The Basics of Growing

The principles of growing watercress have essentially changed little over the years. Natural spring water bubbles up from underground aquifers and the watercress plants cling to the gravel beds as the water flows past them. It is from the flowing water that the watercress  takes up the minerals in which it is richly endowed. Because the water is from an underground source, it remains at a constant 10˚C, which not only protects the watercress from frost and the water  from freezing, meaning it is a crop which can be grown all year round, but also in times of drought the crop remains relatively unaffected as the water continues to rise from the ground. Much of the work on the farms is still done by hand due to the nature of the plant beds.

Until the mid-1950s watercress was predominantly a winter crop and to support this there were farms operating up to ten times the area of production that exists today. This is because the crop grows slowly during this period compared to the faster summer period. Winter production suited the farms as they often dried up in the summer.

Watercress grown in winter is produced in the same way as other times of year, in the flowing spring water, however, the growth of the watercress is slower compared to the summer.

The History

Watercress has a noble history and although it is not exclusive to the UK it seems to have been adopted by the British from an early stage in their history and continues to be associated with our country in a big way. After China, with a considerably bigger population, Britain is the biggest consumer of watercress. In the 1700s the fourth Earl of Sandwich, even included watercress in the creation of the eponymous, classic British ‘sandwich’. He made it with two slices of bread so he could continue to gamble, but avoid getting his playing cards dirty!

The popularity of watercress was at its peak in Victorian times. Before the industrial revolution, watercress had grown wild in the fresh running waters of streams and rivers and was eaten freely by everyone. However, with the movement of the population to towns and cities, fewer people had access to it, although it remained a popular source of nutrition. The development of the railway suddenly allowed tons of the plant, packed in wicker ‘flats’ at the farms, to be transported up to Covent Garden Market and other fresh fruit and vegetable markets further north. Street sellers would buy it and form it into bunches, which were eaten in the hand, like an ice cream cone – the original ‘on-the-go’ food! Watercress was also often consumed in sandwiches at breakfast time, although in poorer homes it was eaten on its own, which earned it the nickname of ‘poor man’s bread’.

The watercress industry continued to thrive during both World Wars when the country had to rely on homegrown produce. But a decline in the watercress industry began with the lifting of import restrictions, together with the introduction of exotic varieties of salad leaves, and the subsequent closure of many branch railways in the 1960s which made transport of watercress from remote farms and towns more difficult.

Gradually, watercress gained a reputation as being just a garnish, served up at hotels and as demand declined, many watercress beds fell into disrepair. In the 1940s more than 1,000 acres of watercress were under cultivation but by the end of the 20th century that figure had shrunk to 150 acres.

However, in 2000 British watercress farmers joined forces to once again raise the profile of this great British salad leaf. A promotional campaign, “Not Just a Bit on the Side”, was launched, which resulted in the industry enjoying a renaissance which continues today in the UK. Watercress is once again being recognised as the original ‘superfood’ and firmly established as a popular salad leaf and ingredient. It even has an annual Watercress Festival dedicated to it, held in the Hampshire town of Alresford every year in May and which celebrates the start of the UK watercress season.

Health Benefits

Watercress has been revered for thousands of years by many different cultures for its apparent health-giving properties, from as early as Roman times. However, it was not until the 1990s and the 2000s that scientific research was seriously undertaken to prove that much of what our ancestors had claimed had roots in genuine scientific fact.

Watercress is now known to be one of the healthiest vegetables around. It contains over 50 vital vitamins and minerals. In fact, this leafy powerhouse, gram for gram, contains more calcium  than milk, more vitamin C than an orange, more folate than a banana and more vitamin E than broccoli but crucially for vegetarians and vegans, it’s also high in vitamin A and rich in iron.

For plant iron to be absorbed, vitamins C and A are required to convert it into a more easily absorbable form such as haem iron as found in meat. Not all vegetables that contain iron have as high levels of vitamins A and C as watercress, and so the iron is not as readily available in some green vegetables as in watercress.

Another little-known fact about watercress relates to amino acids. Compounds that play many critical roles in the body, including regulating the immune function and building muscle. The body needs 20 different amino acids to grow and function properly and although all 20 are important for health, only nine amino acids are classified as essential. Unlike non-essential amino acids, essential amino acids cannot be made by the body and must be obtained through diet. Unusually for a plant,
watercress has a full complement of the nine essential amino acids.

Watercress is also recognised as a natural source of fibre, and naturally high in protein, as well as in a range of vital antioxidants called glucosinolates and flavonoids. These protect against cell damage [1], the precursor to chronic disease and ageing [2] and are associated with the prevention of diabetes, cancer [3] [4] and cardiovascular disease [5]. One of these bioactives, phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), which gives watercress its distinctive peppery taste, is being shown through current scientific research to be associated with improved outcomes in some types of cancers [3].

Sustainable Production

Compared with other salads, watercress also wins in terms of sustainability as the inputs are so low. The water used by the farms is ‘borrowed’ for the time it takes to travel from the spring through the beds and off to the river, and we remove nutrients found in the water during its journey. There are many of these including calcium and phosphate, but interestingly the removal of nitrogen is very beneficial to rivers as it is assisting in rebalancing nature and means  we can remove nitrogen applications with fertiliser from our growing routine.

The watercress beds are cropped six times a year which is also unheard of in our sector; salads generally take a lot longer to grow, but as we have a constant supply of fresh water this allows us to mono crop, and it’s been that way for 200 years.

Watercress sourced from the UK is always labelled on the packaging and is never mixed together with imported varieties, so you always know what you are buying. Watercress + sunlight + water = one of the most sustainable production models in the UK!