I love growing cress. The seed is ridiculously cheap, and incredibly quick to germinate. And, of course, growing cress is a great way of introducing children to the pleasures of gardening.
It is much maligned, but I rather like it. It has a little fire to its breath, adding 'zing' to salads, and perking up sandwiches. No, I'm not thinking of any trendy leaves from a supermarket 'luxury range', or from a delicatessen. I'm thinking of cress.
I love growing cress. The seed is ridiculously cheap, and incredibly quick to germinate. And, of course, growing cress is a great way of introducing children to the pleasures of gardening. Just buy the packets of seed, get sowing and you'll see the results within a week or two. No greenhouse needed - a well-lit window sill will suffice. You don't even need compost, as soggy kitchen roll or cotton wool will serve as a perfectly adequate growing medium.
Children always enjoy sowing the seed in patterns: a cross, a heart, a star, a smiley face or their own initials. I use recycled plastic trays, ideally the clear plastic sort with no holes, then about four thicknesses of kitchen roll, thoroughly dampened, then kept just moist at all times.
Making cress heads is great fun, too. Don't throw the shells from boiled eggs away - instead, wash them thoroughly, dry and fill with cotton wool, then water well and draw a face on the egg before topping the moist cotton wool off with mustard and cress seed.
Having an extra source of fresh greenery to hand is particularly useful at this time of year, when there is less available to harvest in the garden. And cress will grow considerably faster than rocket at this time of year!
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