Seed of the month… Rocket
Salad rocket (or arugula if you’re reading this in the USA) has become one of those staple salad leaves sold in bags at the supermarket. But you can save a lot of money, and help the environment out, by growing your own. Rocket is really easy to start from seed and grows quickly... an ideal introduction to the world of homegrown food.
Rocket is a plant of the Mediterranean with a long history of cultivation. It was valued as a food and a medicine, and was considered a natural aphrodisiac by the Ancient Romans and Greeks. Despite its association with the Mediterranean, rocket is pretty cold tolerant and easy to grow in more northerly gardens.
Growing rocket
The secret to growing the lush, peppery leaves is sowing the seeds at the right time. Warmer temperatures encourage the plant to produce flowers instead of leaves, so rocket is at its best in spring and autumn. Sow the seeds into prepared soil – it’s not too fussy but try to break up any lumps of soil bigger than a large marble. Water the ground and sow the small seeds reasonably thinly. Cover with a thin layer of soil, label and wait. Rocket is fast to germinate. You can expect to see signs of growth within a week or so. Keep the ground damp – watering gently if the weather is dry.
You can start harvesting the leaves as soon as they’re big enough. Pick off the outer leaves, but don’t take them all, the remaining leaves will continue to grow and feed the plant.
From mid-spring right through summer you’ll more likely than not be battling with flea beetle. These tiny beetles eat holes in the leaves of rocket, creating a lace-like effect. The leaves are still fine to eat… just not very Instagrammable. You can try to control flea beetle damage by covering the row or pot of rocket with horticultural fleece or fine insect netting.
As the weather becomes warmer and dryer in summer your rocket plants will produce sturdy flowering stems topped with small, white flowers. At this stage you can replace the old plants with a fresh sowing or leave some to flower… the flowers are edible and tasty (something that can’t be said of all edible flowers). Scatter them artfully over salads for flavour and good looks.
If you can’t wait to make that first sowing of rocket, you could grow them as microgreens. They’re quick to grow, have fabulous flavour and are nutritious too.
Rocket leaves can be used in salads and sandwiches or wilted through risotto or pasta. A handful of leaves over a freshly baked pizza is really good. They also combine well with other fresh green herbs to make a garlicy garden pesto.
From seed to plate can take as little as four weeks… ok, that’s a bit longer to wait than picking up a bag from the supermarket shelf as you pass with your trolley. But your home-grown leaves will have been grown without any pesticides and there’s no packaging involved. They’re also much fresher and you can simply harvest as much as you need, leaving the plant to go on growing and producing more tasty leaves.