2007/17

Sutton's Mustard and Cress Farm,

Grow-your-own mustard and cress kit from Suttons Seeds Ltd. From John Cox, who worked at Suttons from 1931 to 1976.
This is a grow-your-own mustard and cress kit from Suttons Seeds Ltd. It consists of a plastic tray, two absorbent pads, and a packet each of mustard and cress seeds, all contained in a cardboard sleeve. The front of the sleeve shows a red tractor ploughing a field with the text ‘Suttons Mustard and Cress Farm // For sowing all year round’ and the back has directions for use. The kit is part of a large collection of objects relating to Suttons Seeds Ltd., as well as other rural artefacts, compiled by John Cox, who worked at Suttons from 1931 to 1976, starting as an office boy and finishing as Company Secretary

1 box: cardboard, plastic

Box text – ‘Contains seed tray, absorbent pads for seed beds, and seed for successional sowings. // Mustard and Cress seedlings make super party sandwiches, and can be grown in the tray in less than a fortnight. // Cress grows more slowly than Mustard and should therefore be sown 4 days earlier to produce an even crop. // Place an absorbent pad in one side of the tray, moisten thoroughly and pour off surplus water. Sprinkle some Cress seed evenly – not too thickly – over the pad, and place the tray close to a window, but not one facing south. Check each morning to see that the pad is sufficiently moist. After four days, sow the Mustard seed on a moistened pad in the other side of the tray. NEVER LET THE PADS DRY OUT DURING THE GROWING PERIOD. // In ten to eleven days your crop should be 2–3 inches high and ready to eat. Cut the crop with a pair of scissors and blend according to taste. // The enclosed seed is enough for four or five sowings. New pads are easily made from absorbent tissue. // Suttons Seeds Ltd. Reading’, MERL miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 2 August 2012 – Suttons Seeds Ltd. was founded in 1806 by John Sutton (1777–1863) and traded as a corn merchant. It was known as the ‘House of Sutton’ and had premises on King Street, Reading. John’s two sons joined the business in 1832 and in 1836 it was renamed ‘Sutton & Son’. In 1837 the company moved to the Market Place, Reading, and expanded into seeds and acquired nursery grounds in Queens Road, Reading. In 1840 they established a testing laboratory and in 1873 new buildings replaced those in Market Place. These included various offices, separate store rooms for different types of seeds and bulbs, recreation rooms, residences and a fire station. In 1962 Suttons moved to new grounds and premises on the eastern outskirts of Reading, before moving to Torquay, Devon, in 1976 and then Paington, Devon, in 1998.

Box, seed, Seed

Paper, Plastic