WINTER CRESS SEEDS

Barbarea verna

Also known as Belle Isle cress or creasy greens, this highly nutritious European wild mustard is naturalized across much of the Northeast, having been a valuable market crop in the colonial era. The tender leaves taste like watercress and can be prepared like watercress. Unlike watercress, these plants are extraordinarily drought-tolerant and cold hardy and can often be harvested from beneath snowcover or straw mulch. These leaves will also keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

This cress is everywhere on our Hudson Valley property, to the degree that it is sometimes hard to imagine the need for anyone to sow seeds for this species, as we quite honestly consider it a weed (although an emminently edible one). Whether sown in spring or autumn, plants bolt in June, sending up flowering stems to 3' or so. The bright yellow flowers beckon pollinators and produce tons of seed. These seeds are beloved by birds, and if you hope to save seed or stop these plants from self-sowing, you must tightly bag the flowering stems to prevent pilfering and spilling.

Because this adaptable species self-sows so generously and attracts diverse beneficial wildlife, it is absolutely ideal for permaculture. It is not picky about soil, but prefers full sun and minimal competition. Seeds seem to remain viable in the soil for a long time. Whenever we clear ground for cultivating, up pops this species.

Sow seeds into flats or directly into the garden in early spring or autumn. Seeds typically germinate readily in about two weeks. Leaves are ready to harvest in 30-50 days.

Packet contains around 1000 seeds.