| Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND ....................................................... |
| blowin |
water cressThe topical tip for a few weeks time is watercress soup .Seriously ! There is plenty of cress in the clean streams . There is a possibility of confusion with a similar looking plant but it is not difficult to tell them apart once you know that . Best not to eat it raw because there is a risk of picking up fluke from any water where there are sheep nearby but once cooked it is perfectly safe . The soup is very good 
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| wayoutwest |
I was thinking of growing it on our land - if life gives you lemons, make lemonade... well life gave us very wet land!
no local clean streams here. enjoy it if you can get it! |
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| admin |
If you are lucky enough to have a true spring ( rather than just run-off water re-surfacing ) then plant your cress in the outflow from that . It will benefit from the constant temp of the water .
But I suspect you were joking ! Land Cress tastes very similar , doesn't carry the same risk of fluke and is easy to grow . Customer asks Waiter : " Do you have wild duck ? " Waiter replies " No , Sir , but we can aggravate a tame one ". |
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| wayoutwest |
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| jon |
We have a good little spring running all year. Can watercress seeds be brought mail order anywhere in Ireland?
Jon |
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| Moonwaves |
Would you get some here perhaps?
http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/seeds.html |
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| blowin |
Sorry jon , I missed your post . Do you particularly want to start from seed ? The easy way is to buy a bunch from the veg man ( or even supermarket !! ) then just stand it in water ( changed daily ) until it roots . You can even put it straight into the stream , held in place with a rock .
But come to think of it I have never seen it on sale in these parts . Perhaps that is why you asked !! Let me know if you are stuck -- I'll send a bag of the wild stuff from here . You would do well to double check its i/d tho' because I am not an expert . It looked & tasted fine to me ( before I knew about the fluke !  ) but while I am prepared to risk poisoning myself in persuit of this good life I would feel terrible if I sent a wrong 'un to someone else !
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| wayland |
That is a good idea Blowin. I think that I will have a go at watercress growing. Have you got any Horseradish growing around your place?
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| blowin |
Horseraddish -- unfortunately not but I have a sense of deja vu here . Someone else was looking for it ?? Possibly on another forum ?
It seems to be another one of those things which cost a fortune to buy even tho' they propogate so easily they can become invasive . I can tell you exactly where to dig some in Berkshire . It is just outside a pub , if that helps .
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| wayland |
It grew like weeds in the Fens. Colmans used to pay the local kids to go and dig it for a bit of pocket money. The Fenns are alkaline and so they may not like this soil much. I will bring some back and give the plot a good liming and see what happens. | ||
| Moonwaves |
All this talk about horseradish reminded me of this post from a blog I really enjoy, Musings from a Stonehead:
http://stonehead.wordpress.com/2007/01/08/preparing-horseradish/ |
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| tringle |
I was going to aske about watercress too as we have a stream running through the garden. When it gets to use it is about 2 miles from a spring, running through farmland with cattle grazing. And about 6 houses in some proximity to it, any idea if it would be safe to eat watercress from that. Or is there some way to test he water for safety. | ||
| wayland |
The main problem is with the liver fluke. The life cycle of this nasty needs a water snail as a host. Running water is not user friendly to the snail which prefurs ponds and boggy ground, So I should think that as long as you have a half decent flow you will be fine. As far as the farm and livestock are concerned they should not be a problem to you. No more than giving your vedgy patch a load of manure and then picking a lettuce etc. Just give your cress a good wash as per normal.
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| irishfarmer |
seedi bought two packs of seeds ridiculously easy to grow!!!!go for it |
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| GB |
Tesco sells bags of watercress in the salad section. I buy it regularly and have just thrown some into the stream out front and plan to do the same out back. Just pick out the strong stems and either root in water on window sill or just put in stream.
I even grew it for a summer in a window box full of water. Dead easy plant to grow 
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| tringle |
Its a very fast stream, we can hear it all night long so the fluke issue should be Ok. And about the cattle , darling husband made a point that if cattle are happy to drink from the stream then it should be safe. So, off to find some (though Tesco didnt have any for the past few weeks) |
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| blowin |
Oh dear , I kind of wish you hadn't told us who said that because I don't think it is correct ! how big is he ? |
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| tringle |
oooh, so where does that leave me watercress wise, safe or not safe?
And as for darling husband he did once give me wild sorrel to eat, which wasnt wild sorrel and I threw up 
Thats why I check here first of course
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| GB |
sounds a bit suspect to me
but if you are really worried about the state of the water that the cress is growing in you could get it tested. Or put in a small water feature of your own. just a small rill with a recirculating pump at one end and cress planted in. It has worked for me in the past
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| wayland |
I cant find any watercress in the shops around here. Does anyone know of a seed supplier on line that can supply these. | ||
| ron |
Horseradish
Did you find any? The local garden centre here has really healthy plants in the herb section for a couple of euro each. I am happy to get you some if you're still looking. Ron |
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| blowin |
Hi Ron , Many thanks for the offer . I won't take you up on it at the moment because I have already bitten off more than I can chew but thanks again
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