Landcress

Barbarea verna

Story: This seed was kindly donated to us by Maggie from the Incredible seed library (we highly recommend checking out their website) who got the seed from Karen Kildegaard. It is easy to grow and prolific and can be harvested throughout spring, autumn and winter as a cut and come again salad leaf crop. The leaves have a spicy, peppery kick. 

Seed saved by: Maggie - Incredible seed library

Sow: Feb-Sep

Requirements: Landcress likes cool, damp weather, it grows well in shady spots. 

When to harvest for food: Anytime it is in leaf - usually the cooler months of the year. 

When to harvest for seed: Later in the summer and into autumn as seed heads begin to turn brown. 

Isolation needed: Not really

Seed Saving from landcress: Technically land cress is open pollinated but the family is rare so is very unlikely to cross unless you have a selection of different landcresses growing - so no action is needed for cross pollination. Simply allow the plants to flower and go to seed - reducing watering in the hotter months will encourage this. Let the seed heads mature on the plant and begin to dry and turn brown. Cut the seed heads and dry fully indoors. Crush the dry plant material to release the seeds, winnow as much of the chaff away as possible. Package, label, date. Save as many seeds as possible to give to family, friends and of course seed saving networks.

Number of plants to save seeds from: 5 minimum

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 1/2 cup 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.

Photograph curtesy of The Incredible Seed Library