Garden cress is a fairly fast growing, edible herb.  It can be eaten as sprouts or as leaves, and often gets added to salads and sandwiches for its lively, slightly peppery flavour. It is not eaten dried, as it would lose all of it’s flavour.

Garden cress is a high -nutrient food containing a substantial amount of vitamins A, C and K and a number of dietary minerals, when eaten raw.  Both the 4-5 cm mini plants as well as the sprouts can be eaten.  A fully grown plant can reach up to 60cm and will flower with white to pink flowers (source: wikipedia)

Growing your own garden cress is easy, and it is also a great project to do together with your kids.  You only need a few items and you’re ready to go

What you need:

• bag of garden cress seeds
• plastic box
• cotton wool
• kitchen towel (optional)
• water
• glass

Method:

First poor an amount of garden cress seeds in a glass, and cover with a cm of water. Leave these to soak for approx. 10 minutes.

In mean time, fold a few sheets of kitchen towel and place in the plastic box.  Then cover this layer with cotton wool so the surface is evenly covered.  Now add water to make the cotton wool and the kitchen paper very wet, but not that wet that there is water on the bottom of the box.

Grab your glass with the soaked seeds, and drain the water carefully.  Evenly spread the seeds over the cotton wool.  I would put the tray or the box on your windowsill so it get’s plenty of light.  You need to make sure that the cotton wool stays moist and see your plants grow in the next few days.