Rocket Seeds
Choose a pot at least 30 cm wide and position in full sun or part shade. Fill pot with quality potting mix. Sow seeds, cover lightly and water well. Once seedlings appear water regularly to keep the soil moist and this will help encourage more leafy growth. Keep the soil moist and the plants growing well to prevent premature running to seed (bolting). Plants need some shade in hot weather to prevent the leaves from becoming tough and unpalatable. Keep crops weed free and the soil moist. Do not overwater as this dilutes the taste.
Rocket is an easy to grow salad crop, and as the name suggests quick growing for early results. Rocket has spicy, peppery leaves, ideal for pepping up salads. It is best sown between March and September but even later sowings can produce a good crop of spicy, peppery leaves for salads. Sow seed every two weeks throughout spring and summer for a continuous supply in rich, fertile, well-drained soil. As autumn approaches, cover crops with sheets of horticultural fleece to keep the cold at bay, and you could be cropping right through to first frosts. Remove flower stalks to prolong leaf production, unless you want to eat the flowers and seed pods too – both are edible. Rocket is best eaten when young otherwise it can be quite bitter to the taste. Make sure you harvest regularly when the seedlings are young. Medicinally, rocket was eaten as a source of vitamin C and as a tonic, to ease stomach complaints and as a diuretic.
