Like most of you, I scan the news trying to keep abreast of all the nonsense going on in this country and determine what needs to be done next in preparing for the worst. It’s mostly a matter of what I need to learn next, but every once in a while there is something new to acquire that will make TEOTWAWKI so much more bearable. ;)
And after the last gardening season, I decided one thing I didn’t want to be without was nasturtium seeds. Really.
Prior to last season, I had never grown a single nasturtium. Well, not that I recall at any rate. I’d seen them around and knew what they were, but they just never did anything for me. I like bright pink and purple and dark red flowers. White flowers. Yellow and orange, which is what most nasturtium varieties are, don’t really get me excited. They still don’t get me all that excited, appearance-wise.
But I read something early last year that suggested I wanted to learn a little about them and give them a try. A gardener somewhere on the internet claimed that nasturtiums repel cabbage butterflies—the same pretty white butterflies that lay millions of eggs on cabbage and broccoli plants, and which eggs hatch into little caterpillars that absolutely devour the garden.
I was so dang tired of those butterflies. I hate what they do to me. I’m a nice person. I mind my own business. I just want to care for my family. And those butterflies turn me into a murderous beast who spends each spring and summer morning screaming like a banshee and running like a crazy woman all over the yard trying to kill pretty little white butterflies.
It wasn’t so bad when I could get the girls to do the killing for me. Twenty-five cents per butterfly kept them happy for a few years. Then they got older and started selling their angora rabbits for $80-100 each. Only a fool would chase butterflies for a quarter. Even when I raised it to a dollar I got no response.
So I decided to give nasturtiums a try. I didn’t have much to lose.
I planted one nasturtium for every two cabbage and broccoli plants. And then I watched.
And those darn butterflies still flitted all around the garden. Contrary to what “some guy on the internet” said, the nasturtiums weren’t repelling the little buggers at all.
But you know what? There weren’t any cabbage butterfly eggs on the broccoli and cabbage. No matter how hard I looked, for all the cole seedlings planted next to the nasturtiums, there wasn’t a trace of insect damage.
So what was going on? Back to the internet for more research.
Come to find out, the nasturtiums don’t actually repel cabbage butterflies. Truth be told, they attract them. Drawing in more pests isn’t generally considered a working model for most gardeners, but in this case, the butterflies are more attracted to the nasturtiums and they lay their eggs there. The caterpillars eat the nasturtium leaves and leave the cabbage and broccoli alone. And then if you want to make sure the caterpillars don’t mature into butterflies, it’s a simple matter of removing the nasturtium leaves to kill them.
Unfortunately, you can’t just throw a few nasturtiums into the ground and call it good. Most people recommend planting one nasturtium (and it appears that orange nasturtiums are the most effective) for every two cabbage or broccoli plants. That’s a lot of flowers. That’s a lot of space that isn’t devoted to growing food. Well, actually….
Nasturtiums are edible! How’s that for a bonus! Not only will these plants help keep cabbage worms away from your food crops, but the flowers make a lovely addition to salads. In fact, there are dozens of ways to use nasturtiums. Most involve including them in garden salads, but they can also be used in making vinegars and salad dressings. Some make a caper substitute with them or use them in omelets.
Remember also, as I posted earlier this year, flowers also help “hide” the vegetables you are growing. When most people see flowers, they see a flower garden. They usually don’t notice the vegetables.
And finally, while nasturtiums aren’t what I’d consider a medicinal powerhouse, they do have medicinal uses. That’s a topic for another post.
Links to related posts:
References:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/nasturtium-recipes/
3 march 2024
Thank you! I will definitely try this next growing season. My wife absolutely loves greens and one of her favorites is kohlrabi. We did not get any this past year because the cabbage worms devastated the whole crop. At least they don't harm the stem part......
ReplyDeleteI hope it works for you!
DeleteNasturtiums are wonderful for chickens. So, there should never be an excess as they will gladly eat them. Good chicken food, good reports as to being for chickens an antibiotic effect as well as an awesome source of Vitamin A and C.
ReplyDeleteChickens in tunnels have been very useful keeping my gardens free of most pests. Yes they do prune anything with in reach through the tunnels but the eggs are worth it. After harvest I let them clean the garden plot and they are eager to scratch through anything I Iron Rake up. That also helps keep pests down.
I loved having chickens and their eggs--and all the compost they made. I also loved having the girls take care of them. I've been trying to psych myself up to getting a few chicks, but it will be responsibility to take care of them now that my youngest daughter is about to leave the nest. I'm also waiting to see if my son and daughter in law are actually going to get chickens, because if they do, then they will give us the eggs in exchange for produce. And they have a much better set-up for chickens.
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