Message Boards

I know this is a cooking not a gardening webpage but May Day or near enough is the day to plant Nasturtiums in window boxes, hanging baskets or gardens. No deeper than a quarter of an inch. One watering and nature does the rest...

This amazing hardy plant needs little water or attention and prefers poor soil. The abundant flora produced is simply a rhapsody of colours while the cascading large round green leaves produced in abundance are v. popular in Chinese salads and are quite tasty with a peppery twang. Simply pluck and rinse on the day of eating.

A favourite with rabbits and guinea pigs also, one seed's seemingly endless production of new stalks and leaves provide plenty of natural pet fodder. The plant's impressive array of bright distinctive flowerheads is also an open invite for bees to visit in an endless honeyfest. Self-seeding, each Nasturtium plant will bear many seeds in manifold clumps of twos or threes, the seeds which give the appearance of "corrugated" individual garden peas, can be obtained towards end of August by shaking the plant like an apple tree until they fall.

Store in an open curing tray, plenty of air until they turn from soft lush green to hard beige pellets (do not place in closed container while green or they will moulder and perish).

Place cured seeds in a paper bag or cardboard box in a safe, dark dry place. Plant May 1st next year - very shallow - quarter inch - to ensure Nasturtium salads and flowers in abundance next year.