Nasturtiums are easy to grow from seed and a great addition to any garden because they have multiple functions of food, flower & pest control.

Food: Both flowers and leaves are edible, great to pick as you move through your garden and to add to salads or anywhere you’d like a beautiful to look at spicy taste addition.

Flowers: They have cool orchid looking flowers in cream, yellows, oranges, reds, mahogany and salmon.   Some are trailing and some are upright, so use whichever suits your site, purpose and aesthetic.

Pest Control:  They repel white flies, so plant them anywhere our hot humid summers may bring white flies to your garden.   Nasturtiums also repel squash bugs, so plant them with members of the cucubritaceae family – what’s that ? .. plant with your cucumbers, melons & squash.

They can ramble among your wandering squash and melons, up a pole with your cucumbers, or put in a pot and moved around the garden where ever you need them.   You can also use them as a trap crop for ants.

 

If you have a small hoop house, about 10 x 5′, plant a row of Broccoli or Cauliflower down the middle, then you can plant kales, chards, spinach or arugula around them and put fast growing roots; such as Seeds of Change “Champion” radish or Botanical Interests “Little Finger” carrots,   in between.   As you thin, harvest roots, and your cut and come-again greens, you’ll be working closer to the edge of bed.  Your broccoli and cauliflower will have room to grow tall in the middle and if the growing is good  you may want to thin some lower leaves.