I can create life!

Scott / Sunday January 25, 2009 / 41 Comments / Misc.

I made a decision this year to grow more of my own food; tomatoes, herbs, you get the idea.� It’s still too cold for any of that nonsense but I decided not to let it slow me down; there’s always cress, which seems to grow whatever the weather!

Cress

Cress seems to have a really bad reputation, which I’m putting down to memories of growing it in egg cups as children. On its own the traditional garden cress really can be quite bland; grow a few different types (see list below) though and you’ve got a fantastic addition to any salad or sandwich.

I tend to grow cress in old fruit punnets lined with a couple of sheets of moist kitchen towel; each day I check them and sprinkle over a little water if needed to make sure they don’t dry out.

I’m currently growing the following types of cress on my kitchen windowsill (alongside various kitchen herbs), much to my wife’s annoyance:

White Mustard
Sprouting Broccoli
Sprouting Red Cabbage
Sprouting Fenugreek
Sprouting Alfalfa
Fine Curled Cress
Mung Bean Sprouts (not a cress, but close enough)

All of the above are available to buy online; drop me a note if you need some recommendations for where to buy them.

I’m also submitting this article to the great Weekend Herb Blogging, being held over at Mele Cotte.

Pappa al Pomodoro Recipe

Tags: cress, kitchen herbs, weekend herb blogging, whb

Dagmar

You are right about the reputation of cress, but growing so many types is a completely different story. I’m sure they will be perfect on a sandwich.
- scott
  
  They are; the delicious almost curry like smell is filling the kitchen all the time now!
Chris

I have never heard of Cress. It looks lovely. Thanks for participating in WHB!
- scott
  
  Never heard of cress? In England nearly every kid grows it in school (it’s so easy). When you’re older it’s egg and cress sandwiches – for those that know no better.
Cynthia

Love, love, love your site and can’t wait to explore it.

Thanks for visiting.
- scott
  
  I hope you find something worthwhile of your explorations! Let me know if you do (or don’t).
brii

ciaoooo scott!!
saw your cress over at chris..and here I’am..
I grow lentils..they are super tasty!
now I’m trying soya beans..have you tryed them??
have a nice week
baciusss
- scott
  
  I’ve never tried growing soya beans; do they grow in a similar way? (and do lentils, come to think of it?)
Soma

Those pictures are so beautiful, fresh & really looks as if they are grwoing with a lot of vigour!
I have grown fenugreek, & moong.. never even used cress.
- scott
  
  Well they are growing pretty well at the moment. It’s great to have something fresh and peppery growing when all the herbs are pretty much dormant.
Tabitha (From Single to Married)

Is it bad that I’ve not heard of “cress”? I really need to cook more… Good for you though, for growing it!
- scott
  
  You’d perhaps recognise cress if you saw it. Small seeds that grow on tissue paper with nothing more than water as food. Or perhaps it’s just in England that it’s widely known?
brii

ciao chris

no, the lentils I grew in a a fiberwicker, the soya beans are in a glass jar..
I saw an other method in one of my swedish cookbooks.
here (in the end of the post) you can see my lentils
http://briggis-recept-och-ideer.blogspot.com/2009/01/tortino-morbido-di-mascarpone-e-yogurt.html
baciusss
(ps..I’ll keep you informed of the soyabeans 😉 )
Lael

I’ve been reading so much about other people’s gardens (or make-shift, collection-of-pots gardens) and become very envious. I want to start one on my own windowsill! Thanks for the links.
- scott
  
  I’m so determined to do more gardening / growing my own food this year that I’ll end up boring all my regular blog readers – so I apologise in advance!
Carolyn Jung

If all cress looked so dreamy as in your beautiful photos, I’m sure nobody would ever turn any down. Truly gorgeous!
- scott
  
  I have super, beautiful cress 😉 I’ll be coming up with some recipes with it soon, too (check back!)
catering equipment

I have no garden so something I can grow on the window sill!
- scott
  
  You can grow all kinds of other herbs on the window sill, too (I have basil. The rest of my herbs are in the garden).
Marc @ NoRecipes

Wow great photo. Sometimes I dream of leaving my city life for a farm somewhere where I can grow/raise all my own food…. Someday….
- scott
  
  I like the idea too but I’d probably (definitely) be too lazy and end up starving. A few herbs and pots of cress is unlikely to sustain for long!
katie

I miss my garden! I miss having a window sill to grow stuff on. Today is actually warm and sunny, making my spring fever that much worse. I may take you up on your offer – but next year, when I have bullied this property into shape and I have the space to grow them.
Nice photo!
- scott
  
  My own house is small; I’m just squeezing the most into what little space I have…
Mrs. L

You are an inspiration as I have yet to ever grow anything edible in my garden!
- scott
  
  Ah, but these are growing in the kitchen, not the garden! I have some herbs and fruit bushes in the garden, not much else. Determined to grow tomatoes this year, though.
Nate

Beautiful shot. That reminds me, I need to get started with sprouting our tomatoes.

Thanks for adding us as a friend on Foodbuzz. We welcome you to come visit our site!
- scott
  
  I did visit your site; the green tea tiramisu is original, to say the least! Hope to see more inventive creations there too.
Y

We used to grow cress the same way you mentioned, when we were kids. It was so much fun watching them sprout up 🙂 I hope you have success with the tomatoes as well. We found cherry tomatoes easier to grow, and they had better yield too.
- scott
  
  I hope I have success too; the conservatory may be a help. I’ll take on board the tip about cherry tomatoes, ta for that!
R khooks

Oh, I miss those cress and egg sandwiches.Takes me back to packed lunch days. I used to go cress out of a egg shell which I drew a face so the cress looked like hair. Hmmmmmm may have to give it a go again 😉
- scott
  
  I never grew cress as a face but I seem to remember people who did – we grew it at school when I was small. This cress tastes so much better though…
Jeanne

Mmmmm, I do love egg & cress sarnies… Never thought to grow my own though. Very enterprising!
- scott
  
  No no, you got the wrong idea. You can’t grow your own egg & cress sarnies!
Takeaway

Cool, I might have to grow some cress again. We used to grow them as kids all the time. It’s undervalued I think, take two slices of fresh whole wheat bread, cress and cream cheese and perhaps some toasted pine nuts and there you go, a good lunch! 🙂
- scott
  
  A fantastic lunch idea! I’m rarely so inventive but cress sprinkled on just about anything is delicious…
Jaden, Steamy Kitchen

oh what a gorgeous photo! itty bitty cressy baby!
- scott
  
  Ever notice how shots of its so much easier to make nature look better than food? Mother nature rarely messes up, unlike me in the kitchen 🙂
wisdom goddess born

hi,
fell in love with your salad picture and would love some resources for cress and mung beans. I want to learn to grow a little of my own stuff, and sprouting would be a good way to start. I could see that in a very vietnamese-y soup.
- scott
  
  Hi there, well there’s not much resources needed; I such searched for “buy cress online” and saw what came up. I bought from a couple of online retailers in the end, each had a handful of different types. All the other info needed is on the packets.
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I can create life!

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