"Impatient" and "gardener" are not two words that fit together well. Still, there are those of us who want to sow seeds and have results three days later.
In a few rare instances, this actually happens. But it's the exception.
A plant that seems as impatient as the eager gardener is arugula, also known as rocket or roquette. Though there seems little agreement on the name's origin, one thing you can rely on is the plant's ability to take off like a rocket.
Arugula is one of those ancient Mediterranean plants that fell from favor, and in the past few decades, it has made a trendy comeback. It's certainly not for everyone, having a sometimes bitter and extremely pungent flavor. Much of how it tastes depends on how it has been grown and when it's harvested, though. My first encounter with arugula was some I grew for a restaurant client. It had gotten too big, too fast. When I tasted it, it was as if I had bitten into a pair of day-old jogging socks. It took me a while to come back to arugula.
It was only after I started enjoying its flavor in mesclun salad mixes and on a particularly delicious turkey sandwich that I figured I must have done something wrong.
Arugula is in the cabbage family along with many other garden staples. Besides the obvious broccoli, cauliflower, collards and cabbage, this group contains several lesser garden goodies that thrive in cool weather and grow fast. Many of them end up in salad bowls. They include mustard, cress and radishes, all plants that can pop up within the restless gardener's three-day expiration period.
Vegetable seed packets list a plant's expected days to maturity. These are estimates of the time from when the grower plants the seed until it is ready for harvest. A typical days-to-maturity rating for beans is 50 to 60 days. For tomatoes and winter squash, the days reach into the hundreds. Radishes and arugula can mature in an amazing 21 days.
The trick with arugula is to grow it fast, cool and moist. It wants fairly fertile soil and a position in full sun. You do not want to stress it in any way, or the plant will rush to flower. It is best to harvest very young leaves, when the plant is as little as 2 inches tall, and to keep replanting as the autumn progresses. Arugula is a cool-season crop and can be sown on either end of the growing season. It is relatively frost-resistant, and in a mild autumn can survive into November. A spring crop can be a challenge if hot weather threatens.
Arugula can be started early inside and then transplanted to the garden, but you must be careful to provide plenty of water, shade it if necessary and give it a shot of fertilizer to get it going. It's easier to sow it directly into the garden.
In a couple of weeks, you should be picking the baby leaves or harvesting the entire tiny plant. It should have a peppery, piquant flavor but not be disagreeably bitter or unpalatable. To keep yourself supplied, sow a little arugula every week rather than a lot at once. You don't need much. Arugula is one of those things that are better mixed in with other foods than on their own. Even well-grown arugula can be too much on its own.
If the plant does get ahead of you, there is a consolation. You can eat the little white flowers and the peppery seed pods. Let those pods go a little longer, and you can save the seed and try again next year.
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