In Spain, where many winter vegetables and salad crops are grown for the UK market, bad weather and transport disruption have resulted in widely reported shortages of fresh produce. But one crop, in particular, is able to hold its head above water there: watercress.
The Watercress Company moved a team of British experts to Jerez in Spain 20 years ago to train farmers there to grow watercress for the UK market. Over winter, UK beds are only partly cropped due to the lower light levels and harder frosts. The UK season typically starts in May, so Spanish-grown watercress is used instead. In Spain, growers have been able to come through the frosts that affected Jerez in January and February with crops intact.
Good supplies of watercress are now available, and the UK packing factories that buy watercress and other salad leaves to supply supermarkets are using more watercress to help supplement the less available leaf varieties.
Source: dorsetview.co.uk