Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Eible Watercress
"~ jan" wrote in message
.. . Was: Filter plants starting to grow - any new ones to recommend? On Sun, 8 Apr 2007 10:14:34 CST, "Peter Corser" wrote: Watercress is almost ideal - grows really rapidly even in a settlement tank with no substrate or in a tank which still has plastic Flocor! Here in the UK it can go almost dormant during hard winters, but usually restarts growth very early - I use it in all my filter tanks. We also like to eat watercress ourselves (much better, fresher and cheaper than supermarket stuff) and have an almost unlimited supply most of the year - Watercress is really high is good stuff also, but I took a bite out of mine and quickly spit it out, very BITTER. Is that normal? Are there different kinds of watercress types? Mine started out as a grocery store variety. How on earth do you eat it, I can't imagine having even a small bit of it in anything? Pond plants are a no-go with my Koi - even overturned a large plastic washing basket (about 3 ft by 2 feet and weghted down with bricks!) we tried to use to grow water lilies! Peter Now that's amazing. How big are your koi? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us Jan Watercress should be very hot & peppery - most of what you get from the supermarket has probably lost a lot of its taste in transport! Having said that, the only source of watercress I have used for the pond is from the supermarket. There may be different kinds of watercress, but I have never seen or heard anything about the subject. I eat loads of it raw and often straight from the pond after washing in clean water (maybe I just have the taste), but it can be used in salads or cooking (watercress soup is a favoured by some). We are members of a UK Folk Dance Club (although my own activity is now zero due to medical problems) and we always take fresh watercress to our dances or party nights (done on what is known over here as an American Supper - everyone brings something along to share with anyone else who fancies it) and the watercress always runs out, no matter how much we take! Several of our neighbours are also happy to take as much as they can. One method which might make it more palatable to you would be to keep it for a few days to let some of the strength subside. Wash and roughly drain a bunch (enough to fill whatever size of plastic bag you have available), fill the bag ensuring there is some, but only a little, water in the bag - seal and it will keep for at least a week in the fridge and may be more to your taste. If the bag has any kind of breathing hole it does not seem to work as well. I usually rewash the watercress after 3 or 4 days - being lazy I just empty any old water out of the bag, partly refill the bag, swirl around and drain from the bag until there is no longer a continuous stream (a few attempts and practice should make perfect!) and reseal the bag. If all else fails watercress is a marvellous natural activator for a compost heap/maker! The koi are not particularly large - some around 2 ft/2 ft 6 in - but are large enough to trash anything when they are breeding. I have also decided that it is inadvisable to have any containers within the pond since my koi and orfe love "jumping" for insects above the pond and containers could cause damage. The pond was built 29 years ago and some of the koi have been with us since then - I have not added any fish to the pond for over 10 years (and that pair of koi are stunted at about a foot in length). There are also about 15 huge Golden Orfe - the remnants of 60 we put into the pond as very small fry over its first two years. These are a similar size to the koi and are the reason the koi are not growing in size - koi do not emit pheromones when they reach maturity, which is why koi can grow huge in a koi only pond, but do respond to the pheromones of other fish. My koi could start growing again once the orfe have gone, but .......... Peter -- Peter & Elizabeth Corser Leighton Buzzard, UK |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | Rate This Thread |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Loppers - which ones do you recommend? | Gardening | |||
Apple trees - a few big ones or a lot of little ones? | United Kingdom | |||
Apples: which ones to grow? | United Kingdom | |||
Need A Good mechanical/biological pond Filter Which ones are good? | Ponds | |||
want to grow new tree/plants from cuttings of mature ones | Gardening |