Medicinal plant

Nasturtium

Tropaeolum majus

A peppery edible flower and leaf, best fresh.

Most useful here as an edible, pungent garden plant rather than something that needs to become a concentrated tincture. Leaves and flowers contain pungent mustard-oil-related compounds; young green seed pods are traditionally pickled as “poor man’s capers” (use a tested pickling recipe rather than improvising proportions for shelf-stable canning — refrigerator pickles are the simpler home option).

Properties

Antimicrobial — Helps inhibit microbes

Expectorant — Helps loosen and move mucus from the lungs and chest

Energetics
Warming Drying Stimulating
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), historical botanical illustration

Growing and using it

Life cycle

Tender annual.

What to buy

Straight or traditional single-flowered garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) seed.

Best way to start

Direct sow seed.

Seed starting

Direct sow after frost when soil has warmed. It can be started indoors a few weeks earlier in individual pots to minimize root disturbance.