Arugula

I have posted about arugula many times over the past couple of years. And for good reason, too! It's one of my favorite greens and grows well in New England's climate. I've also posted about saving the seeds for arugula. Below are pictures of the seed saving process for arugula. I cut down these plants and saved the seed on Sunday and planted a fall crop of arugula while I was at it!

Arugula after it has bolted and made seed pods. The pods are now dry and ready to harvest.

The arugula stems are cut down and put in a bin. This is less than half the stems I harvested from one row or arugula.

The pile is getting smaller and smaller. I took out the stems so all that is left is the papery pods and seeds. The next step is to sift out the pods and leave just the seeds.

Finally! The finished product. Since I don't use commercial, mechanical seed sifting machinery, my process is not very efficient. It takes a long time and I can't get all the non seed organic matter out of the mix. It doesn't do any harm, but it is still not pure seed. This process also means that I can't get every seed out of every pod. Rather than throw away the waste, I toss it in beds around the house. Arugula is such a hearty seed that it can grow in mulch and I even find it under the stairs on the patio! Wherever it can find a crevice, it will sprout!

I know it doesn't look like much compared to what I started with, but trust me, there is a lot of seed there. So much that we will have enough for a fall planting at One Love Farm plus seeds to plant next spring AND seed packets to sell at the Richmond Farmers' Market. Stop by and get yours and enjoy some spicy arugula this fall!