If head lettuce is too tame for you, rocket and the Asian salad greens are just your thing: peppery, quick and uncomplicated. Often only three to four weeks pass from sowing to the first harvest, and after that the same row keeps delivering for weeks.
Two things are worth knowing, and then this group is nothing but a pleasure. First, these sharp brassicas bolt fast in summer heat and then turn strong in flavour. Second, the flea beetle likes to nibble holes in the young leaves. Both are easy to get under control.
The peppery fast salads
Rocket, also called arugula (Eruca sativa), and the Asian leaf mustards (Brassica rapa) are close relatives. All of them build their heat from mustard oils, the same compounds that give mustard and cress their bite. And all of them grow pleasingly fast.
The principle is the same for all: sow thinly, harvest young and keep cutting back. New leaves grow from the heart you leave standing. That way you crop one sowing several times instead of clearing it all at once.
Four fast peppery greens
For a salad with a bite
- Rocket
The classic with a nutty, peppery flavour. The mild salad rocket grows fastest, the perennial wild rocket is noticeably hotter. See the profile: rocket.
- Mizuna
Finely serrated leaves, pleasantly mild and juicy. An Asian salad green that even beginners manage and that hardly bolts. See the profile: mizuna.
- Pak choi
The tender mustard cabbage forms loose leaf stalks and works raw or steamed. Best in autumn. See the profile: pak choi.
- Asian mix and mustard greens
Colourful mixes of different leaf mustards bring peppery variety to the salad bowl. See the profile: mustard greens.
How to get the fast salads right
Sow thinly and direct
Sow the fine seeds thinly into shallow drills straight into the bed, from CW 12 to 16 in spring and again from CW 32 to 38 in late summer. Pre-growing is not worth it, they are that fast.
Keep evenly moist
Keep the soil moist and the salads germinate quickly and grow tender. Drought makes them sharp and attracts the flea beetle.
Harvest cut-and-come-again
Cut the leaves about 2 to 3 cm above the ground and leave the heart. After one to two weeks it regrows and you harvest again.
Sow again in autumn
Use the second batch from late summer. With shorter, cooler days the salads barely bolt and taste mildest and most tender.
If you cannot keep up with the harvest or it gets too hot, the plants bolt and push up a flower stalk. That is no drama, just the end of the leaf harvest.
Sow thin, cut young, keep moist. And for the mildest flavour, put the batch into autumn.
The core rule for peppery fast salads
Frequently asked questions
Why is my rocket so bitter and hot?
Because it is too old or suffered from summer heat and drought. Both drive the mustard oils up and start the bolting. Harvest young, water evenly, and sow in autumn for mild leaves.
How does cut-and-come-again work?
You cut the leaves just above the ground and leave the heart. New leaves grow from it, so you can crop the same row two or three times before it bolts.
What are the many little holes in the leaves?
That is the flea beetle, a tiny beetle that becomes active in drought and warmth. Keep the soil moist and cover the sowing with a fine-mesh fleece, and the leaves stay intact.
When do the salads taste best?
From the autumn sowing. Cooler, shorter days slow the bolting, and the leaves stay tender and mild. The spring sowing is good too, only high summer is tricky.
What is the difference between salad rocket and wild rocket?
The annual salad rocket grows fast and tastes milder. The perennial wild rocket has narrower leaves, is noticeably hotter and keeps regrowing after cutting. Both are sold as rocket.
