Arugula: The green everyone should grow

The recent extremely cold temperatures at Heart & Sole Gardens negatively impacted our winter crops, but with bright sunshine and a few days of warm weather, I was pleased to see signs of new life among the rows of mustard, kale, spinach and arugula when I visited the farm yesterday. I filled a basket with beautiful baby arugula and could not resist tasting the tender leaves while I crab walked among the rows.

Although I grow many varieties of greens at Heart & Sole Gardens, including several lettuces, mustard, spinach and many types of kale, if I had to choose my favorite fresh green leaf, that honor would go to arugula. With its crisp texture, slightly peppery flavor and deep green color, arugula is perfect for salads and deliciously replaces lettuce as a sandwich accessory. Fresh arugula with pimento cheese is highly addictive and should probably be served with a cautionary warning because after one tastes arugula, it is hard to accept another green substitute.

Also known as “rocket,” arugula originated in the Mediterranean and this herb packs a nutritional wallop with an abundance of vitamins and minerals in those small low-calorie green leaves. For optimum flavor, harvest arugula before it flowers and, for longer storage, be sure leaves are completely dry before placing in the refrigerator. Arugula flowers are edible and their creamy white blossoms are beautiful additions to salads or atop deviled eggs. The seeds are also tasty and make a great salt substitute.

One of the easiest greens to grow in late winter or early fall, sprinkle arugula seeds in a prepared garden spot or a container and lightly cover with soil. I use a broom to “sweep” along rows after sowing seeds. Arugula prefers soil that is rich with humus, but will also produce well in a variety of soil conditions. Warm weather will cause the plants to bolt and bloom. To save seeds for another crop, allow seed pods to dry completely and snip the dried stems from the plant. Place the stems in a large plastic, zip lock bag and break open the seed pods, releasing the seeds. Discard stems and store dried seeds in a cool, dry location or a freezer. While it is an annual plant, arugula tends to reseed well for successive seasons. In order to have a ready supply of baby arugula, continue to plant seeds for several weeks. Typically, arugula may be harvested within a month of planting.

For a delicious way to enjoy fresh arugula, try this easy preparation for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Substitute chicken, hard-boiled egg or sliced tofu for the salmon, if you like, but some sort of topping will allow you to pile on more arugula and lose less of it while eating.

Open-Faced Arugula Sandwich

2 slices crusty bread, slightly toasted
1-2 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon diced shallot or red onion
1 teaspoon capers, drained
As much fresh baby arugula as will fit on each bread slice
Grilled or smoked salmon slices, large enough to hold the arugula in place

Spread cream cheese on bread. Top with shallot and capers. Add arugula and top with salmon. Enjoy!

Breaking Ground

            As a child, I was my maternal grandmother’s garden helper.  In the large expanse of cultivated earth that stretched from her backyard to my own, four houses away on a quiet neighborhood street, she taught me to identify seedling plants and to pull invasive weeds that threatened to choke them.  She showed me how to carefully harvest ripe fruit and vegetables without damaging the supporting plants.  I learned to step between cucumber vines that snaked across the ground and pluck succulent fruit that hid under leaf cover.  Granny pointed out insect pests and together, we squashed Mexican bean beetles and Colorado potato bugs and destroyed their eggs, bright yellow dots on the underside of plant leaves.  These lessons, valuable information for gardeners and farmers, were lost to me until my husband, Richard, and I planted a large garden of our own in 2008.

            Perhaps we were coping with mid-life crisis when we plowed eight acres of beautiful farm land and planted a variety of fruits and vegetables.  Maybe our concern about ingesting industrialized food led us to avoid chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in our garden.  For whatever reasons, the farm became our passion, (some friends call it our obsession) and even when we toil in blistering hot or bone-chilling cold weather, we find our spirits are lighter, our aging bodies are physically stronger and our minds are more mentally alert.  We dubbed our project “Heart & Sole Gardens,” a reflection of the joy we find in growing our own food and the necessary hard work that wears the soles of our boots. 

            2014 marks the seventh year we will plant at Heart & Sole and although we plan to grow fewer crops that we have in past seasons, Richard and I still enjoy planning, planting, managing, harvesting and, most of all, eating, the fruits of our labor.  As long as we are physically able to do so, we pledge to grow as much of our food as possible and to enjoy the process.  When invading insects attack, when marauding animals gobble our plants, when diseases attack our crops or when Mother Nature brings too much rain or too much dry weather, we try to remember the farmer’s irrepressible and hopeful mantra:  There’s always next year!