Tuesday 19 October 2010

Discover Land Cress




  • Land cressBarbarea verna, is a biennial herb in the family Brassicaceae
  • A variegated form is also available.

Know your Land Cress - Common names

  • Land cress is also known as American cressbank cressBelle Isle cressBermuda cressearly yellowrocketearly wintercressscurvy cressupland cressdryland cresscassabully, and American watercress.

Know your Land Cress - Origins

  • It is native to south-western Europe, but is also cultivated in Florida. 
  • Land cress has been cultivated as a leaf vegetable in England since the 17th century.

Know your Land Cress - Cultivation

  • As it requires less water than watercress, it is easier to cultivate. 
  • Land cress can be grown easily in any garden. 
  • Like watercress, it loves water, but does not do well when partially submerged for long periods of time. 
  • This biennial needs full sun and frequent watering in any garden, unless near a direct source of water.

Know your Land Cress - Cuisine

  • Land cress is considered a satisfactory substitute for watercress.
  • It can be used in sandwiches, or salads, or cooked like spinach, or used in soup.
  • It is rich in vitamins, iron and calcium.

6 comments:

  1. Dear Malcolm,
    And, if left to run to seed and the seeding plants find their way into the compost heap, it will reappear wherever that compost is spread, for years to come.
    One of the most welcome & tasty 'weeds' in my own plot and garden.
    Martin, Droitwich.

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  2. That sounds like my type of weeding; I'll swap you some for my Fat Hen!

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  3. Dear Malcolm,
    That too has culinary uses, I understand!
    By the way, under Land Cress > Cultivation you have reassigned it as 'perennial'.
    I think not.
    Martin
    '

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  4. Thanks Martin,
    Finger-trouble I am afraid! The article correctly states that it is biennial, then later calls it perennial!
    Apparently Fat Hen is big in Indian cuisine, but I have spent all my life fighting it as a weed, so somehow I can't bring myself to eat it!
    Malcolm

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  5. Dear Malcolm,
    ♂kra (aka men's fingers) is a terrible affliction.
    Better settle for 'typo'!
    Martin (your local proof reader)

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  6. finger trouble
    n (Computing) trouble caused by operator error, such as striking the wrong key.
    Collins

    Thinking about it; really it was brain trouble and not finger trouble!
    Obviously another senior moment, how many more?

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