Harvest your cress when you want to use it, by snipping the stems. It doesn’t keep long once it has been cut. Garden cress ( Lepidium sativum), also called broadleaf cress, has flat, bright green leaves to 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. Garden cress, a biennial, is also called peppergrass, pepper cress, and mustard cress. Golden-leafed broadleaf cress is sometimes called Australian cress. Garden cress is an annual that thrives in damp soil. Still, while garden cress may help protect the liver and kidneys, more rigorous human studies are needed. Summary Common name: Cress, garden cress, broadleaf cress, peppergrass, pepper cress, mustard cress. Botanical name : Lepidium sativum. Origin: Asia

In a study in 50 rats given aluminum, this heavy metal significantly damaged liver and kidney function. Yet, the groups of rats receiving garden cress after or alongside aluminum saw their liver and kidney function restored to almost normal ( 14). Start by adding a layer of growing medium around 1cm deep. This could be layers of kitchen towel, any absorbent paper waste, cotton wool or peat-free multi-purpose compost Cress grows best in moist soil. It requires plenty of sunlight for the seeds to germinate, so when growing indoors position it on a sunny windowsill. Watercress requires 55 to 70 days to reach maturity but runner tips can be pinched off for use 15 to 20 days after sowing.Cress seeds tend to germinate in around 24 hours, and the seedlings will soon be ready to eat. ‘You will be harvesting in a matter of 5-7 days,’ says Bonnett. Garden cress (Lepidium sativum)Perhaps the most familiar of all, garden cress is a hardy annual, which you can grow as an indoor garden idea all year round on a windowsill. You can grow it outdoors too at certain times of the year. It’s the seedling leaves which are harvested and have a mildly peppery flavor. Speedy and easy to grow, it’s a perfect garden activity for kids as a grow-your-own project. Mustard (Sinapsis alba) is often grown with cress in a mustard-and-cress mixture, but is even faster! So sprinkle in the mustard seed 2-3 days after sowing the cress.

Cresses are cool-weather annuals. Sow cress in the garden early in spring, as early as 4 or 6 before the last frost, or grow cress indoors year-round. Usually when harvesting cress, you cut them close to the soil line. But if you leave half an inch on the seedlings when you cut them, then you may find that the cress regrows. Cloake, Felicity. "How to make the perfect egg mayonnaise sandwich". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group . Retrieved 16 November 2023.

Growing grown-up cress

together. Bulb bowls or seed trays should be filled with fine, sandy soil or with bulb fibre. Water well, using a very

If growing cress on a paper towel, however, it will have no soil to draw nutrients from, so you will have better success starting afresh. Place the container in good light such as a brightly lit windowsill. Germination usually takes a day or two

In animal studies, ALA has been shown to reduce heart injury and heart cell death when there’s inadequate blood flow to the heart ( 23, 24). Garden cress, known as chandrashoor, and the seeds, known as aaliv or aleev in Marathi, or halloon [11] in India, are commonly used in the system of Ayurveda. [12] It is also known as asario in India [13] and the Middle East where it is prized as a medicinal herb, called habbat al hamra (literally red seeds) in Arabic. [14] In the Arabian Peninsula, the seeds are traditionally mixed with custard to make a hot drink. [15] Your body also uses ALA and LA to make essential fatty acids like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), though its ability to convert these fatty acids into EPA and DHA is low ( 18, 19). To begin with, you’ll need to buy some seeds – for garden cress seeds and/or mustard. Both plants have quite a lot of flavour, with mustard being hotter than cress. If you want something a bit milder, look for oilseed rape (canola) seeds – they can be grown the same way.