The Great Cress Experiment, Continued.

My lively little watercress plants have reached the second set of true leaves stage of growth, which means they are likely ready to move to an all-water environment.  After dislodging a chunk, it was simply a matter of gently swishing the teeny plants in a bowl of water to remove the seed starting mix.

The new location for the continued growth of the watercress is in buckets, filled with clean water straight from my well.  In each bucket (there are two) I've placed an air stone, running off a very inexpensive aquarium pump, to keep the water fresh and provide the roots with plenty of good oxygen for healthy growth.

Into each bucket I put a plastic colander, found for roughly $1, and a layer of aquarium rocks.  Then, small bunches of the watercress are plonked into the rocks and gently tucked into place.  The colanders allow the cress to have wet feet with their green leafy bits above the water's surface.

Of course, there were quite a lot of little cress plants left over.  I put a few clumps into small mason jars, just in case the buckets don't take off, and the rest?  Well, those got a hair cut and became a delicious lunch:

Soft scrambled eggs on toast, topped with fresh watercress.  Ahh.  The lunch of champions.