How to Grow Winter Cress

Grow winter cress in a vegetable garden for a winter-harvest leafy-green crop. This fast-growing member of the mustard family has a slightly spicy flavor. Add the leaves to fresh green salads or cook them up like spinach. You may even harvest the flower stalks, just before the flowers bloom, for a spicy broccoli-like vegetable. This herbaceous perennial grows 1 to 1 1/2 feet tall. The primary harvest time is in winter and early spring.

Things You'll Need

Trowel

Shears

Instructions

- 1
  In mild climates, sow the seeds in fall for a winter harvest. In colder areas, plant the seeds in late summer for a fall harvest and in early spring for a spring harvest. Once planted, this perennial returns from seed and from the spreading underground roots.
- 2
  Plant winter cress in a spot that gets full sun. Sandy or loamy soil with a pH range between 4.8 and 7.5 is ideal for winter cress plants.
- 3
  Make holes 1-inch apart and 1-inch deep. Drop one winter cress seed into each hole and cover it with soil. Keep the area damp during germination. Look for green shoots two to three weeks after planting.
- 4
  Thin the winter cress seedlings to a spacing of 5 to 7 inches when they grow 2 inches tall. Replant the seedlings you remove or take them to the kitchen to add to salad.
- 5
  Harvest the tender greens anytime during the growing season. You may take the delicate seedlings or wait until the plants mature. If you take a few leaves from each plant, you can keep them going in the garden and have fresh greens on the table. Pinch the leaves off of the stalks using your finger nails or a pair of clippers.
- 6
  Cut the immature flower stalks at the soil line. You may eat the immature flower stalks, and removing them encourages the plants to put more effort into developing leaves. Leave two or three plants to go to seed if you want a crop the next year.

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