Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’m pretty sure I learned how to juggle faster than I learned to say “nah-STUR-shumz”.
Despite all the pronunciation battles I grow nastyturtles. No surgeons. Nasturtiums. And I love them. Why? Simple…
- They’re a trap crop. If you grow them interspersed with your veggies they’ll hopefully distract the creepy crawly’s that tend to dine on your cabbage, kale and other leafy plants.
- They grow easily from seed. Very easily. Here’s what I do… open a pack of seeds, score each seed with a knife them poke’em in the ground and forget about’em. About a month later when summer kicks into gear and the soil starts to bake I remember that I planted them as they erupt into warm orange, yellow and red blooms. Cool green foliage and warm blooms. Nice.
- You can eat them. Seriously. They’re in the cabbage family. The flowers are a source of vitamin C and can be added to salads ( they have a surprisingly sweet taste, guess the bees are on to something). The leaves are edible as well and said to carry a peppery taste. I haven’t tried that yet but I’ll let you know how it turns out.
By the way. According to Wikipedia we can blame the Romans for that janky flower name. Nasus tortus, means “twisted nose” and refers to the sensation you’re supposed to experience when you munch on the leaves of nasturtiums.
