Arugula
- Type: cool season annual
- Planting time: early spring, fall
- Maturity: 10 to 45 days after planting
- Features: peppery, mustard-flavored leaves
- Light: full sun is best; will tolerate partial shade
- Soil: fertile, moist, but well drained
- Spacing: 12 to 18 inches
- Plant size: 6 to 12 inches tall, 2 to 3 feet after bolting
- Garden use: in vegetable and herb gardens
- Culinary use: salads and cooked greens
Long popular in France and Italy, the leaves of arugula provide a spicy zap when added to a salad. (Young leaves taste best.) You can also sauté or steam them like spinach or other leafy greens. Plants look a little like a dandelion, but more open. Leaves grow best in cool weather. Leafy plants grow 6 to 12 inches tall while in the harvest stage. Once they bolt in late spring or early summer, the bloom stalks may grow 24 to 36 inches with (edible!) tan-white flowers on top, which signals that it is time to make room for warm-weather crops. However, some gardeners continue to harvest the leaves even from the tall plants, liking the stronger taste. You can even cut them back and pick some more until you finally tire of that and then pull them up and wait until fall to plant again.
Some Bonnie Plants varieties may not be available at your local stores, as we select and sell varieties best suited to the growing conditions in each region.
chris – :
Plant in fall (September) such that the plant can get well established yet does not bolt due to onset of colder weather. Arugula will tolerate temps well below freezing. When weather starts to warm in spring (march in my climate), arugula will try to flower. Pick all flowers before they open and show white petals. Very spicy when eaten raw; very mild when lightly cooked in soup, stir fry, etc.
The arugula plant will now try to make more flowers and in the process will get much bigger. This will provide you with more flowers (yes, continue to pick them and eat them) as well as a lot of big leaves. The leaves can be easily chopped and cooked and will be mild tasting after cooking. Continue to pick flowers and arugula will provide you with a huge quantity of food.
tracey – :
Love this plant! Did not yield well due to garden placement, but what did produce was the greatest flavor ever…..no comparison to store bought arugula, and adds great spicy kick to sandwiches! I like it hot, thanks Bonnie…..