Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Good Organic Gardening

    Rocket science

    Aug 08, 2018 4 minutes
    Words Chris Stafford

    Rocket label

    Common name: Rocket, arugula

    Botanical name: Eruca sativa

    Botanical name of wild rocket: Diplotaxis tenuifolia

    Family: Brassicaceae

    Aspect & soil: Sun; welldrained soil

    Best climate: All

    Habit: Annual salad vegetable (wild rocket is a short-lived perennial)

    Propagation: Seed, seedling

    Difficulty: Easy

    Like basil, there’s something about rocket that speaks fluent Italian. Sprinkled on top of a pizza or tossed in a salad with pear, Parmesan, lemon juice and olive oil, its zesty taste is enough to transport you instantly to the Mediterranean.

    Which is, of course, exactly where it comes from and it has been enjoyed. Somewhere between a herb and a weed, it was foraged from the wild by the poor and enjoyed with bread as a simple peasant meal.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Good Organic Gardening

    Good Organic Gardening5 min read
    Turbo Tree
    People often ask me, “How is it that you are able to harvest fruit in the first year of planting a young tree, while our trees are five years old and half the size with no fruit?” When I tell them the formula I have developed they’re surprised. Conve
    Good Organic Gardening3 min read
    Alt.spinach
    Run out of spinach? Has your own crop bolted to flower or are this week’s supermarket offerings below par? Have your leafy greens gone to mush at the back of the fridge or are you simply — perish the thought — tired of spinach? There’s no shortage of
    Good Organic Gardening5 min read
    Peas On Earth
    Many of the peas you see in the supermarket freezer are grown near where I live in rural northwest Tasmania. Harvest time is usually through the night as the fields are picked and the peas podded and snap frozen before being trucked off to the factor

    Related