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Nasturtium seed capers

Nasturtium is a fabulous edible plant from the brassica family. Its cheery flowers garnish posh salads in upmarket restaurants. And from July to September our nasturtium plants regularly go wild on our Edward Street plot. Pick some leaves or flowers as you walk past, use them in salads or place them in your sandwiches. They'll give flavour and good looks to your lunch. We picked the green seeds this year and pickled them into 'homegrown capers'.

What you'll need

5 handfuls of nasturtium seeds
150ml white vinegar: white balsamico, cider vinegar or plain vinegar should work
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
3 dry bay leaves
sugar to taste
250ml water

Also:

a small pot to heat everything in
small sterilised jam jars with lids, or even better, preserving jars with rubber rings (use lids with a plastic coating, as the acid will corrode unlined metal)

This recipe made 4 small glasses (see picture).

Method

Step 1: harvest and wash

Harvest the green seed pots and wash them thoroughly. The younger the seeds, the softer your capers will be.

Step 2: soften

In the small pot, bring to the boil all liquids, spices, seasoning and seeds and simmer for around 15 minutes.

Step 3: fill

Fill into sterilised jars, discarding the bay leaves. Try and distribute the peppercorns evenly between the jars. The 'capers' must be covered with brine before you close the jars.

Step 4: let it pickle

Close tighly and let marinade for 4 to 6 weeks. Use like capers in tomato sauces like puttanesca, or cut fine for a punchy tartare sauce. Enjoy and let us know how your capers turned out!

A wasp eating a cabbage white caterpillar

Natural nasturtium pest-control in action

As nasturtiums are part of the brassica family. This makes them delicious not just to humans, but also to the caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly (aka the gardener's nemesis).

Now - look at this wasp in action - we say it on our nasturtium leaves when we harvested the seeds. I saw it carrying the whole caterpillar, I swear! And it's munching away on it - helping to keep our nasturtium plants healthy.

Natural pest control is about encouraging predators like waps, hoverflies and ladybirds into your garden all year 'round. Make sure they have some food for you natural helpers before your vegetable and fruit crops arrive, so they're ready to act once pests appear.