When is cress ready to harvest?
In the field it only takes two to three weeks before you can harvest the cress. The prerequisite is that you ensure that the soil remains moist.
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You can harvest cress in the garden until flowers form. As the flowers appear, the plants lose their aroma. So better harvest on time.
Cress grown on the windowsill is ready to be cut after a few days. Here the garden cress is cut after the cotyledons after the first leaves appear.
The best time to cut cress
In the early morning, the leaves contain a particularly large amount of essential oils. It is best to cut the cress at this time.
Harvesting cress properly
- Use scissors to harvest
- Harvest in the early morning
- Cut the cress just above the ground
- Avoid washing if possible
Consume cress quickly after harvesting
Cress tastes best freshly picked. It can only be stored for a short time and loses part of its aroma after just a few hours.
So only harvest as much cress as you can use up quickly. Cress is not necessarily suitable for drying or freezing. It is best to process large quantities of cress into cress oil, cress butter or pesto. You should only wash cress in an emergency, as this will make the leaves muddy.
Think about the new sowing in good time
So that you can always harvest fresh cress, you should create new cress beds on the windowsill every week.
It is also advisable to re-sow in good time outdoors. You can simply sow them as catch crops in other beds or plant them in the previous bed.
Tips & Tricks
You can easily harvest cress that you grow on the windowsill by holding the planter at an angle. Cut the herbs with scissors so that they fall directly onto the sandwich or into the prepared quark dish.
