Nasturtiums!

image from GardenSeed's blog

Anyone interested in participating as a vendor at the DeKalb County Farmers' Market in Smithville this year is invited to attend a meeting at 6pm on Thursday, May 3^rd. The meeting will be held at the new county offices in the conference room across the hall from the extension office. The meeting is an opportunity for anyone to bring up any ideas, suggestions, or questions involving selling at the market. However, if you can't attend the meeting, you are still welcome to become a vendor. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the market's president, Jeff Cantrell at (615) 597-8292 or me, Karley Thompson, secretary/treasurer, at (615) 536-6136.

Right now at the market you can load up on tomato plants, bursting with the infinite promise of summer's bounty, barbeque bursting with a bodacious bouquet of smoky flavor, and fried pies and baked goods so tasty you'll think you must be dreaming. Get there early for the baked goods though; they go quick.

Go ahead and put those tomatoes and peppers in the ground. There's a slight chance that we'll get another cold snap, but it's not in the ten day forecast. You can also plant your okra, beans, squash, herbs, zinnias, and any other summer crops you've been itching to put in the ground. We're past our average last frost date, and there are no more cold snaps in the ten day forecast. That being said, I checked out the record lows for May, and almost every day in May has seen lows in the 30s at some point over the last four decades. May is not to be wholly trusted.

If you've never tried growing and eating nasturtiums, you should. They're a beautiful, vigorous flower that make good companions with tomatoes. The leaves and the flowers have a peppery bite and add a great zing to salads. The flowers come in all colors warm and summery—orange, red, yellow, crimson, as well as some more muted, softer colors. Some varieties have variegated foliage, some are bushy and low growing, and others will climb a trellis as tall as a house if you give them the space. Nasturtiums perform very well in containers, as well as in the garden, so can enjoy their beauty on your balcony or porch.

Nasturtiums can be directly sowed in the garden, but be sure to plant them well after the threat of cold weather has passed. They are extremely sensitive to cold weather and will even pout in your greenhouse if it gets too cold at night. They also transplant easily. Start them just a couple weeks before you plan to set them out. They grow very quickly and don't need much of a head start. They develop their root systems in the blink of an eye, so stay on top of pricking them out if you use germination flats.

You can grow fantastic nasturtiums even if you don't have perfect soil and full sun. They'll tolerate some shade and actually prefer a leaner soil. If you plant them in a recently-manured bed or soil that's too rich in nitrogen, they'll give you a profusion of leaves but no blossoms. We planted them in our tomato beds last year, which were rich enough to power the tomatoes all season, and we also got great blossom production. There's really nothing more beautiful than a tomato platter with Green Zebra tomatoes (chartreuse when ripe), fresh mozzarella cheese, Red Rubin basil (which is purple), and some yellow and red nasturtium flowers.

Nasturtiums were grown by the Incas for use both as a salad crop and a medicinal herb. The conquistadors sent them from Peru to Europe along with tomatoes and potatoes. Both the leaves and flowers are traditionally used to promote good digestion and stimulate the appetite. The plants are rich in vitamin C, so they can be helpful in fighting off the common cold.

Additionally, due to the mustard oilcompounds in the leaves and flowers, which is what is responsible for its peppery punch, nasturtiums have antifungal and antibacterial properties. It can be used to treat bacterial infections, both topical and internal, including those caused by the Candida bacteria. This bacteria is responsible for many gastrointestinal woes, as it plays a part in both ulcers and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The leaves can also be applied topically to help heal skin infections. However, you shouldn't eat excessive amounts of nasturtium or apply the leaves topically for longer than about ten minutes, or the same mustard oils that give the plant its beneficial properties could cause irritation.

For more specific information on how to prepare nasturtiums for medicinal uses, consult Herbsfor Health and Healing published by Rodale and ThePeople's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies by Joe Graedon and Theresa Graedon, Ph.D.

'Nasturtiums' by the fantastic Derick Burleson