Watercress

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

If you have greenhouses on the site, then in early spring you can grow greens to add more vitamins to your family's diet, which everyone needs after a long winter. One of the early ripening green crops is watercress.

Watercress is an annual crop that, perhaps, only the most novice gardeners do not know about. Its leaves contain not only ascorbic acid, carotene, rutin, B vitamins, but also iodine, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus salts, as well as protein. Watercress has a pungent and spicy flavor, so it can be added to salads.

Doctors believe that this type of salad should be used for respiratory diseases, to improve appetite, strengthen the nervous system. It improves digestion, sleep, lowers blood pressure, and has diuretic properties. The juice squeezed out of plants is used as an antiscorbutic agent and for anemia. Powder from crushed seeds is used instead of mustard plasters.

Watercress is a very cold-resistant plant. It is ready for cutting within 18-25 days after sowing. To obtain fresh greens for a long time, watercress is sown at several times. He loves a lot of light and fertile and sufficiently moist soil.

There are three types of watercress: early - with dissected leaves, mid-early - curly and broadleaf.

The varieties are zoned: Narrow-leaved 3, Common cress, Curly cress, Garden cress and Shirokolistny.

In open ground, seeds can be sown at the end of April. They are sealed to a depth of 0.5-1 cm, the distance between rows is 10-15 cm. They germinate quickly, on the second or third day. In the two-leaf phase, the plants can already be eaten.

Despite the fact that the plant is consumed only fresh, watercress can be eaten throughout the winter. To do this, it is sown, for example, on a plate covered with a layer of damp cotton wool. Young leaves appear in two weeks. The result will be even better if it is sown in a box with fertile soil.

Watercress with eggs in a bag

4 fresh eggs, 1 good bunch of watercress, 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. mustard, 1/2 tsp. cumin powder, salt, pepper. Boil eggs. Rinse the salad thoroughly with cold water, squeeze it lightly and dry. Then prepare the sauce: in a salad bowl, beat the lemon juice with mustard, olive oil and caraway seeds, season with salt and lightly pepper. Place the lettuce in a salad bowl and mix well with the sauce. Peel the eggs and carefully cut them into long wedges and spread over the salad, yolks up. Enjoy your meal!