Did you know that the flowers, leaves and seeds of nasturtium plants are all edible? The leaves contain high levels of vitamin C as well as iron, calcium, manganese and beta carotene. (An antioxidant that converts to vitamin A.) Nasturtiums are also drought resistant and grow in abundance in most climates which make them a wonderful culinary herb to grow in the garden.
They are also great plants to grow for pollinators as they have a long flowering period that starts in summer and ends whenever the temperature drops in autumn. Over a third of the food we eat comes from plants that rely on pollination, yet pollinator species across the world are in drastic decline due to widespread pesticide use and the loss of habitats. This is why its so important to help pollinators like bees,butterflies,moths,hoverflies and beetles by providing food and egg laying spaces for them. You can easily do this by growing as many pollinator friendly plants and flowers as you can, thereby provide a source of food for all year round.
Nasturtiums also act as an environmentally friendly form of pest control for gardeners and farmers as they can be used both as a ‘companion plant’ and a ‘trap crop’ Nasturtium leaves secrete a mustard oil which masks the scent of other plants and deters pest insects like aphids. It also acts as a decoy plant attracting some insects like cabbage white butterflies and their caterpillars away from vegetables like cabbages and broccoli.
You can find lots of fun and interesting nasturtium recipes and activity ideas below to enjoy.
1. Sensory water play
Water play is a great sensory activity for children of all ages. Nasturtium flowers and leaves scattered in the water help to add extra scent, colour and texture for the children to enjoy and explore. Lavender and mint are also wonderfully calming herbs to use, but you could also use uplifting fresh citrus fruit slices as well.
2. Sensory ice play
After you finish you can recycle the water and materials by pouring them into different shaped containers to freeze and replay with as ice blocks another day. It’s fascinating to see the objects trapped in the ice. You can hold the ice up to the light or experiment melting or breaking the ice in different ways using salt and warm water. Or the children can have fun stacking and playing with the ice to make towers.
3. Nature threading and weaving
We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking usedcardboard boxeswe like to find ways to use them in crafts and activities.
A piece of recycled cardboard makes a great base for a threading and weaving nature hunt board. All you need to do is ask the children to draw or paint simple pictures, shapes or faces onto some cardboard. (Or you could do it for them if they are too little). Then carefully poke a pencil through the cardboard at different points to make holes for the children to poke, thread and weave found natural materials through.
You could use leaves, long grass, plant stems, bark, fallen fruit, nuts, seeds and flowers*. *Pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor. We drew a simple flower pot and used flowers from the garden and plant stems to weave poke through and fill and decorate our flower pot with. We also had fun drawing faces and reusing the flowers and stems to decorate and make their hair with. This is a great activity for developing fine motor skills and stimulating creativity.
4. Nasturtium leaf and honey cupcakes
To make nasturtium leaf and honey cupcakes you will need you will need:
- 100g softened butter or an alternative butter spread
- 80g light brown caster sugar
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 100g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 handful of freshly picked and washed nasturtium leaves
- 2-3 tablespoons of honey.
Before you start it helps to preheat the oven to 180 oC/340oF.0
First you need to cook your the nasturtium leaves a little by gently simmering them in a small amount of water (or by steaming them) for 2 minutes. Then squeeze out any excess liquid through a sieve or strainer and use a blender to break up the leaves into a paste.
Next place the butter into a saucepan and carefully melt it on a low heat. Add in the sugar and stir until its all dissolved then add in the honey and nasturtium leaf paste. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 or so minutes.Once the mixture is cool you can beat the eggs and them to the mixture. Finally pour the flour into a mixing bowl and slowly add the mixture into the flour. Stir and by hand or use an electric whisk till you have smooth consistency.
Pour the mix into cupcake cases (don’t fill to the top as the mixture rises quite a lot) and place in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown. Leave to cool and then enjoy as they are or decorate with nasturtium flowers and or icing.
