
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| Leaves and seeds are peppery
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Nasturtiums came to North America the long way. Discovered in Peru in
the 1500’s, two species were taken back to Spain as a
vegetables. It was a Dutch botanist who took the then short
plants and developed the twisting vine Linnaeus named. Soon they were
being grown for their flowers as well and spread across Europe. Then
they came to North America with immigrants as early as 1759.
Nasturtiums were also know as Indian Cress or Capucine Cress, in
reference to the shape of the flower that was also similar to Capucine
monks’ robe hoods.
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| Thomas Jefferson |
Thomas Jefferson planted nasturtiums in his garden from at least 1774
on. He pickled the seeds and categorized the Nasturtium as a fruit
along with the tomato (which is botanically a fruit but legally a
vegetable. That came from a US supreme court ruling in the 1890s and
involved different taxation rates for fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
Since tomatoes — and beans — were used as vegetables rather than fruit
and seeds, respectively, they were to be taxed like vegetables.) While
Nasturtiums are primarily cultivated they have escaped and naturalized
in a few states and of course are wild in Peru.
Nasturtiums are easy to grow and aren’t picky about soil, light or
water. Rich soil produces lots of leaves, poor soil lots of blossoms.
Thus they are a natural indicator of the quality of your soil. The
seeds, which germinate in a week to 10 days, are large so they make a
good project for kid hands.
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| Nasturtium stems are pellate
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Dwarf Nasturtiums add a butterfly-like rainbows of color to annual beds
and borders (and attract humming birds which pollinate them.)
Trailing forms of Nasturtiums color fences, trellises, slopes and
hanging containers. Aphids incidentally love Nasturtiums so organic
gardeners like to plant them around the vegetable garden to “lure”
aphids away from other plants. Nasturtium flowers, leaves and
immature seed pods can be added to salads. They are rich in Vitamin C.
The immature pods can be pickled and the mature seeds roasted for a
peppery snack or ground and used like black pepper. My mother loved to
eat their seeds. I lacto-ferment the seeds for three days, drain, then
put in the frig with a little sugar and chardonnay to cover. Very tasty
but they smell horrible while fermenting.
Like all wild plants with a good dose of oxalic acid they come with the
warning not to eat them in large quantities. Odd that warning
is never given for domesticated plants with higher levels of oxalic
acid.
Bouquet Salad
Dressing: 1/4 c. white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar, 1 T. Dijon
mustard, 1C. vegetable oil, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 C. light
olive oil, 1 T. freshly squeezed lime juice, finely grated zest of lime.
Salad: 3 heads radicchio, washed and dried, 1 small bunch of chives, 1
lb. tender spinach, trimmed, washed and dried, nasturtium blossoms.
In a bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Just before
serving, toss, toss greens, chives and flowers with enough dressing to
coat. Yield 8 servings.
Nasturtium
Bundles
Gather medium size nasturtium leaves. Rinse with cool water and dry.
Set aside. In a small bowl: mix 1 – 8 oz. package cream cheese,
softened, 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained and 3 T. of any of the
herb choices ( washed, dried and chopped): thyme, lemon verbena, lemon
scented geranium leaves or flowers, basil, chives or rose petals – pith
removed (white part at base of petal). After blending: With a knife,
generously spread the cream cheese mixture on each nasturtium leaf,
roll up and pile on a serving platter. Add nasturtium flowers as an
accent. Recipe created by Kelly Wisner.
Steamed Beets
with Nasturtium
4 whole beets steamed
6 nasturtium leaves, shredded
4 nasturtium flowers
Dressing:
1/3 C olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt of choice, plain or flavored
Steam peeled beets, covered, until just able to pierce them with a fork
(about 30 minutes.) Cool. Cut into bite sized
wedges. Whisk the dressing. Shred nasturtium leaves
and sprinkle on top of beets, drizzle dressing over all. Decorate with
flowers. Serves 3-4.
Green Deane’s
“Itemized” Plant Profile
Identificatoin:
Flower: Nasturtiums grow showy with spots of bright blossoms in masses
of foliage. Leaves are round and scalloped, flowers funnel shape with a
spur on the underside. They come in rich shades of yellow, orange, ,
pink, red and brown, dwarfed to climbing, a favorite of leaf miners.
Time of year:
Plant in spring and summer in northern climes, spring, fall and winter
in Florida in southern states with successive plantings. Like rich soil
but can grow in sandy areas with irrigation. Tolerate neglect
Environment:
Usually found in gardens, flower beds and flower pots. Make
sure no pesticides have been used. They are naturalized in some urban
areas.
Method of
preparation: Peppery leaves in salads or out of hand hot
snack. Flowers can adorn salads, seeds can be pickled and used like
capers.
Green Deane's
Disclaimer
Information contained on this website is
strictly and categorically intended as a reference to be used in
conjunction with experts in your area. Foraging should never begin
without the guidance and approval of a local plant specialist. The
providers of this website accept no liability for the use or misuse of
information contained in this website.
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