Mr Fothergills Mustard & Cress Seed (1)

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Research also suggests that high protein, low carb diets aid weight loss by helping you feel full, thereby reducing your calorie intake ( 12, 13). Mustard and cress are great in sandwiches and salads, or as a garnish. If you’re growing them with kids, then try using some unusual containers. If you wash out empty eggshells, you can draw faces on the front and grow ‘egglings’ with cress hair!

Garden cress seeds contain 32% alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3, and 12% linolenic acid (LA), an omega-6. Both are essential fatty acids that the body cannot make, so you must get them from food or supplements ( 17). This annual plant can reach a height of 60cm (24in), with many branches on the upper part. The white to pinkish flowers are only 1⁄ 16in) across, clustered in small branched racemes. [4] [5] Usually when harvesting cress, you cut them close to the soil line. But if you leave half an inch on the seedlings when you cut them, then you may find that the cress regrows. In a test-tube study, human liver cells preexposed to toxic hydrogen peroxide were then exposed to garden cress extract. The extract inhibited oxidative stress by 56% and prevented cell death by 48% ( 16).

Edible shoots are typically harvested in one to two weeks after planting, when they are 5–13cm (2–5in) tall. [7] Culinary uses [ edit ] Cress seedlings sometimes go mouldy before they’re ready to harvest. If they do, throw them on the compost heap and start again. Keep things nice and clean and if it’s winter, then try growing them in a warmer room. The true leaves of cress are feathery and divided and plants grow to around six inches high in about four weeks. Leave it longer and it will begin to go to seed, but if this happens don't just throw them out. The fire in the leaves will have died down, but they're still tasty and the tiny white flowers are also edible and provide a tiny mustardy explosion in the mouth. If you harvest by snipping stalks just above a leafy growing point, they may produce a second flush of leaves, but my experience is that cress isn't very keen to regenerate. Sowing a new batch is a better way to keep cress in production.

Scatter the garden cress seeds over the soil or the paper towels. If you are using soil, press the seeds in lightly and sprinkle lightly with a little extra soil. Place the container or tray in a sunny indoor location, such as on a window sill. In a study in 50 rats given aluminum, this heavy metal significantly damaged liver and kidney function. Yet, the groups of rats receiving garden cress after or alongside aluminum saw their liver and kidney function restored to almost normal ( 14).To begin with, you’ll need to buy some seeds – for garden cress seeds and/or mustard. Both plants have quite a lot of flavour, with mustard being hotter than cress. If you want something a bit milder, look for oilseed rape (canola) seeds – they can be grown the same way. All the same, keep in mind that specific studies on garden cress’s effects in people with diabetes aren’t available ( 27). Summary