I had a slew of blossoms harvested from the nasturtium plants growing in a container on our south-facing balcony. It’s only March, and the plant is going crazy — far too many blossoms to put in my salad. I needed a way to use them before they wilted away…
Years ago, as a child, my mother and I grew nasturtiums and dipped the blossoms in chocolate. I didn’t enjoy it much back then, as I didn’t like the taste of them (tart, almost radish-y). But as an adult, I’m loving them. I melted a bit too much chocolate, so I peeled a mandarin orange or two and dipped the slices in chocolate at the same time.
A healthy (sort of…), chocolate, mostly-home-grown treat! Yum!
love this. here in Toronto we are suffering from the winter than will not die, but we *will* have nasturtiums, eventually (we grown them amongst our vegetables.) Definitely will be doing this later this summer.
Talk about the winter that will not die! Here in Montréal, we had about 20 cm of snow last Sunday. The idea of having fresh flowers to dip in chocolate is still a faraway dream 🙁
I’m growing nasturtiums for the first time this spring. No sign of blossoms yet (I’m in Florida, so we get an early start on things), but the plants are flourishing. I might have to try this.
The biggest tip with nasturtiums is to not fertilize them. At all. They do best in poor soil – if they have rich soil, they spend all of their energy on leaves and bushing out, and fail to flower. Starve those buggers – it’s better for you! 🙂
Sounds like a plant that even *I* could grow! 😉
Megan-simple gardening: someone please make it a thing! Or direct me to the thing if it’s already a thing!
it would vary by location quite a bit, though. But herbs would definitely be my suggestion. buy them in a container, stick them in the ground, water them for a couple years, ignore.
Nasturtiums are hard to beat for Megan-simple!
The idea of eating flowers is completely foreign to me. Could someone help introduce me? Do you eat the whole thing (including part of the stem that I see is still connected) or just the petals?
The entire plant (well, I can’t speak for the roots, but….) is edible when it comes to nasturtiums. I chop up leaves, blossoms, and stalks to put on my salad every day. Many people remove the pistil and stamen from the flowers before eating, but it is not necessary – more a preference thing. I like the crunchy nature of the stalks and their texture, so I include them as well.
Years ago when black pepper was more expensive, people used to grind up the dried seeds and use the powder as a homegrown pepper. They are pretty amazing plants.
People would also pickle the seed pods and use them like capers (and were, in fact, referred to as ‘poor man’s capers’)!
Edible flowers are great! In addition to nasturtiums (which have a somewhat spicy flavour), you can also eat pansies, violets, violas (the flowers, not the stringed instruments), and roses (although they have some tough bits, so most people only eat the petals and make tea from the “hips”), among others. I’ve mostly used them for garnishing cakes and salads. So pretty!
Also dandelions! Just make sure to completely remove the stem since it is very bitter. I recently made dandelion fritters drizzled in honey. Super simple and yummy appetizer!
Don’t get any of the dandelion goo on your fingers. Bitter bitter bitter! Clovers are also edible. If they haven’t been fertilized yet, they are nice and sweet from the nectar, but if they have been they can be kinda bitter, too. And I have yet to figure out how to tell by looking at them.
http://yougrowgirl.com/my-best-tip-for-storing-fresh-flowers/
This year I want to try squash blossoms!
This is one of my favorite gardening sites! Pretty pictures and practical advice. I swear that I’m not affiliated, I just love her site because she’s based in Toronto and focuses on small spaces.
Her books are great too, with lots of lovely photos. My favourite is “Grow Great Grub”
i love her too. (are you a Toronto gardener? i feel like there should be a meet up!) 🙂
Sadly not in Toronto, but it’s a similar climate to mine. Reading a garden site from someone in the southern US just made me sad that she was planting her tomatoes, and I was still wearing a coat.
Yup! I am in the T-dot, and I do have a gardening space in our backyard. It isn’t as big as I would like, but I do also have a toddler to contend with so that is probably for the best. I can’t wait for this season to get going!
I have never eaten any OTHER type of flower, but squash blossoms are so delicious! They’re like this mystical food in my family because we’re Italian and eating them gives my parents this special nostalgia for generations past who grew their own food. We always ate them lightly battered and fried (not healthy, I know) and they’re such a special springtime food. You get to eat just a few and then it’s done!
I grew up munching on nasturtiums from my mom’s garden. Yum! Never did the chocolate dipping thing though. Sounds fun.
For those that love radish-y or watercress type flavors, you’ll love Nasturtiums. They were called “Indian Cress” by European settlers due to their watercress-type flavor. The leaves and blossoms are great on cucumber sandwiches, added into salads, stir-fries…. I’ve seen an awesome recipe for goat-cheese stuffed nasturtium blossoms, but I haven’t tried them yet.
They’re a low fuss, low-maintenance plant that thrive in poor soil and bright sunlight. The flowers are huge and beautiful, the whole plant is edible, and it’s a great source of vitamin C. I’m growing mine in containers on our balcony – they are great apartment flowers if you have enough light. What’s not to love? 🙂