5. Nasturtium seed pepper and pickled nasturtium seeds
It is really simple to make nasturtium seed pepper. Simply pick some fresh nasturtium seeds and leave them to dry (like below) then pop them in a pepper grinder and enjoy them as a fresh and lively seasoning. Or you could easily pickle fresh green nasturtium seeds to enjoy as a snack or added to salads or other dishes.
To make pickled nasturtium seeds you will need
- Freshly picked and washed green nasturtium seeds,
- 100ml of white wine vinegar
- 100ml water
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of sugar
First place the nasturtium seeds in a sterilised jam or pickling jar. Then place the vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Finally pour it into the jar making sure to cover all of the seeds before firmly sealing the jar and leaving it in a cool place out of direct sunlight for 2 weeks to pickle. *You can sterilise old jam jars by rinsing them out well with soapy water then filling them with boiling water for 5 minutes or by placing them in a warm oven for a few minutes (caution this will make the glass really hot, so handle with care and oven gloves.)
6. Nasturtium leaf pesto
Nasturtium pesto is so simple and quick to make and it also tastes great with a variety of pasta, salads, meat and seafood dishes. You can even sprinkle a few freshly washed nasturtium flowers on top of the dish as edible decorations.
Ingredients
- 2-3 handfuls of nasturtium leaves
- 50g of nuts, you can use anything from pine nuts and walnuts to almonds and cashews.
- 50g parmesan or another hard cheese
- The juice of 1 lemon or lime
- 50-75ml of Olive oil
Wash and finely chop the nasturtium leaves and then add them into a food processor with all the other ingredients and half the olive oil. Blend until smooth and then add in the rest of the Olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. Your pesto should keep in the fridge for a week or freezer for a month.
7. Nasturtium flower ice cubes.
Nasturtium flower ice cubes look fab in drinks, adding bright and vibrant pops of colour. Simply wash some freshly picked nasturtium flowers and then freeze them with water in ice cube trays. Then pop into drinks as pretty floral decorations.
8. Nasturtium flower biscuits
To make edible Nasturtium or lavender biscuits you will need
- 100g butter (softened)
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 200g plain flour
- Either a handful of freshly washed and dried nasturtium or lavender flowers
Before you start it helps to preheat the oven to 180 oC/340oF.0
First put the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and beat it together until it’s light and fluffy. Next gradually add in the beaten egg whilst continuing to stir the mix. Sift the flour into the bowl and fold it in, working the mix together until it forms a soft dough. Roll the dough into a ball and cover and leave it to firm up in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and then either press the nasturtium flowers carefully into the surface or sprinkle on fresh lavender flowers and press or gently roll over the flowers and embed them in the surface.
Then use cookie cutters to cut out any shape of biscuit you like. Place the biscuits shapes onto a greased tray or one that has been lined with grease proof paper. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown then leave to cool for a few minutes. Ours tend to get eaten very quickly (they are really tasty). But if you do want to store the biscuits they keep well in an airtight container for a week or you can also freeze them to enjoy at a much later date.
9. Other ideas for cooking with nasturtium flowers and leaves
Nasturtium leaves can be used cooked or uncooked in a variety dishes. How about using them in salads, stir-fry’s, soups, curries, stews, pasta dishes or even sprinkled as decorations over meat and sea food dishes.
10. Fresh face masks
Fresh face masks are one of the quickest and easiest things you can make. To make a fresh face mask simply mix any combination and amount of the ingredients listed below together. It does help to have a liquid base like banana, yogurt or honey to make it easier to spread your face mask on but its not essential. It’s great fun experimenting with different ingredients.
- Bananas makes a great starter base for a face mask as its naturally moisturising and makes your skin feel refreshed. Its also a great way to use up overripe bananas.
- Natural yogurt is also a good starter base as it contains lactic acid which helps cleanse your skin.
- Honey has natural antibacterial properties and also moisturises and helps soothe irritated skin.
- Lemon juice, orange juice, lime juice and grapefruit juices are all great cleansers and helps brighten tired skin.
