CRESS, MY FAVORITE OF THE WEEK

GARDEN CRESS

First of all what is Garden Cress? It is a green leafy vegetable, sometimes called Pepper Grass. It is related to mustard and watercress and has a spicy or tangy taste. I plant it in the early Spring. In fact, I have some that went to seed last year and I noticed some small plants growing under the adult plants last Fall. I hope when it warms up, the other seeds will germinate and I will have some very early cress. I plan to plant a ‘Spring Garden' very early this year, with lettuce, radishes, spinach, onions and such, I'll keep you posted.

I plant cress thick and harvest it when it is about three inches tall, I trim it with scissors and it will continue to grow. I like eating it on sandwiches instead of lettuce, my favorite is a cress and radish sandwich. It adds a little kick to your sandwich or salad. Usually, when the weather gets hot, the cress will go to seed. I save the seed and plant it again next year.

I have always saved the seed from my garden cress and it always comes up. I have saved and planted this seed for over 20 years. I have some old seed that I know is over 15 years old. I will test it this year to see if it will germinate. This is one vegetable I know will last generation after generation. You can ‘broadcast' this seed, by planting a two foot by two foot square area. Plant cress every few weeks to have a staggered harvest.

I plant a Fall crop too, usually around the end of July or first of August. The cress loves cool weather and doesn't go to seed, or get bitter in the Fall. It stays sweet longer, my best crop is in the Fall. I also plant spinach, lettuce, radishes and peas in my ‘Fall Garden.' The flavor of these Fall crops is incredible.

FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH, MY FAVORITE OF THE WEEK

FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH

My Parents always planted this radish and it is my favorite too. It is so fast growing, watch it closely - it will be one of the first things to eat out of the garden this year.

The radish has a normal green top, below the green leafy top is a small red top of the radish. Below the red top will be the large radish. So when you first look at the radish, you think it is still small, but it is pretty big if you look closer. Eat this radish when it is young, it tends to go to seed quickly.

This is one vegetable I planted late last year, (first of August), and had a wonderful harvest in late September.

Plant this radish very early in the year, I plan to try a small row the beginning of April. I will plant several different radishes every few weeks through the month of May.