The Other Capers.

I love the pungent flavor of Capers. Those little pickled seeds one scoops on top of a bagel with salmon, cream cheese and chopped purple onion. My maiden name is Capers, too. The other “Capers”  I am referring to is the Nasturtium seed. Nasturtiums are one of my favorite plants. If there is one seed I start indoors, it’s Nasturtium. Too early for most anything outdoors, but not this one. Nasturtium seeds are similar to Capers seeds in that they are used for culinary purposes.

The nasturtium flower is delicate and completely edible. A small bouquet of nasturtium stems will brighten the dreariest of days.

 

 

Here is what I do to get my nasturtiums started:

1.  Soak the nasturtium seeds in warm water over night.

2.  Rinse out egg carton and fill each space with seed starting soil–it is very light and comes in small bags.

3.  Make sure the soil is damp, not soaking wet, but the soil should be very moist.

4.   Place a seed in each egg space, cover lightly with soil.

Here is the weird part. I rarely use my warming drawer to warm food. In the past, I’ve used all kinds of “warmers” to start seeds. Most seeds need warmth from the bottom to germinate, then once the green starts to peek through, they need sunlight. I placed a towel on the bottom of the drawer, then the egg cartons. Now, you can use the top of your refrigerator for this, not your warming drawer. If you try this at home, be sure to put your warmer on low just to start the warming process…you must supervise when doing this! Don’t blame me if your cartons melt!

You’ll see the stems start to curl up out of the soil, then it is time for light!  My experience with the plants is that they prefer only a bit of sunlight here in Augusta because it is so dang hot! You’ll have to find the right spot…containers are great for moving around to find out where they will be happy.

Good Luck.