- Oats contain compounds that soothe itchy, dry and irritated skin.
- Edible and skin safe flowers and herbs like nasturtium, lavender, rose, mint androsemaryall contain rich and calming essential oils that are good for your skin and also smell fantastic.
- Cocoa powder (unsweetened) smalls delicious and mentally boosts and uplifts your mood… it also might make you want to eat chocolate.
- A drop or two of skin safe essential oils (check to make sure its safe for contact with the skin before use) can all add an extra sensory, uplifting or calming element to your facemask.
- Sugar, desiccated coconut, coffee grounds and baking soda are all great exfoliates you can add to your face mask to carefully rub away dead skins cells with.
When you are finished you can chill your face mask for a few hours or use it immediately, they don’t keep long so use them up quickly! Just remember to do a small skin sample test on your arm for a few minutes first to make sure you don’t have a reaction to any of the ingredients and also try to avoid getting it anywhere near your eyes.
11. Nasturtium petal soap
Homemade soap is so quick and simple to make, you just need a basic soap base (we used an organic vegan one) which you can often get from health food shops or online. A silicone mould, which doesn’t need to be anything special, we just used some silicone cupcakes cases we already had. And some natural dried flowers and herbs like nasturtium, lavender,rose, mint androsemary(which all contain rich and calming essential oils that are good for your skin and also smell fantastic.) Or a drop or two of skin safe essential oils (check to make sure its safe for contact with the skin before use) to add an extra sensory, uplifting or calming element to your soap. You could also add in a drop or two of food colouring or some exfoliating materials Sugar, desiccated coconut and coffee grounds are all great exfoliates that you can add to your soap.
Simply place the soap base in a microwavable container and then microwave it for 30 second intervals until the soap has fully melted. Then quickly stir in your natural ingredients (careful the melted soap will be hot) and then carefully pour it into your silicone mould. Leave it to cool and set fully for an hour or two before handling.
When the soap is fully set you can pop it out of the mould and enjoy and use it straight away. We simply used dried rose petals and lavender flowers from our garden in our soap and it looks and smells fantastic. They would make great little gifts for friends and family.
12. Nasturtium petal bath bombs
Nasturtium petal bath bombs require slightly more ingredients but are otherwise quick and simple to make. Bath bombs fizz because of thechemical reaction between acids and alkali. When you combine an acid with a carbonate alkali they react to create salt, water and carbon dioxide. As the carbon dioxide gas is released it forms fizzing bubbles.
To make a bath bomb you will need.
- 100g bicarbonate of soda which is an alkali
- 50g citric acid (You can often buy this from health food shops or online)
- 25g cornflour
- 2 tbsp of natural cooking oil (Coconut oil, olive oil ect)
- Dried rose flower petals.
- Optional extra you could also add a drop or two of skin safe essential oils (check to make sure its safe for contact with the skin before use) to add an extra sensory, uplifting or calming element to your bath bomb.
Simply place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix and combine them together. You want the mixture to clump together when you press it in your hands so it holds its shape. You can always add a little more oil or a tiny amount of water to the mix to make it stick better. but be careful not to use to much water as it will set off thechemical reactionbetween the bicarbonate of soda and citrus acid.
Now you can either place your mixture in a mould or form them into a ball by hand. We used silicone cup cakes cases as our mould but you can also use cookie cutters, old Easter eggs cases and small baking tins. Pack the mixture firmly down into the moulds and leave them to dry overnight. Then carefully tap them out onto a plate.
If your bath bombs come out of the moulds in pieces or as a complete mess don’t panic or worry! You can still form them back up into balls like we did when ours came out in pieces. Or use them as bath salts to sprinkle onto your bath or use to make magic potions. Enjoy your bath bombs in the bath or give them as gifts to friends and family.
If you like this you might like to try:
9 Nettle activities and recipes
Elderflower recipes – Cordial and fritters
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