A couple of leafy questions

Ok thanks, any other leafy crops that I might like to try.

 

I had one with a whoping great maggot in it the other week, only luck it opened before I ate it.:D

 

Get your meat and greens at the same time:D

 

Nasturtium. Its fantastic. I could write a massive article about its many virtues.

 

Clueless, I'm all ears.:D

No stupid remarks OK.:D

 

Do you think smoking it would improve the flavour?

I mean I like smoked fish and bacon, but never tried smoked greens.:D

 

Ok, here goes, these are some of the brilliant things about nasturtium.

Food crop. All top side parts of the plant are edible (I believe the roots are too, but not sure). The leaves and flowers have a peppery taste, which can range from very mild to quite strong, but never overpowering. The stems have the same taste but tend to also taste quite sweet. Some people use the seeds as an alternative to capers, but I keep them to grow them again next year. Another reported use of the seeds is to dry them and grind them as an alternative to black pepper.

The leaves and flowers go well in salad, and there are many articles about this all over the interweb, however much less documented is that chopped pieces of stem added in the last couple of minutes of making soup or stew really livens the dish up, giving it a fresh and slightly peppery taste. The stems also go well in stir fries, although again only as a last minute addition, as nasturtium quickly loses its flavour when exposed to heat.

Nasturtium will give you an abundant supply of salad greens (and reds and oranges and yellows if you use the flowers) right from about may until the first hard frost. In fact the more you pick bits off, the more quickly it grows back, so once its got its roots down, just a few plants will keep you going for most of the year.

Companion plant. Nasturtium is popular with slugs and aphids, but it grows so vigorously as to not care too much if it gets attacked. Having the pests concentrate on the nasturtium means they are less likely to visit other plants. None of this makes nasturtium unslightly or unappetising though, as most of the attacks happen at the lower leaves, with plenty of healthy leaves forming a dense canopy on top.

Ornamental. Mixed in with the large round green leaves, is an abundance of trumpet like flowers in colours from cream through to orangey red. Nasturtium flowers like crazy, with no need for dead heading. Cut the higher leaves off for your salad to expose even more flowers underneath. The flowering period is measured in months rather than weeks. Started indoors in early march, you can expect flowers from early june right through til the first hard frost wipes them out, often as late as december, even here up north.

Hiding disaster areas. Nasturtium spreads quickly, forming good ground cover in no time. It will also climb (well not really, it has to be trained against something), and is equally happy to hang from a basket, so it is good for hiding things that you haven't got round to sorting yet.

A plant for dud soil. The 'official' advice for nasturtium's preferences is that it likes poor, sandy soil. But it doesn't care. I've used it in damp heavy clay in shade, and completely knackered pale red/brown clay that most weeds even refused to grow in, and it has always thrived. Putting in the latter said clay last year has helped me to improve the soil in my new garden for this year, as its roots have naturally added organic matter to the soil (albeit in not great quantities). Nasturtium's willingness to grow in adverse conditions also helps prevent problem soil from drying out during hot spells, as its large leaves form a natural sun shield and moisture trap.

An eco plant. The abundance of flowers, each producing an abundance of nectar, is a real winner for bumblebees and other nectar feeding small insects. The fact that many of the flowers hide under the canopy of large round leaves also means that the shop is open even when it's chucking down with rain, and most of the other flowers have had their nectar rinsed away.

A kid motivator. The facts that nasturtium is so easy to grow from seed, the seeds are large enough to handle with easy, and the plant is quite bold even at the infant stage, all make this a winner for kids who need to see rapid progress. The fact that the whole plant is edible is also a bonus, for parents who can safely let their kids grow a nasturtium without fear of consequence if said plant gets taste tested as so many things do when a toddler is at large.

A low maintenance plant. Nasturtium grows quickly in just about any soil, isn't a hungry plant, isn't particularly thirsty as it stops the sun from drying its ground, grows quicker as you hack it, will tolerate being stood on occassionally, grows anywhere. Yet it never gets out of control. It dies very quickly when the first severe frost comes, and if any seeds happen to germinate where you don't want them the next year, the seedlings are unmistakeable and are easy to pull.

So there we are, I said it was a good plant eh?

 

I'm very innocent Armandii.I've not smoked anything since 1994.

Thanks clueless.
A very informative post.

You forgot to mention blackfly.