Why Hampshire is ‘King of the Watercress!’

Peppery watercress is Hampshire’s best-sold crop, easily cooked, so only add at in the last few minutes for recipes. Also popular in Dorset, it was first eaten by the Romans in the first sandwich! Try this 15-minute watercress soup (Salted Mint).

Check medication before consuming watercress (due to vitamin K interactions) and keep away from pets. If growing your own, use no-dig methods to protect wildlife (also read about pet-friendly gardens).

One bag of watercress is sold each second in England. It’s been popular since Roman times, when it was thought to cure everything from baldness to insanity. Or just to freshen breath.

Best enjoyed from April to September, choose strong green leaves for freshness and only wash and shake dry before use. Store in the fridge (ideally in water) and eat within a couple of days.

A former watercress farm near Chichester, is set to become a glamping site. The owners plan to let tourists help themselves, and remaining beds will be turned into wildlife ponds.

Free Watercress on the NHS?

The founder of England’s largest watercress farm eats it each day, as does his family. He’s so passionate about the crop, he arranges a watercress festival in the village of Alresford.

The company is also trialling ‘free watercress soup’ at an NHS hospital,. This could use up 90,000kg of winter watercress that would otherwise go to waste,  and serve nutritious tasty food to patients.

M & S recently sold a ‘posh egg cress sandwich’ for £6 with ‘whole sliced egg, fresh baby watercress and mayo on two slices of bread’. It did not take long for comments like ”this country is finished’ and that ‘the word posh costs you 3 quid’.