Cress (胡椒草庭園水芹)

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Official Name:Lepidium sativum

General description: Garden cress, Lepidium sativum, is an herbaceous annual in the family Brassicaceae grown for its edible shoots and leaves which are grown as a salad green. Garden cress is a fast growing plant with many branches and narrow, oval leaves. The plant produces small pink to white flower which are 2 mm (1/12 in) in diameter and form a highly clustered inflorescence. It can reach a height of 60 cm (23.6 in) and although classed as an annual it can behave as a perennial as it may drop seeds before harvest that will grow the next year. Garden cress may also be referred to as pepper cress or Persian broadleaf cress and it originates from Persia (Iran).

How to grow: 

1. Pick a shady area in your garden. Cress grows well in cool, shady areas. 
2. Obtain cress seeds. Cress will easily grow from seeds. 
3. Sow the cress. You should plant the cress seeds in your garden early in the spring before the last frost. 
4. Water the cress. Cress needs plenty of water to grow. 
5. Thin the cress.

Benefits: 

• Packed with Nutrients, Particularly Vitamin K. 
• High Antioxidant Content May Lower Your Risk of Chronic Diseases. 
• Contains Compounds That May Prevent Certain Types of Cancer. 
• Beneficial for Heart Health in Many Impressive Ways. 
• Mineral and Vitamin K Contents Protect Against Osteoporosis.