If you go down to a watercress farm you will be in for a wild surprise
Tom Amery & Falcon
Common Pipistrelle Bat (Please credit to the Bat Conservation Trust)
Drop in for a visit to a watercress farm nowadays and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d
stepped into a scene from the TV nature series of Spring Watch.
Rare bats and owls are being encouraged to make their homes in the trees surrounding the
watercress beds situated in Hampshire and Dorset to feed on the insect populations that
thrive there. The fact that watercress is grown in spring water (drawn directly from the
underground strata so it is in its purest form) and the beds are situated alongside rivers and
streams where the springs rise, means they attract a rich and diverse range of wildlife which
although idyllic can present challenges to farmers who want to protect the quality of their
crop.
Just one bat can consume around 3,000 insects in one night, so they represent a powerful
allay to leading watercress growers Vitacress Salads and The Watercress Company who are
striving to make their farms as environmentally friendly as possible. Neither company uses
pesticides on their watercress crop, preferring to rely on nature to do the job for them
instead.
Bat numbers have declined dramatically over the past few decades because of loss of
habitat, but five to six species are now believed to be in residence in the companies’ bat
boxes which have been erected around their watercress farms. These include a Soprano
Pistrelle, the UK’s smallest bat, a Common Pipistrelle, a Daubenton, a Serotine, a Noctule
and possibly a Brown Long Eared Bat.
The Hampshire Bat Group and the Dorset Bat Conservation Society have been advising on
the development of special ‘bat runs’ and have also helped identify the different species
using a‘bat detector’, a box the size of a walkie talkie with a microphone, which picks up their
high pitched and very individual night time songs. In the past bats have had a bit of a bad
press, being featured in Hammer horror films but the UK species are really very benign (the
vampire blood sucking varieties are only found in Central and South America!) and incredibly
clean as well as being endlessly fascinating.
Tawny and barn owls are also in residence in bird boxes on the watercress farms. But not
all birds are welcome as swans and pigeons have as much of an appetite for this trendy
superfood as us humans and can easily destroy tens of thousands of pounds worth of crop
in a matter of days.
As a deterrent Vitacress and the Watercress Company fly falcons and hawks across their
farms, but feed them first so no birds are killed in the process! But their regular visits are
enough to discourage even the most determined of birds. On the farms the companies
manage in Spain and Portugal for out of season crop, golden eagles are used - one of the
birds has also been seen flying across the Benfica Lisbon football pitch as part of its duties
as official team mascot.
Companion planting is practiced – for instance turnips are planted to encourage the turnip
sawfly pest to eat the turnip leaves rather than the watercress leaves. The wider
environment surrounding the watercress farms is also important, particularly that of the
neighbouring rivers and streams. Vitacress, for instance, has built two otter holts on one of it
watercress farms in Fobdown near Alresford. Rare crayfish have also been found there.
Free watercress farms tours are being held in Alresford, in Hampshire, the UK’s ‘capital of
watercress’ on 20 May as part of National Watercress Week and the annual Watercress
Festival which celebrates the start of the British season. Tours are being held at Vitacress’s
Pinglestone Farm in Abbotstone Road at 12 noon and 2 pm (ring 01264 732048 to book)
and at the Watercress Company’s Manor Farm in the Brook at 1pm and 3pm (ring 01929
463241 to book). Children will also be able to have their photographs taken with one of the
falcons which will be with its handler on the Watercress Alliance Watercress festival stand in
Broad Street on 20 May. For more information, visit www.watercress.co.uk (to be updated
shortly).
Watercress is the UK’s most historic salad leaf and one of our natural superfoods, bursting
with more than 15 vitamins and minerals, gram for gram containing more iron than spinach,
more Vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk. New research also suggests the
mustard oils, which give the plant its peppery flavour, could help in the fight against cancer.
- Ends If you are interested in organising a visit to one of our watercress farms, or for more information or
images, please contact either Wendy Akers, Sophie Peel, Lucy Hancock or Becky Johnston on 020
8892 5665 or wendy.akers@mustardcommunications.co.uk
Sophie.peel@mustardcommunications.co.uk lucy.hancock@mustardcommunications.co.uk
becky.Johnston@mustardcommunications.co.uk