Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

This seed was kindly gifted to us by Maggie from the Incredible Seed Library. Watercress is delicious with a spicy, peppery flavour and it is incredibly nutritious, being high in vitamin C and A. 

Seed saved by: Maggie - Incredible Seed Library

When to Sow: March-April 

Requirements: Watercress needs to be kept damp at all times. It does well in a flowing water source - a baby bath or small pond with a pump works great - careful not to grow in stagnant or contaminated water. Alternatively, try growing it in a pot sat in a tray of water - refresh the water every few days by taking the pot out of the tray, pouring away the old water in it and flushing it through with clean fresh water. Allow the water to run through for a few seconds and then place the pot back in its tray.

When to harvest for eating: All year except from the coldest parts of winter when growth slows right down.

When to harvest seed: Watercress is day-length dependent and will flower when days are short. Keep an eye out for flowers and seeds and harvest ripe (black) seeds as they form.

Seed Saving: To save seed from watercress, simply let it go to seed where it is growing. Allow the seed heads to form on the plant and begin to dry out a bit, turning from green to black. Snip off the seed heads, bring them inside and allow to dry fully then crumble the seeds from their casings. Winnow this to remove as much chaff as possible. Package, label and date and save lots of seed to share with family friends and of course seed saving networks. 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 5 minimum, more is ideal

Pollination: Self and insect pollinated 

How to send back seed: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your name and contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1 tablespoon of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups, seed guardians and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.

Picture courtesy of Nebula