Watercress farmer Gabriella Placidi is such a fan of the peppery superfood that she grows it, eats it and can't stop talking about it. Joanna Davis reports.

Not many people spend their spare time researching watercress farming techniques, but Gabriella Placidi is the exception rather than the rule.

The 24-year-old, from Puddletown, has rapidly risen through the ranks at the Watercress Company, at Waddock Cross near Dorchester, where she has been promoted to production manager.

And it's her mission to grow 700 tonnes of watercress per year on beds that have been handed down to her from previous farmers for the last 140 years.

Gabriella is a self-confessed 'watercress geek', who loves solving the many problems faced by farmers and is calling upon more women to enter the industry.

She said: "Farming has always been a bit of a male-dominated industry. But I think it's becoming more and more popular with women.

"You have to be fit and active to do this kind of job. This company is very good and they're always giving us opportunities. People seem to be really interested when I tell them what I do. It's completely different from the usual wheat and barley farming."

Gabriella, a graduate of the Royal Agricultural University in Gloucestershire, got into watercress farming completely by chance. She visited the Watercress Company, which also has a farm in Hampshire, as a member of the Young Farmers and joined the firm in 2017 as a harvest supervisor.

She said the Watercress Company has allowed her to 'flourish'.

"I want to encourage young women to go for these roles and put themselves forward for these things. A lot of them don't think it's within reach of their capabilities but I think women should go for these kind of management roles

"I want to get a message out to young girls, that's my aim. Before when I worked on a calf farms and poultry farms and all over the place, this is the first company that has really pushed me so far in such a short period of time, I've relished working here and I've been allowed to flourish," she said.

A particular role model for Gabriella is Eliza James, who was known as the 'Watercress Queen of Covent Garden.' She was a successful businesswoman in a male-dominated environment and in 1908 was trading in her own right as a saleswoman of watercress and salad.

In a bid to encourage more youngsters - and girls in particular - to think about farming as an option, Gabriella is taking part in a Facebook live session with a Manchester school. The session is being run by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming).

Gabriella said: "I want to enlighten the children about farming and encourage them to do something like this."

As production manager, every day offers variety, Gabriella said - one moment she can be driving a tractor and the next sat at her desk trying to solve problems.

Traditional farming methods are used to grow the watercress with some modern technology, she said, and the process is 100 per cent natural and involves working with the environment.

"We don't use any pesticides, it's just the water.

"But we're so dependent on Mother Nature. Last summer the crop was a hot spot for insects as so many other crops locally had dried up."

These are the kind of challenges that Gabriella loves overcoming, she said.

"When I was younger I was quite unfamiliar with how watercress is grown and the difference between what I know now is astronomical," she said.

"The key is precision farming, I studied that a lot at university, about planting crops in the most efficient way. I'm always looking at new techniques, one thing I was trying out was used oilseed rape and white mustard on the border line.

"But you have to do lots of thinking outside the box, if you cannot fix the problem, you have to cut off the crop and wait for it to die down," she said.

Gabriella is enthusiastic about eating watercress and flags up its health benefits to everyone she meets.

She said: "I haven't had a cold since working here. In the summer I have watercress every day in salads. Or I like to have it in sandwiches.

"It's lovely having it with brunch at the weekend with smoked salmon and a poached egg.

"I love the diversity of it, it gives a lot more worth to a product when it brings so many health benefits to people's lives."

And as Gabriella continues to wax lyrical about eating and growing watercress, her future is very much based around the superfood.

"I love being here and being close to my friends and family in Dorset," she said.

"I want to be the biggest producer in Europe or the world. I want to keep on improving watercress growing. We have farms in Florida and Spain to support our winter sales and I'd love to spend some time out there.

"I wouldn't want to do anything else. It's where I want to be. I want to keep pursuing watercress growing. I always want motivation and mental stimulation. I'm always having ideas - I'm a bit of a watercress geek."