Green Goddess Nasturtium Flower Salad | Potager Garden

Becky from Potager shares stories from a community kitchen garden, alongside her recipe for a freshly picked nasturtium flower salad with a vegan green goddess dressing.

Freshly prepared nasturtium salad with a vegan green goddess dressing, and the chef who made it, Becky.

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We meet chef Becky in the wilds of Potager Garden Cafe. She’s mid-way through her kitchen prep for the week ahead. A fresh batch of bread has just been delivered from Stones (a nearby bakery), and an apple cake is in the oven. It smells delicious.

Potager is a vegetarian community garden and kitchen nestled deep in Cornwall’s countryside. There are artists’ studios on site, community events and, of course, the greenhouse cafe which uses as many locally sourced or home-grown ingredients as possible.

A garden path lined with neat hedges and trees leads to some stairs. And a greenhouse painted with a colourful mural.

“In a way, the cafe is just a small part of Potager. It sort of supports everything else that’s going on here.” Becky tells us about the volunteer group which tend the garden then come together to cook and eat whatever they’ve harvested. As well as hosting crafting workshops, it's home to regular social clubs that encompass the oldest and youngest members of the community - from a dementia-friendly gardening club to a baby and toddler's nature session.

Between bursts of heavy Cornish rain, the sun peeks through and fills the greenhouse cafe with light. We take the opportunity to head down to the garden so Becky can pick the ingredients we’ll need for today's nasturtium recipe.

Becky, a chef from Potager Garden, picks colourful edible flowers and herbs from the allotment.

“We all love wandering through the garden to pick sides of leaves, herbs and flowers for the dishes.” Becky points out the fruit trees and tells us how special it is to be able to pick fresh ingredients for her recipes. The seasonal produce from the garden sets the tone for what the cafe will serve. “We work with the gardeners here at Potager, and also Loveland, who are part of the Falmouth Food Co-op. They supply lots of the local restaurants with what they’ve got growing, helping to supplement what we’ve got in our gardens so there’s enough to go round.”

The garden and polytunnels are overflowing with herbs, edible flowers and salad leaves. It’s hard to imagine that back in 2000, wilderness had completely taken over the site after it had been abandoned for nearly a decade. Today, compassion, community and care nurture the soil. Little lawns are dappled by circling trees, the herb garden buzzes with bees, and the soft chatter of diners fills the greenhouses.

Details from Potager Cafes garden. Including the allotment, a close up of a marigold with a bee on it, and nasturtiums growing in the polytunnel

“I became a chef in 2019, and I really enjoy the creativity.” Becky speaks so passionately about her craft that it’s infectious. “Cooking has always been how I show affection to people, it’s definitely my love language.”

Becky has created a personalised recipe for us today. It’s made using nasturtium flowers, which just happen to be one of the key florals in our current collection. “When you’re picking your nasturtiums, you want to get the flower head, but it's also lovely to pick some of the smaller leaves as a garnish. They’re quite a peppery flavour, but it's not overly strong.”

Becky, a chef from Potager Garden, wearing a Seasalt Sailor Shirt in a flower filled polytunnel.

To make the recipe at home, Becky says “you can grow your own nasturtiums from seed, or you can head to a garden centre to pick up a plant.” For gardeners, Becky tells us that “nasturtiums are really easy to grow and they’re pretty bombproof. I often feel like I’ll have stripped the plant of all its flowers, but 4 or 5 days later they’ll all be back again. You just don’t want to pick all the leaves off, make sure to leave something for the new flowers to grow from.”

The dressing (which is also delicious as a dip served with grilled vegetables or picky bits) can be made with whichever green herbs you have to hand. “I love the combination of parsley, dill or chives but you can use your favourite green, leafy herbs.” Becky uses a food processor or blender, but it can also be made by hand with lots of chopping.