permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

Lawrence asks "what are good ways to grow real watergress, the aquatic kind? 
Hydroponically, aquaponically, in a creek or pond? How clean does the water 
need to be and what rate of flow. I was thinking of setting up a watercress 
pool 
fed with water from my pond, purified with duckweed and cattails.I would use 
one of those siphon pumps on a garden hose to make a flow loop from pond to 
pool and back to the pond, continuously."

Growing cress is an old tradition around the mid Atlantic states, and is 
thought to require a shallow stream to bed the cress in. But apparently 
that's not 
so, and running water is not required. The shady glade apparently is-- as 
well as being a very pleasant site to garden. Here are a couple of pages 
telling 
us how it's done:

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/lettuce_planting/438

http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/watercress.html

I think the tradition got started because that's where cress occurs 
naturally-- and that method requires less tending-- and the location keeps 
your farm 
animals from messing up the cress-- and because, well, that's just the 
tradition. Go against it at your risk.

Fortunately us modern folks know ever so much better. :)