Arugula Plant
Profile
Arugula (Eruca vesicaria) is a cool-season edible plant that has a nutty and peppery zing. It is
a great addition to salads, on pizza, in sandwiches, or in pasta dishes.
It is also known as
Rocket or Colewort. It grows best when planted in the early spring and late
summer into fall. Pick a location for them in full sun to part-shade.
Plant the seeds a
quarter inch deep in rich garden soil that is free of weeds or in a large
container. The seeds germinate in a week or so. Water them regularly, if they
do not receive an inch or two of rain per week.
After the seedlings
are a couple weeks old, you can thin them by snipping out the smaller and
weaker ones or gently pulling them out so as not to disturb the roots of the
remaining seedlings. The seedlings you removed can be eaten as you would any
microgreen.
You can harvest the
leaves at any stage and keep coming back to harvest more throughout the season.
Snip off the biggest, outer leaves and let the younger, inner leaves keep
growing. Do not cut the leaves lower than 2 inches from the base of the plant
or they may not regenerate for you.
Once the weather
starts to get hot in our region, usually by early June, the arugula plants will
bolt – sending up a flower stem and then set seed. Arugula leaves are usually too
bitter to eat at this point. Collect
these seeds for sowing in the fall and you can also eat the seeds adding them
to stews and bean dishes.
Flea beetles will chew holes in the arugula leaves, so cover
them with a garden fabric in spring to prevent the beetles from doing so. You
can also use the cover cloth for the fall crop of arugula as extra insulation
against mild frosts.
Arugula: You
Can Grow That!
The
video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant
Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.
Audio and text by Kathy Jentz
Video and editing by Christine
Folivi
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