Garden cress

Garden cress: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Annual with thin, upright stems. If you let it run to flower, it reaches 20–30 cm.

Leaves

The seed leaves are three-lobed and stalked; later leaves are finely divided, plain or curled, fresh green.

Flowers

Small white to pale pink four-petalled flowers in June–July on plants left to grow on.

Taste

Fresh and peppery, slightly hot, like mustard and radish.

Seed

Small and red-brown. It turns jelly-like when wet and so sticks to the surface it is sown on.

Flowering: June–July · Harvest and fruit: March–October · Sowing: January–December

Why grow it?

• Lightning fast: indoors you can cut it after 7–10 days.
• It can be sown all year on the windowsill, even in the middle of winter.
• No garden needed: a saucer with damp kitchen paper or cotton wool is enough.
• A fresh, peppery taste on bread, in egg salad, on soup or over a salad.
• Outdoors it is a handy, quick catch crop between slower vegetables.

Garden cress: where does it grow best?

• Indoors: a bright windowsill, but not in fierce midday sun. With too little light the stems become long and pale.
• Outdoors: sun or partial shade. In summer partial shade is best, so it is slower to bolt.
• Any light, moisture-retentive soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• The growing surface must always stay moist, never drying out and never waterlogged.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

0.3 m tall, 0.1 m wide

Hardiness

Half hardy (to -5 °C): protect it in harsh winters

Goes well with

• Radish: Another quick crop: a few weeks later you harvest both.
• Carrot: Sow cress as a catch crop between the slow carrot rows; it is harvested before the carrots need the space.
• Lettuce: A peppery partner for mild lettuce, in the vegetable garden and on the plate.
• Chives: Another easy herb for the windowsill or the herb box.

Garden cress: when and how to plant it?

1. Indoors: lay a few sheets of damp kitchen paper, cotton wool or a thin layer of compost in a saucer.
2. Scatter the seed thickly but without clumps and press it down lightly; there is no need to cover it.
3. Keep the surface moist with a mister and stand the saucer at room temperature: the seed germinates in 1–2 days.
4. Outdoors: sow from March to May and in August–September, thinly in rows 0.5 cm deep, or broadcast on a finely raked bed.
5. Keep the soil moist until you harvest, ideally with a fine rose on the watering can.
6. Sow a new batch every week for a continuous supply.

Care

Watering

Check daily: seedlings dry out quickly. Mist indoors and water with a fine rose outdoors.

Light

Move cress sown indoors into the light after germination, otherwise the leaves stay yellow.

Harvesting

Cut with scissors just above the surface when the seedlings are 5–8 cm tall, after 7–10 days. Plants sown outdoors can be cut several times.

In the kitchen

Use it fresh and raw: on bread, in egg salad, on soup or in a salad. Cooking quickly destroys the fresh flavour.

Feeding

Not needed: the seed holds enough reserves for this very short crop.

Tip: Sow a small saucer every week so you always have fresh cress. Outdoors, sow from March to May and again from August, because in summer heat it bolts quickly.

Garden cress: when to prune it?

When: Garden cress is not pruned: you simply cut it to harvest.

How:

• Cut with sharp scissors just above the surface when the seedlings are 5–8 cm tall.
• Outdoor plants left to grow on can be cut several times; leave a little stem each time.
• Plants that start to bolt become hot and tough: harvest them straight away or pull them up.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Garden cress is propagated only by seed. Let a few outdoor plants flower; the flat seed pods ripen in summer. Cut them when they turn brown, let them dry and store the seed in a cool, dry place.

Garden cress: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −5 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• It tolerates light frost to about −5 °C, but hardly grows outdoors in winter.
• In winter, sow indoors on the windowsill: that way you have fresh cress all year.
• With little light in December–January it is a little slower and the stems get longer: put the saucer in the brightest spot.

Diseases and pests

• Bolting: In summer heat and long days it quickly forms flower stems and becomes hot. So do not sow outdoors in June–July, or choose a spot in partial shade.
• Mould: On a surface that is too wet and warm with no air movement, the seed can rot. Note: the fine white fuzz on the tiny roots is root hairs, not mould.
• Flea beetle: Tiny jumping beetles eat small holes in the leaves of outdoor plants, especially in dry weather. Keep the soil moist or cover with fine insect mesh.
• Long, pale stems: Too little light. After germination, move the saucer to a bright windowsill.
• Slugs: Outdoors they eat young plants. Check in the evening and pick them off.

Through the year

• January: Sow indoors on the windowsill.
• February: Sow indoors.
• March: Sow indoors. First outdoor sowing.
• April: Sow outdoors in rows. Sow indoors.
• May: Sow and harvest outdoors.
• June: Sow indoors; outdoors it bolts. Flowers on plants left to grow on.
• July: Sow indoors. Collect seed from bolted plants.
• August: Sow outdoors again.
• September: Sow and harvest outdoors.
• October: Sow indoors.
• November: Sow indoors.
• December: Sow indoors for fresh cress over the holidays.

Edible and useful

Leaves (March–October)

Garden cress grows incredibly fast: snip the young seedlings 1 to 2 weeks after sowing, when they are 5 to 8 cm tall, just above the soil. Outdoors this works from March to October, on a windowsill (on damp kitchen paper) all year round. Sow a little every two weeks for a continuous harvest. The flavour is hot and peppery, like mustard: on bread with egg or cheese, in salads, soups and green sauce.

Storing

Cress is best freshly cut. In a box in the fridge it keeps for 2 to 3 days. It cannot be dried or frozen: cut only what you need and let the rest keep growing.

Caution: Garden cress is safe and ideal to grow with children. Rinse it well. Buy seed meant for eating or sprouting (not treated seed for fields). Sprouts grow in warm, damp conditions: keep the tray clean and throw it away if it smells musty or goes mouldy.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Egg and cress sandwich filling (Dish · 4 slices of bread · 20 min)
• Garden cress soup (Dish · 4 people · 30 min)

Did you know?

• Cress seed turns jelly-like when wet: this makes it stick to kitchen paper or cotton wool and dry out less quickly.
• You can recognise garden cress by its seed leaves, which are distinctly three-lobed.
• In England it is traditionally sold together with sprouting mustard as ‘mustard and cress’.