• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

anybody eat nasturtium?

 
Posts: 163
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've tried a couple times eating the leaf raw. It tastes like... like eating a leaf.  All these websites say it's peppery but I don't  taste it. Do I need to eat them when they are a certain size? I haven't tried the flowers yet; Right now I don't have any.  I hope I don't have to wait till spring for some blooms.
 
steward
Posts: 3999
Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Temperate, coastal, sandy, windy,
115
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I eat the flowers; the leaves taste..leafy, as you know!
 
pollinator
Posts: 1528
Location: zone 7
18
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
i eat the leaves and flowers in mixed salads. but to me they just taste like nasturtiums. only a little bit though, never a lot at once.
 
Posts: 418
Location: Eugene, OR
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Maybe you don't have the right variety. Mine are REALLY peppery, to the point where they are best used as flavoring for other greens. They don't get to be very big plants, though.
 
Jordan Lowery
pollinator
Posts: 1528
Location: zone 7
18
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
how big do yours get? mine are about 4 ft wide and 2 ft tall. 6 inch leaves.
 
                        
Posts: 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I eat the flowers...I think they taste like a radish and have a delightful texture that compliment a salad of mixed greens nicely.
 
out to pasture
Posts: 12484
Location: Portugal
3346
goat dog duck forest garden books wofati bee solar rocket stoves greening the desert
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
All the ones we've eaten have tasted peppery.  I once sent my other half off to work with nasturium and blue cheese sandwiches.  I think that was the day he fell in love.  I've grown them ever since 
 
Posts: 211
Location: Missoula Montana
3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Eat the flowers, they are the best part.  I even grew some strange black variety (which was really a dark red) in Colorado a couple years ago.

What other varieties are out there?
 
gardener
Posts: 1292
Location: Okanogan Highlands, Washington
397
4
hugelkultur cat dog books food preservation
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Rebecca Dane wrote:
Eat the flowers, they are the best part.  I even grew some strange black variety (which was really a dark red) in Colorado a couple years ago.

What other varieties are out there?



We grow mixed colors here, some of the ordinary yellow, orange, red kinds mostly.  My favorites are 2-tone deep red with yellow, or white with streaks of orange - that kind of thing.  The flowers are definitely the best part.

Most leaves taste like leaves... that's why fast food is so popular.
 
Posts: 0
6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
the whole plant from shoots up.  without preference. delish. I dont know which is which, but i have found some color/types more peppery than others. Im a gourmand, not a gourmet. I just eat them, and plenty!
 
pollinator
Posts: 174
13
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We have grown nasturtions for years for restaurants and ourselves.  A tasty treat is to mix some chives with goat cheese.  Pick a leaf with all the stem still on it.  Roll the leaf up with the cheese in it and tie it with the stem.  Tie a blossom under the stem for a little color, and then pop the whole thing in your mouth.  To die for!
 
travis laduke
Posts: 163
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I wonder if we have the same variety. I didn't plant these, just let them take over.  Is there a better time or size to eat them? It's "winter" here now; I think that's why I don't have any flowers. This will at least look pretty come spring.





Any suggestions for cutting them back or anything?
 
Ed Waters
pollinator
Posts: 174
13
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Travis, are you fertilizing them?  Two things that I know about that will stop them from flowering are too much heat and fertilizer.  We start every year from seed in big buckets and in really crappy soil, and water then when they wilt.  Seems to work.

Ed
 
travis laduke
Posts: 163
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
No, not fertilizing. I did grow a nitrogen fixer cover crop mix there last winter. Everything in the picture is in the shade of the fence during the winter.

Last summer they were flowering. I saved a bunch of seed, but these all came up on their own. They must like disturbed soil, because I dug up the yard, didn't like the way it looked, and leveled it again.
 
                                    
Posts: 147
Location: Anoka Sand Plain, MN Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 43
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I suppose you could call the peppery or radishy, but I can't stomach them.  To me they taste ... Astringent???...I'm not sure how to describe it.  I think I'll keep growing them anyway as they look nice and are a good groundcover.
 
