Belle Isle Cress is not just for the starving and scurvy plagued. Here's another cool loving salad green to consider for your winter garden.
Readers of this blog know that I like the peppery taste of watercress, so I was intrigued to learn about another salad green called Upland Cress that is reputed to have a similar flavor, but more delicate foliage.
There are a number of varieties of Upland Cress and the plant goes by many names including: Bank Cress, Belle Isle Cress, Herb of St. Barbara, Normandy Cress, Spring Cress, and Treacle Mustard. Confusing, eh!
I purchased seeds for Belle Isle Cress from Wild Garden Seed. According to their web site, the plant has been eaten since colonial times to ward off scurvy and was taken back to Europe by 17th century Portuguese sailors. Apparently, these unfortunate sea lads became shipwrecked on Belle Isle after a harsh Nor'Easter and survived by eating the cress.
Sadly, Wild Garden Seeds does not mention where Belle Isle is located. An internet search turns up a "Belle Isle" in several places, the most prominent of which is Belle Isle, Florida. But none of these locations seems like the probable location of a Nor'Easter. I presume a sailor marooned in Florida would have had more to eat than just cress, even if it meant dodging alligators and cotton mouth pit vipers.
How To Grow Belle Isle Cress
This cress grows well in moist soil in full sun but will tolerate partial shade as well. Belle Isle cress likes cool weather so plant it in the Spring and harvest before hot weather sets in as warmer weather causes the plant to become quite bitter. The cress takes 50 days to reach full maturity, but you can harvest the shoots earlier than that if you wish.
I live in Northern California where the temperatures rarely go below freezing so I'm able to plant this cress in the Fall and harvest in the Fall and Winter. I currently have it growing hydroponically in my greenhouse and it's thriving.
Belle Isle Cress is high in both vitamin A and C. So if you are a Portuguese Seadog you can grow it on deck in containers and fend off potential bouts of scurvy. By the way, if you know where Belle Isle is located, please enlighten me.
I'm SURE it's Belle Isle, Newfoundland. There were Portuguese sailors in that area, as well as British and French, and there are constantly storms because of the Gulf Stream and Labrador current colliding. And nothing else grows in that area...well, some blueberries, but if it wasn't blueberry season then cress may have been all that was available.
Posted by: Amie | 07/20/2011 at 10:32 AM
Hi Amie. Thanks for letting me know.
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 07/21/2011 at 06:14 AM