Helpful information
Timing: All year round
Where to do it: Indoors
Garden space: Indoor space, no garden
Timing: All year round
Where to do it: Indoors
Garden space: Indoor space, no garden
Cress is many people's first introduction to plant growing. The edible herb can germinate in as little as one or two days, making it perfect for those impatient to enjoy results.
Cress (or garden cress) is closely related to watercress and mustard. They all share a peppery flavour, which makes them a welcome addition to salads and sandwiches.
Another great reason to grow cress is its nutritional value. It's particularly rich in Vitamin K, as well as Vitamin C.
If you are growing with young people, an eggshell cress head is a great activity to inspire a fascination with nature. It's a lot of fun for adults to do too.
Essential items
Optional items
Follow these steps to create your egg shell cress head with ease.
Step 1: Gather everything you need and prepare your eggshell
Get together everything you need and find a comfortable spot to work. Indoors at a table is ideal.
You will need to prepare your egg shell. Very carefully and gently crack an egg. Try to just take off just the top of the egg shell, or crack it roughly in half. Don't worry if the cracked line is wobbly. It's all part of the charm.
Tip out the yolk and white. You could save these in a bowl for later use - to make an omelette, or fried egg for example. You want to keep the fatter, bottom part of the egg shell for your cress head. You can discard the top piece of egg shell.
Very gently clean the egg shell under a slow running tap to remove any remaining white or yolk.
Cracking an egg can be delicate work. If you have any challenges with dexterity, as an alternative you could grow your cress head in a section of an egg box carton. Or, create multiple cress heads using all the sections of an egg box.
Step 2: Draw your egg face
Take your pen and carefully draw a face on your eggshell. Choose any expression you like! Happy, surprised, silly. If the eggshell is big enough, you could use stick-on googly eyes.
If you are making more than one eggshell cress head, you could give them a range of facial expressions.
Step 3: Place cotton wool in the eggshell and sprinkle with water
Place your egg shell on an egg cup so it's balanced and stable. Fill the egg shell with cotton wool to almost the top of the egg. Again, work carefully when doing this to avoid breaking the egg shell.
Sprinkle water over the cotton wool until it is damp (but not flooded with water).
Step 4: Sprinkle cress seeds on the cotton wool
Sprinkle a layer of cress seeds all across the damp cotton wool.
Cress seeds are quite little. You may find it easier to tip them from the seed packet into a small dish first, so you can take a pinch more easily.
Step 5: Place somewhere suitable to germinate
Your egg shell cress head is now ready. Find a bright, sunny spot where the cress seeds can germinate. A sunny windowsill is ideal.
Cress seeds can germinate very quickly, sometimes in 1-2 days.
It's very important the cotton wool stays damp. If your seeds are not germinating, the most likely reason is the cotton wool has dried out. Don't worry, simply add more water and give them some more time.
Once your cress germinates, you can enjoy the rapidly growing hairstyle of your egg shell friend. You might want to give them a name! You can harvest your cress regularly by simply pinching the shoots with your fingers. Enjoy in salads and sandwiches.
Spending time taking photographs of nature allows you immerse yourself in the natural world. You don't need sophisticated equipment or a particular skill level to enjoy the process.
