Quite recently, rucola was considered almost exotic spicy grass, and now many gardeners successfully grow it on their plots, using its greens in salads along with dill and parsley.
Moreover, rucola is not only tasty, but also a useful plant.
Useful properties of arugula
- Rukola improves bowel function, increases hemoglobin, slows the process of salt deposition, removes harmful cholesterol.
- This plant has vitamins C, B, E, K, A and a lot of iodine, which has a positive effect on the endocrine system.
- Arugula also contains phosphorus, potassium, manganese, sodium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, iron.
- It is believed that eating rucola in food prevents the development of cancer.
- Arugula is rich in fiber, and there are few calories in it, so this plant can be recommended for dietary nutrition.
- Many consider rucola an excellent aphrodisiac and skillfully use it.
- Outer arugula is used for skin inflammations.
How and when to collect arugula
Arugula is such an early plant that it manages to produce several harvests in a season. But for this you need to know some features of its cultivation.
Arugula loves fertile soil, but you should not rush to apply fertilizer under the socket or just before sowing in the form of manure. After all, then the leaves of arugula will get an unpleasant taste. Therefore, it is recommended to fertilize the soil in the fall, so that the manure overwhelms during the winter and is practically not felt in the soil. The same applies to the application of mineral fertilizers to the soil. So that the rucola taste does not disappoint in the end, it must be grown in the places most illuminated by the sun, because in the shade at the arugula that nut-spicy taste disappears, for which it is distinguished from other plants.
In order to feed on the first tender leaves of arugula already in early spring, seeds are sown in the second decade of April. Since thick sowing has a negative effect on the crop, thinning is carried out in a week and a half, and the extra seedlings can be used as food. Rocket sockets, planted at a distance of 15 cm from each other, grow more leafy and sweeping than in close proximity.
Arugula is a moisture-loving plant, therefore, with insufficient watering, the leaves become harsh and gorchat stronger than usual.
The first harvest when planting early ripe varieties can be obtained after three weeks. Well, when planting arugula of a later variety, harvesting is postponed only by 2-3 weeks.
Leaves break off from a fully formed outlet, starting with the most extreme and larger. Leaves are removed near the ground, leaving most of them for further growth. This method helps to extend the harvest, and arugula gives you the opportunity to increase new greens.
In order for the leaves to remain tender, it is impossible to allow the onset of flowering, therefore, the flower stalks that appear are necessarily removed. But a few outlets with flower stalks can be left. The plant will give a lot of seeds, which after maturation will fall into the soil and germinate safely. Harvest can be removed in a month. In order to keep fresh greens of arugula on the table constantly, it is recommended to perform stepwise sowing at a two-three-week interval or to sow seeds of arugula of different varieties - from early to late. Then the crop of plants can be removed continuously. So that the spicy greens would delight them with their taste in late autumn, in August, they again plant a bed of rucola seeds, the harvest of which can be taken off in late September - early October. And even if early insignificant frosts unexpectedly descend, cold-resistant plants will easily survive them.
Because of the early maturity of arugula, many grow it on a windowsill. After all, it is enough to adhere to a few simple rules (frequent watering, a bright place, humus soil, a thin planting), and arugula every day will bestow upon its owners a juicy, fragrant green. Cut off on the sockets of the extreme or well-developed leaves, preventing the flowering plants.
But arugula is stored poorly. In the refrigerator, packed in a plastic bag, it can be stored no more than a week. It is also not recommended to prepare salads with arugula in advance, as arugula soon begins to soften and turns into a mash. When preparing salads, it is necessary to tear it with hands, because when it comes into contact with the knife, “rust” appears on its cut.
