Dig in and start growing!
It's time for a community-wide seed growing and seed saving adventure! Yes, One Seed Pima County is kicking off! This year's selected seed is Nasturtium, opens a new window (Alaska variety).
How to participate:
- Check out Nasturtium seeds with your library card.
- Plant them in the ground or in a container.
- Enjoy watching your Nasturtium grow and the happy insects that visit.
- Experiment with using this peppery plant in your cooking.
- Harvest and save some seeds for yourself and some for the library
- Share saved seeds with the library where they will join the donations of other gardeners.
- Help ensure we have seeds to plant for seasons to come!
How to plant and harvest Nasturtium:
Nasturtium is a quick-growing annual that takes little effort to grow. They like full sun, do well in poor soils, and can be grown in the ground or in containers. Nasturtium are great as a cover crop and companion plant to other vegetables, and best of all, every part of the plant is edible, including their seeds!
- Planting: Plant 1/2" to 1" deep, 10 to 12 inches apart. Soaking the seeds can help with germination but it's not necessary. The first leaves will start to appear in 7 to 10 days. Water regularly, but not overly so.
- Harvesting: Collect flowers and leaves to use in salads and other food preparations. The entire plant is edible and can provide a beautiful garnish to a meal.
- Seed Saving: Let the seeds dry completely on the plant—a few may fall to the ground. You can also pick them when they're still green—they should be loose and come off easily. Leave seeds out uncovered so they can dry completely. This usually takes a couple of weeks. Store seeds in a cool, dry area.
Visit seedsavers.org/learn/seed-saving/ for more information!
Get involved!
Tag and share photos of your Nasturtium adventures on social media. Please tag us @PimaSeedLibrary using the hashtags #OneSeedPimaCountyNasturtium, #PCPLSeedLibrary, #CommunitySupportedSeeds.
Here's where you can find us:
Don't forget to visit the Library's event calendar to find Seed Library programs happening near you!
Did you know?
Want to impress your friends with some facts about Nasturtium? Here you go!
- The flowers are a good source of Vitamin C and Iron.
- The Nasturtium is the 40th wedding anniversary flower.
- The name Nasturtium means "nose twister" in Latin, referring to people's reaction upon tasting the flowers.
- The seeds can be used as an alternative to capers.
- Nasturtium makes a great companion plant to turnips, radishes, cucumber, and zucchini. Click on the links to find these seeds in your library!
- The seeds were used as a pepper substitute during WWII.
