A Posy of Nasturtiums

As I wandered along a little local street, the subtle fragrance of a familiar flower reached me on the breeze. At first, I couldn't quite place that delicate scent but then I saw masses and masses of brilliantly coloured nasturtiums. Spilling out from a garden bed, trailing down an embankment and covering part of a grassy 'footpath' with garlands of their flowers.  As there were so many, I picked a little posy and brought home some of their orange, yellow and red happiness to place upon our table.

A little posy of nasturtiums.

Such vibrant colours! 

Nasturtium in Latin means "nose twist"!

I haven't grown nasturtiums sucessfully but now I am wondering why ever not? They seemed to be thriving in the little street just a few over from ours. They would not only make me happy every time I saw them, the bees would be beside themselves too. There were many bees foraging among the nasturtiums I found, buzzing with abandon. I wonder if native bees like ours love them too?

The other thing about nasturtiums is that they are edible, their vibrant petals but also their leaves. I shared a slice of a quiche once, flavoured with peppery nasturtium leaves from the very garden where we ate, and it was delicious. I have read too, at the link above, that you can pickle the seeds and use them like capers. Clarissa, over at Simply by the Beach, posted a list of twenty good reasons to grow nasturtiums.  I think I've talked myself into it ... a niche for growing nasturtiums needs to be found!

It would be lovely to wander out and pick nasturtiums from our own garden. There'd be flowers for the table, food from the garden and their subtle scent wafting along on the breeze.

Meg

p.s. Finding these little flowers reminded me that I have a little stitching of nasturiums that I did years ago. It was to be part of a quilt I never got anywhere near finishing but I've since used many of the flowery embroidered squares to make re-purposed bags like this one. Perhaps I will make one of these little bags over the weekend ... a gift for the gardener in the little street just over from ours who grows nasturtiums!

A Salad with Cranberry Hibiscus Leaves

I am wanting to grow more edible perennials in my garden for food around the fence line!  One of the first I've planted is Cranberry Hibiscus. I love its deep dark red leaves and stems and it's tiny pink hibiscus flower. It's grown quickly and its tiny, young leaves are delicious and tart, just like dried cranberries.  (A warning though that one should not eat too many leaves at once or too often as they contain oxalic acid, a recommendation explained here in this fact sheet about Cranberry Hibiscus).

Deep red leaves of Cranberry Hibiscus.

I wanted to use some of these new leaves and, when searching for culinary inspiration, found this recipe for Sweet Potato and Pear Salad with Crunchy Chickpeas. I made my own version using what I had. This meant I used up a half tin of chickpeas from the fridge,  switched rocket with roasted broccoli and substituted the leaves of cranberry hibiscus for dried cranberries. I went nowhere near a fancy dressing (though the one from the recipe sounds delicious) instead just lazily drizzling on a little balsamic. Here's my take on it:

Roasted chunks of sweet potato.

Not-so-crunchy chickpeas & tart cranberry hibiscus leaves.

 Little cubes of feta & roasted broccoli too...

... and sweet slivers of roasted nashi pear. 

Something a bit different! I think the only thing I'd change would be the chickpeas. I found I really did want the crunchy ones!

Have a lovely weekend everyone. 

Meg

p.s. Cranberry hibiscus grows well from cuttings.