                      
Posts: 32
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We eat the flowers and the leaves.  They make a pretty salad AND a great conversation starter (esp when you pluck a leaf off and casually eat it in front of your guests).  I usually have them growing on the back deck~ the usual gathering spot.  .
 
Posts: 201
Location: Germany/Cologne - Finland/Savonlinna
1
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I don't like the leaves but the flowers are great. I love the yellow ones!

I grow them everywhere. When the autumn comes I cut them to the ground, leave all the seed capsules in place and shred the plant for in-place-decomposition. Great biomass plant.
 
                                    
Posts: 44
Location: Lynnwood, Washington
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My favorite part to eat is the seed-very peppery.  After reading this thread, though, I'm goimg to make more use of them.  I really like that roll up idea.  Mine come up reliably from the dropped seed every year. 
 
steward
Posts: 6593
Location: Everett, WA (Western Washington State / Cascadia / Pacific NW)
2165
8
hugelkultur purity forest garden books food preservation
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
What awesome ideas in this thread! I'm also a flower eater, and love them! Someone told me (was it you, Erica?) about canning (pickling?) your own "capers" using nasturtium seeds. Especially useful for those of us in the Northern climates where the true caper bush wouldn't grow as easily. Has anyone done this?
 
Posts: 313
1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've grown and tried them before a few years ago, but perhaps it's the variety I tried...didn't taste good, so I never became a fan. I know they're in the brassica family and there are many species and varieties available. I bet some are better for culinary purposes than others. I'll be growing them again this year as trap crops and companion plants. Will plant a few different varieties and see if I have a better culinary experience this time round.
 
travis laduke
Posts: 163
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Finally got some flowers. I think I get it now. Sweet and spicy. Would eat again.
 
Jan Sebastian Dunkelheit
Posts: 201
Location: Germany/Cologne - Finland/Savonlinna
1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

maikeru wrote:
I know they're in the brassica family and there are many species and varieties available.


No, Nasturtium is in the Tropaeolaceae family. Tropaeolaceae and the Brassica family are in the Brassicales order. Not every dog is a dachshund but every dachshund is a dog. That's how my biology teacher tried to hammer biological taxonomy in my useless mind, haha.
 
pollinator
Posts: 222
153
forest garden foraging trees books wofati food preservation fiber arts medical herbs solar rocket stoves greening the desert
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:What awesome ideas in this thread! I'm also a flower eater, and love them! Someone told me (was it you, Erica?) about canning (pickling?) your own "capers" using nasturtium seeds. Especially useful for those of us in the Northern climates where the true caper bush wouldn't grow as easily. Has anyone done this?


Fermented immature nasturtium seed pods are delicious. I was even going to sell them when I had a small farm and fermentation business, but the first year I didn't plant enough to get enough seedpods to harvest at any one time. I would have seeded a lot more the next year, but life had other ideas for me! Anyway, they're really simple to make. This recipe looks about right.

I love to eat the leaves and flowers, too. Every variety I've ever tried has tasted quite peppery and good, much like arugula or watercress. But I have mostly used them as accents in salads rather than as the backbone.

I'm trying again to grow them this year. They don't seem to like our high desert grassland and hot, windy late spring/early summer very much, sadly, but I keep trying to find a place for them and the right time to seed them!
 
gardener
Posts: 3545
Location: Central Oklahoma (zone 7a)
1259
forest garden trees woodworking
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:Someone told me (was it you, Erica?) about canning (pickling?) your own "capers" using nasturtium seeds. Especially useful for those of us in the Northern climates where the true caper bush wouldn't grow as easily. Has anyone done this?



