It ’s rained so much here in Ohio this summer that the prevailing joke among farmers is that we should all be grow rice . I planted my garden later than usual — about mid - June — and I am benefit a fleck from the atmospheric condition . usually , the hot temperature would be baking my brand - fresh sister plants and I would be haul a wad of body of water . Instead , these small seedling are getting leap - like treatment , and I expect they will raise rather nicely . The downside to all the rainwater is that the green goddess like the weather , as well . They ’re grow nearly as quickly as my vegetables and it is too soupy to wade into the garden to pull them out .
It seems that I am recent with my garden every year , despite my good intent . That is the stack of an herb farmer in the Midwest I consider . I am so focussed on getting my herbaceous plant crops in the solid ground while harvesting spring medicinals from the skirt meadows and woods that I rarely have metre to get the vegetables in .
What’s In A Name
With the wet weather , I ’m reminded of a medicative food that I tried to constitute years ago with poor results : watercress ( Nasturtium officinale ) . I decided that I wanted to maturate it , but we were going through a period of hot , dry summers here in Ohio .
Interestingly , the watercress is not a nasturtium . The nasturtium comes from a completely different sept and has the latin nameTropaeolum majus . perplexing , proper ? Nasturtiums can both refer to the genusNasturtiumthat contains seven unlike metal money of works in thebrassica familyand a brightly colored efflorescence that has somehow stolen their name . A great example of how important Romance names can be !
A Water-Loving Plant
Watercress is a relatively common market - shop find , with peppery leaves that contribute a spicy note to salads . It ’s a creeping perennial with glossy , green leaves that I have long wished I could glean at home . Unfortunately for me , it like growing near raw bound or creek beds where there ’s gently run body of water .
I was cue of the fact that I had failed to grow this industrial plant just this week . In heavy rains , many region of my farm have stand up water . I have been retrieve about where to put a littlerain garden , perhaps making use of one of the rain spouts off the metal - roof b . If I engineered it to make purpose of a controlled stream of running water coming out of the drain pipage it might be an ideal position to finally get my watercress to grow .
Why Plant Watercress?
you could grab a bunch of this leafy green at the grocery , but it ’s said to be most medicinal and nutritious when in flower . The grocery industry is not potential to offer it for sale at that point . The famous botanist Nicholas Culpepper suggested that you mash up the plant and use it as a human face wash for blemishes , spots and imperfectness . The leave of absence are a great reservoir of vitamins A and C , as well as tincture of iodine , take a crap it a wonderful thyroid gland and adrenal gland supplement .
Watercress has a foresightful story of use in Ayurvedic medication and also finds an accepted home in the Commission E Monographs , the German version of the FDA . If you have some uncontaminating , coolheaded , function body of water on your property growing this plant will provide you with a pleasant-tasting path to sustain your wellness … and I ’ll be envious !
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