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gixxerific
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Lettuce lovers: Plant Arugula!!!!!!

I have some growing and I have heard a lot of people love it. This is my first time with I recently picked some along with some Swiss Chard and made a salad with them. I must say Arugula is some tasty stuff a bit strong with a nutty flavor I believe it's hard to nail down. It smells so good too in the garden. Like I said it's kinda strong, I should have mixed it with some more milder lettuces.

Just though I would put this out there for you guy's. :) I can't get that smell out of my head, it's heaven.

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Earl K
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Havent tried growing any type lettuce.Maybe I should try that one :) Think it would work in a container :?:

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Duh_Vinci
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Never tried it, but I think I'd have to give it a go. Sounds like a great flavor!

Regards,
D

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gixxerific
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Earl K wrote:Haven't tried growing any type lettuce.Maybe I should try that one :) Think it would work in a container :?:
More than likely work well in a container. They say it is very easy to grow, as a matter of fact it is very pest and disease free from what I read. It is the ONLY thing in my garden NOT getting attacked by something. :D

But like I said it pretty strong and should be mixed with more mellow lettuce in my opinion. Every where I read it is called "peppery" and "bitter" but I find it neither, maybe just me. Just lovely.

If you plant it enjoy, oh and now is a good time it is a cool season veggie, actualyl an herb but it is lettuce to most peolpe. Do some research it's been famous for centuries.

jmoore
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My arugula is coming right along in a couple of "curbside recycled" containers on the front porch. I just planted round 2 this weekend. I should have something ready to pick in another few weeks.

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SP8
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[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/Rocket-3.jpg[/img]

Rocket grows like wild fire! In this small container I grow both Swiss Chard and Rocket which produces an edible crop in 4 weeks and enough for 3 meals a week for 2 people.

See here for a tasty Rocket and Swiss Chard recipe: https://veggie-might-sp8.blogspot.com/search/label/GARDEN%20RECIPES

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hendi_alex
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I grow arugula year round. We dearly love it. And when harvesting, crinkle the leaves in your hand and smell the wonderful aroma. Arugula gets quite spicy during hot weather, but is mild when growing in the spring and fall. I was quite excited to find two new varieties the other day at seeds savers exchange. They have a variety called 'Apollo' which is an improved form of 'Rocket' that has a milder flavor. They also have a variety named 'Sylvetta ' which is slower to bolt in the summer. We eat straight arugula salad, usually with tomatoes and mushrooms, but we also blend arugula into our favorite salad greens mix. The leaves are great on a sandwich and are also great when added as a pizza topping. We simply love arugula, and I can keep it growing twelve months per year here in central S.C., zone 8.

Here is a link to the seed savers listing.

https://www.seedsavers.org/Items.aspx?hierId=17

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jal_ut
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Arugula is a mustard. It has a flavor similar to mustard greens. I like a leaf on a sandwich or a little in a green salad.

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gixxerific
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That's funny, SP8 I have my arugula and swiss chard growing together as well. Looking good there bro. They go great together.

hendi_alex I love the smell too. I have never grown it before. I saw it growing and not not over excited to pick any at that time. Then I picked a leaf just to give it a wiff. Well that night I made a salad of that and Swiss chard. It smells so dang good kind like how I think basil smells. The 2 most wonderful smells I know.

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Earl K
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So I'm reading that this stuff grows quick? definately gonna have to get some of them seeds.Love a good salad,especially if it comes from my plants :)

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SP8
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Earl K wrote:So I'm reading that this stuff grows quick? definately gonna have to get some of them seeds.Love a good salad,especially if it comes from my plants :)
Yep from seed to plate in 4-5 weeks and then it's just a case of cut and come again and again and again and again and again and…. You get the point ^_^

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gixxerific
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SP8 wrote:
Earl K wrote:So I'm reading that this stuff grows quick? definately gonna have to get some of them seeds.Love a good salad,especially if it comes from my plants :)
Yep from seed to plate in 4-5 weeks and then it's just a case of cut and come again and again and again and again and again and…. You get the point ^_^
Yeah what he said. It grows amazingly well, and like I said for the most part pest and disease free. Plus amazing flavor, you can't lose.

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Earl K
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Well then as long as I can find seeds locally I will get them soon.Arugula and swiss chard a good combo :?: I'm ready to grow more cause everything else is started :D

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Tinybu88les8
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Youve inspired me to plant some arugula. Do they grow good in the ground or am I better off planting them in a pot? Only prob with the pot is I don't have a sunny place to put it unless I put it on the ground outback next to my garden where the sun hits.If arugula is mixed with swiss chard would that combo make a good salad without being too overpowering? I don't know much about either. Maybe I should invest in 2 large plastic pots. One for my swiss chard and arugula and the other for my spinach. Can these be grown all year around? I'm in California...does this benefit me?

