With a deliciously peppery, fresh taste, rocket is a perfect addition to any kitchen garden. It is quick to crop and easy to grow, definitely up there as one of our top salad leaves.
Seed Sowing
Sow direct or in modules in March – April, August – September or under cover over winter in February – March. Sow multiple seeds per module. Direct sow into shallow drills 15cm apart thinning to 25cm spacing once seedlings are more established. Ensure a longer harvest window by sowing multiple successions a few weeks apart. Early sowings may benefit from fleece protection.
Transplanting
Plant out from modules once seedlings are established, spacing plants 25cm apart.
Plant Care
Keep the area weed-free and consistently watered during hot spells to reduce risk of bolting. You can mulch around the plants to keep in moisture and prevent weeds.
Challenges
Rocket is generally free from many pests and diseases but will benefit from being covered with a fine mesh to protect from flea beetles.
Harvest
Rocket is a cut and come again leaf and will keep regrowing after being cut back. Depending on the desired size of leaf, it can be ready to harvest as early as 4-6 weeks after sowing. Use a sharp knife or pinch off each leaf by hand.
Culinary Ideas And Uses
Rocket becomes more peppery in taste as temperatures rise. It has delicious sweet, peppery leaves that add a lovely flavour to a summer salad or on top of a pizza with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It’s also a great alternative to basil in a homemade pesto, perfect to pair with tangy parmesan and freshly picked cherry tomatoes.
Seed Saving
Sow a seed crop early to ensure plants have enough time to grow an abundance of leaves before flowering. Rocket belongs to the species Eruca sativa and will cross with all plants within it. If you want to save seed, ensure no other brassicas of this species are allowed to flower. Choose plants that are true to type, healthy and have shown pest resistance. Avoid early bolters.
Allow plants to flower and produce seed pods that will begin to dry. Cut the whole plant before the seed pods begin to open and spread out to dry further on a sheet in a warm dry place for at least a further week. When fully dry, the pods will shatter very easily. You can stand and stomp on the plants to break up the pods, then sieve out the debris.
Store in a cool dark place; seeds should remain viable for around 7 years.
Most popular Other Salad Leaves
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Salad rocket (Organic)
£1.80 – £3.50 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageSalad rocket (Organic)
Salad leaf with a peppery fresh taste, most commonly used raw but can be cooked, too. The nutritious dark green serrated leaves add their fine spice to salads, pasta, pizza, pesto, other sauces or as garnish. Salad rocket is native to the Mediterranean and has a long history of popularity. It is quick to crop and easy to grow and definitely one of our favourite salad leaves.
(Approximate seed count – 900)
£1.80 – £3.50 -
Corn Salad / Lamb’s Lettuce – (Organic)
£1.90 – £3.20 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageCorn Salad / Lamb’s Lettuce – (Organic)
An invaluable hardy winter salad for growing outdoors and under cover with a superb nutty flavour. Corn salad or lamb’s lettuce is a small annual plant that forms rosettes of dark green leaves which have a gentle nutty flavour, soft texture, and are extremely popular as salad greens. It provides a valuable source of fresh greens during the autumn and winter months as it is suitable for growing outdoors with little protection or under cover in the cold.
We are amazed by this plant’s hardiness and really enjoy growing it! Ronja grew up eating ‘Feldsalat’ (German for corn salad) almost every day during the winter months and wouldn’t want to live without it.
£1.90 – £3.20 -
Claytonia ‘Winter Purslane’ – (Organic)
£1.85 Add to basketClaytonia ‘Winter Purslane’ – (Organic)
A must-have excellent winter leaf of mild flavour and incredibly succulent, soft and juicy texture.. Winter purslane, also known as miners lettuce or claytonia, has heart-shaped elegant looking leaves which are small, abundant and make a great cut-and-come-again salad green. You will get a productive harvest all winter and early spring and if left to self seed, it will just keep coming back year after year.
It is one of those greens that come up in just the right moment when we’re most in need of something fresh and it self-manages very well which is why we like it too.
(Approximate seed count – 850)£1.85 -
Wild Rocket (Organic)
£1.80 Add to basketWild Rocket (Organic)
Delicious and spicy serrated leaves, smaller and more delicate than their cultivated cousin. We love wild rocket as it just keeps on giving, even once it is going to seed it continues to produce new leaf growth if you cut it back.
(Approximate seed count – 500)£1.80
