Greens & herbs
Arugula
Fast succession.
- Outside
- Direct Apr and Sep, sown thick
- Where
- Any gap: raised bed or a spent bag
- Sun
- Full sun in the cool months
- Water
- Light and frequent; dry arugula bites harder
- Harvest
- May to Jun, then Oct to Nov
Arugula runs in the cool margins, sown in April and September, cut at a month old, and cleared before real heat or real cold. Summer sowings just bolt and burn, so it keeps to the shoulder seasons.
Growing
Broadcast seed thick in April, start cutting at four weeks, and take two or three harvests before June warmth turns the flavor from peppery to punishing. The September sowing is the better one, milder and slower, holding into November. Any gap in a bed or the top of a spent bag will do; arugula has no standards about real estate. Frequent light watering keeps the bite at salad strength; a dry week pushes it toward horseradish territory.
Varieties
Astro is fast and comparatively gentle; Sylvetta, the wild type, is slower, spicier, and stands longer before bolting.
Pests
Flea beetles are the one real enemy, lacing spring leaves with pinholes; netting from the day of sowing keeps them off, and the fall round mostly misses the pressure anyway.
In the kitchen
Dressed with lemon, oil, and shaved parmesan, it is a salad with nothing missing. The last peppery cuttings wilt onto pizza straight out of the oven.