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hendi_alex
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Arugula is a relatively small plant and lends itself well to container culture. Swiss chard on the other hand is quite large with each plant probably needing two or three gallons of soil. Both plants will likely grow year round in your area, but hot weather often causes arugula to get peppery or strong flavored. Hot, dry weather also stimulates seed production or bolting in arugula, so you would need to have several succession plantings to keep these greens growing year round. Swiss chard would perhaps make it through your somewhat mild summers, but I'm always in favor of planting a batch of fresh vigorous plants as older plants sometimes get tired and cause production or leaf quality to suffer.
Last edited by hendi_alex on Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

jmoore
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I planted a succession planting last week and it's already about 1" tall. I should be flush with Arugula and Mesclun for a good while.

I think this is the most successful plant in my garden this year!

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gixxerific
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jmoore wrote:I planted a succession planting last week and it's already about 1" tall. I should be flush with Arugula and Mesclun for a good while.

I think this is the most successful plant in my garden this year!
I believe it is in mine as well. You can't seem to stop it. That's good though no bug or pest are bothering the arugula so I can pick off it every day if I want.

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catlady65
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Hi, I am a newbie here... just wanted to let you knoe I have planted arrugula both in containers and in the ground - the ones in the ground grew much taller and were more productive than those in containers, at least here in Los Angeles. Hope this helps.

valley
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I planted a mix that has arugula also. I also planted a couple other mustards.


Richard

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Be advised that while arugula has a nice nutty taste, it can have a very spicy aftertaste. If you don't like hot peppers (and I mean relatively mild ones like anaheim or serranos), you won't like arugula. I like the stuff, but my wife does not, for that reason.

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Arugula is easy to grow. It is best to plant it in cool weather and eat it young. Then it does not taste as bitter. As it ages and when it gets hot it gets more bitter. The smell of arugula is also distinctive. To me, it smells like sesame. I grow it for my friends, I can only eat it when it is young. I don't like it once it gets bitter.

erins327
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I grow about 4-5 arugulas every winter here in Central Texas. And those 4-5 give me more than enough to eat on mixed with my other greens. However this year it got really attacked by the arugula flea beetle? Anyone have encounters with that? It didnt kill it, but surely made the leaves look like swiss cheese!

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RogueRose
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I WISH I could grow arugula all year round!!! I love the stuff! It tastes SOOO much better to grow yourself than the stuff you get from the store. It's so much 'lighter' and just more complex than the stuff in the store. It is easy as heck to grow and all the animals hate it. It just gets too hot and humid to grow here during the summer and bolts pretty fast and gets too bitter. I have a salad that I LOVE to make that is a homemade (simple) dressing with chive flowers, avocado, and shaved parmesan.

The dressing:

lemon, evoo, garlic, salt, pepper


sooooo goooood

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hendi_alex
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I grow arugula through the entire summer here in S.C. The trick about bolting is to make another planting in the late spring or early summer. When planted that late, the plants will not usually bolt. Another trick is to make several plantings a few weeks apart. Young fast growing arugula tolerates the heat and stays milder than is the case with older plants. My over wintered arugula bolted very early, but we replanted in early spring. That arugula was planted so early, in very cool weather, and it bolted early also. Even after bolting, the leaves are still good for harvest as long as you don't mind a little pepper flavor. As soon as flower heads started showing on our second planting, we planted a third planting. It should be ready to start harvesting in about another week. We are still getting a limited harvest from the older plants, to blend with other salad greens. I'll start a fourth planting in early fall, about 60 days before the first frost. Arugula will do well in the winter down to mid twenties, and covered it would probably do well to even colder temperatures.

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!potatoes!
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hendi_alex wrote: I was quite excited to find two new varieties the other day at seeds savers exchange. They have a variety called 'Apollo' which is an improved form of 'Rocket' that has a milder flavor. They also have a variety named 'Sylvetta ' which is slower to bolt in the summer.
just to add to the confusion... :twisted:

there is an arugula variety named 'sylvetta', but there is also a related plant (same family, different genus) called 'sylvetta' or 'sylvetta arugula' that's a shrub-forming perennial to zone 7... somewhat smaller leaves, rich arugula flavor. and perennial. good stuff. seeds are available a few places. Diplotaxis muralis / tenuifolia.

/advocating perennial vegetables

...speaking of which, I've been really excited about my turkish rocket (Bunias orientalis) plants this year. another perennial relative. similar arugula flavor, but this one looks like a fuzzy dandelion. good flavor, but the texture of the leaves isn't exactly...refined. but in the spring, they send up a bunch of little raab-type flower buds, which are quite nice. perennial broccoli-raab, basically. well-established plants can make a lot of food. my little two-year-old plants have produced 8 or 9 little raabs each so far and are hinting at more (though I've left some going in hopes of seed)...

...I like that regular arugula, too, just sayin'



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