Common cress is the most popular and best-known variety of sprouting seeds available. You can harvest it a couple of days after sowing. When you leave it, it can grow on to a height of approx. 40 cm and flower with little white flowers.
It's eaten mostly raw in salads and on sandwiches with cheese. But it can also be added, last minute, to omelets, soeps and sauces. Common cress contains a lot of vitamins and minerals.
Cress can be sown all year round indoors.
Fill a seeding tray or shallow plastic container with potting soil to approx. 1 cm deep. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the soil and cover lightly with some soil passed through a sieve. Cover the seeding tray with some cling film or a lid to preserve the moisture and prevent the soil from drying out.
Put away warm and light but not in full sun, at approx. 15 - 20 °C. The seedlings emerge after approx. 2 - 4 days. Remove the cling film or lid after the emerging of the seedlings. Keep moist but not water logged. Harvest when the seedlings are approx. 5 cm or after approx. 7 - 10 days. Cut a small amount when needed. To prolong harvesting: sow small amounts in 2 - 3 week periods.
This easy to grown variety can also be sown on damp kitchen paper.
Sow outdoors from march. Sow shallow and thinly and cover the seeds with a very thin layer of soil or rake in the seeds gently. Sow in rows and keep the rows approx.10 cm apart. The seeds need a constant temperature of approx. 15 - 20 °C to germinate. The seedlings emerge after approx. 2 - 4 days. Sow for a continious harvest a couple of rows of cress every few days.
