Watercress is an amazing pale green annual herb that contains vitamins and many other beneficial substances. The unusual spicy taste of young leaves resembles horseradish, mustard or radish. The use of this plant in food helps to restore a person’s strength after an illness, strengthen immunity, cleanse the body of toxins and toxins, and regulate blood pressure. Growing watercress on a windowsill will help provide the family with nutrients all year round.
Description
An annual vegetable plant, watercress belongs to the genus Bedbug of the Cruciferous family. It is used in cooking, cosmetology, traditional medicine is widely used, fighting many ailments. Young leaves with a white stem are eaten. It has been known since antiquity, even Hippocrates believed that watercress purifies the blood, returns strength to the afflicted.
All this is due to the amazing combination of useful elements for humans. As part of watercress, scientists found carotene, vitamins A, E, C, K, D, PP, almost all B vitamins, a huge amount of minerals, and besides them, proteins, sugars, essential and fatty oils, flavonoids, glycoside propsoline and alkaloid lepidin. It is hard to believe that delicate green leaves on thin white stems contain so much of everything that the human body needs.
Usually only young leaves are eaten. A plant that has reached maturity, flowering and fruiting, becomes less tender, the concentration of nutrients in the leaves drops. Oil is made from seeds, but for this you need to have equipment, at home they are insisted on vegetable oil. The taste of young sprouts is sharp, piquant, reminiscent of horseradish, radish or mustard. Three types of watercress are usually cultivated:
- curly;
- whole-leaved;
- sowing.
Curly lettuce has strongly cut leaves, which reflects the name, its varieties are early or mid-ripening. Early ripe ones ripen 3 weeks after the first shoots appear. Whole-leaved has larger, not so elegant leaves. Among its varieties there are both early-ripening (the Dukat variety is most famous) and late-ripening. Sowing watercress is known for such early ripening varieties as “Dansky”, “Zabava”. Seeds of different species do not have noticeable differences, but grown plants differ in their appearance. The leaves, depending on the variety, are bright green, yellowish green or even gray.
Watercress frosts are not terrible, you can sow it on the site as soon as the snow melts, it becomes the first vitamin greens that are eaten in spring. It grows very quickly, it is not at all picky about the soil. 100 g of greens contains only 32 kilocalories, which is why it is simply not replaceable when losing weight.
All this together makes watercress so popular and in demand. Originally from Asia, this amazing vegetable has taken root in all the cuisines of the world. In Europe, it is introduced into salads, served with meat and fish, and decorated with sandwiches and soups. The French make soufflés, gravies and mousses out of it. The Chinese serve it with sugar as a dessert, a combination that surprises Europeans but is becoming more and more popular.
Watercress is known for its antioxidant and mild sedative properties; with regular use, it can normalize sleep and blood pressure, and relieve depression. Traditional medicine widely uses it as an anti-inflammatory, expectorant, diuretic, wound healing, anti-sclerotic, sedative. Leaves treat many skin diseases, wounds and ulcers, chronic cough, gallbladder problems and joint pain. Official medicine recommends regular use of watercress for the prevention of eye diseases and many types of cancer. Dentists advise eating leaves, sprouted watercress seeds to prevent periodontal disease and strengthen tooth enamel.
Cosmetology uses the leaves, juice and seed oil of this miracle salad for skin and hair care. Fighting acne and acne, he shows great results. It’s all worth it to consider growing watercress at home.
Video “How to germinate watercress»
Video recommendations for sprouting watercress at home.
Agrotechnics
You can grow watercress on the windowsill all year round, from the moment of planting to consumption, a maximum of 2 weeks pass. This can get rid of seasonal beriberi, cure many ailments, help with weight loss. And only too high air temperature can interfere.
First you need to buy seeds. The expiration date must be indicated on the package, it is desirable that at least six months remain before its end. In addition, you need to carefully examine the packaging – if the seeds get wet, they are no longer suitable material for sowing. After making sure that the seeds have retained their suitability, you can proceed to the selection and preparation of dishes.
You can plant watercress in the ground so that it grows, almost like in a vegetable garden. To do this, put a layer of expanded clay for drainage in a low flower pot, 3 cm thick soil rich in humus on top. Before that, it is advisable to soak the seeds in warm settled water, they will be saturated with it while the soil is being prepared for them. Water with seeds is poured onto the prepared soil so that the seeds are distributed as evenly as possible. A centimeter layer of earth is laid on top of the seeds, watered, covered with cellophane or cling film, cleaned in a dark place with an air temperature of +7 degrees.
The next day, the film must be removed, the crops should be watered, then closed again. After a couple of days, shoots will appear, they can be thinned out so that there is a distance of 1–2 cm between the sprouts. Then the pot can be opened, transferred to a warmer and brighter room, the temperature should not be higher than +15 degrees. Over the next week (approximately), you need to make sure that fresh air enters the room, water the seedlings, loosen the ground if it is compacted, turn the pot 180 degrees relative to the sun. When the plants reach a height of 7 – 10 cm, and this usually happens 2 weeks after sowing, you can cut the crop with a sharp knife or scissors and eat. You need to cut off exactly as much as will go into food immediately, you do not need to store it.
Watercress on the balcony can be grown without land. Any shallow plastic container will do. At its bottom, you need to lay a layer of 2 cm gauze, cotton wool or any cotton cloth, moisten it with plenty of water, lay the seeds on top, previously soaked for several minutes with warm water. Then the container is covered with a film and cleaned in a dark place. After the appearance of the first sprouts, the film is removed and the sprouts are taken care of in the same way as in the previous description.
If desired, you can do without a rag. The most fun way to grow is to sow watercress seeds in a tea strainer, put it in a cup, pour warm settled water through so that the bottom of the strainer touches the surface of the water. In a couple of days, friendly shoots should appear. The main thing is to remember to spray them with water (or add it to a cup), turn them 180 degrees daily and keep them out of the heat.
After a week and a half, all this can be eaten directly with the roots. If there are several strainers, you can arrange the cultivation so that there is always a portion of vitamin greens at the table, for example, for breakfast. With this cultivation, even younger greens are eaten than when grown in the ground. If you wish, you can not grow leaves at all, but eat germinated seeds – this is also very useful.
Video “Watercress at home»
Video review on sowing watercress seeds and the process of their further cultivation at home.
