The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Cress
CRESS.
Lepídium Satìvum—Cresson, Fr.—Kresse, Ger.
Curled or Pepper Cress takes its name from its warm, spicy, pungent flavor. It is very generally cultivated as an early salad. In Europe it is daily on the tables of the wealthy, and can be grown fit for use on a warm hot-bed in forty-eight hours.
Culture.—The seed should always be sown on very rich, light ground, that it may grow as rapidly as possible, being cut while perfectly young and in a crisp state. It is fully ready when one inch high, and is best when only once cut, though many allow it to get two or three inches high, cutting off only the tops and allowing it to grow for repeated croping. To have it very early, sow in February on a gentle hot-bed, where the glass can be placed within a few inches of the soil. The sowings in the open ground begin about the end of March, and should be continued every week for two months. Sow the seed very thick, either in drills or broad cast; earth over very lightly, just enough to cover the seed; and press it even with the back of the spade. In dry weather give occasional waterings. In cold nights cover the ground with mats, or straw, to ward off any frost. When grown in hot-beds, give plenty of air during the day. A family can use from four ounces to a pound of seed.