This is a new and very welcome idea to me, since capers are one of my guilty pleasures.  A quick web search seems to turn up broad agreement that these "nasturtium capers" are very good and can substitute for true capers quite happily.  There are a lot of vinegar pickling recipes out there of varying complexity, but I think my first experiment (if this year's nasturtiums thrive) is going to be this very simple lacto-fermentation approach.
 
pollinator
Posts: 103
Location: Dunham, Quebec (5b)
44
hugelkultur dog forest garden fungi foraging cooking ungarbage
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
A local "café" up here had made fermented nasturtium seed hot-sauce. Sort of like a salsa verde style. It went very well with their sourdough take on an eggs benedict!
 
Posts: 11
2
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Haven't tried them yet but thought this post needed some colour photos.
IMG_20200411_133054.jpg
I plaited iris leaves so the nasturtiums could climb up.
I plaited iris leaves so the nasturtiums could climb up.
IMG_20200411_133237.jpg
Plaited iris leaves :)
Plaited iris leaves :)
 
pollinator
Posts: 480
Location: South West France
177
goat forest garden fungi chicken food preservation fiber arts solar sheep rocket stoves homestead
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Nice one Nik!

We eat the flowers straight from the garden or in salads or for whatever platter tastes great but needs a colour boost and a bit of fun.
The leaves dry really quickly, you crumble them and store them in airtight jars and use them in a salt mix or "straight" to give an interesting peppery taste to food.



They grow fast, are beautiful, edible, fill spaces beautifully, climb when they have to.

Grow them.
 
Nik Brindley
Posts: 11
2
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Irene Kightley wrote:Nice one Nik!

We eat the flowers straight from the garden or in salads or for whatever platter tastes great but needs a colour boost and a bit of fun.
The leaves dry really quickly, you crumble them and store them in airtight jars and use them in a salt mix or "straight" to give an interesting peppery taste to food.



They grow fast, are beautiful, edible, fill spaces beautifully, climb when they have to.

Grow them.


Thanks Irene, I'm gonna give that ago!  :)
IMG_20200420_163734.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_20200420_163734.jpg]
 
pollinator
Posts: 1518
Location: Southern Oregon
463
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have pickled nasturtium pods. They are tasty, but you can't fry them like you can capers, they contain too much moisture. The leaves and flowers are nice as well. I've made a nice pesto with them before. I had a friend that would use the flowers in her mead making. It added a nice peppery taste to counter all the sweetness. They can also be used to infuse vinegar for use in salad dressings.

When I lived in the Bay Area, I had a sheltered spot where they wouldn't die off. It was such an easy and prolific plant. I haven't had any luck with them here in southern Oregon, the wildlife eat them before I can get any. But I will keep trying.
 
Posts: 2
1
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
O MG I luv nasturtiums: as a bug trap, for the colours of the flowers, as a ground cover and YES to eat. I love the large 3 inch leaves placed on a cheeseburger for a touch of heat and the flowers in a salad for colour and heat.. Not everyone likes the peppery taste but I do.
 
steward
Posts: 16058
Location: USDA Zone 8a
4272
dog hunting food preservation cooking bee greening the desert
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have eaten the flower, though not the leaves.

These older threads are great!  Thanks for reviving this one!

Lot of flowers are edible, just try some ....
 
Posts: 9
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Yes I eat them - flowers and leaves. Just check for blackfly before popping they in your mouth 🤣
Been reading about Mashua recently ….apparently fabulous tubers too! Going to try them this year.
 
gardener
Posts: 653
Location: Poland
332
forest garden tiny house books cooking fiber arts ungarbage
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I "discovered" nasturtium last summer. They grew like crazy everywhere, looked lovely and taste great.
 
master pollinator
Posts: 1012
Location: East of England/ Northeast Bulgaria
378
5
cat forest garden trees tiny house books writing
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm not sure if some varieties taste better than others, or if it's just my tastebuds, but I hated the flavour of the ones I grew! Shame, because they are so easy to grow.
 
Let nothing stop you! Not even this tiny ad:
the permaculture bootcamp in winter (plus half-assed holidays)
https://permies.com/t/149839/permaculture-projects/permaculture-bootcamp-winter-assed-holidays
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic