Rocket

Rocket is a wonderful example of of a plant that has been consumed and enjoyed for thousands of years by different peoples throughout the world.

I’ve been waiting almost 10 months to send you this email! Finaaaaly we have a beautiful crop of Wild rocket in the box. Every succession we’ve sown for the last year hasn’t worked out. Some bolted, some were eaten by creatures, some were flooded.

But finally! Today we’re writing to persuade you that rocket is a really cool crop. From being adored for thousands of years all over the world to now becoming in very recent history a huge, mega commercial salad crop all around the world.

Wild rocket going to flower.

This week we’ve got Wild rocket Diplotaxis tunuifolia, in the box. Wild rocket is a completely different species to Garden rocket, Eruca vesicaria. The last rocket that was in the box was Garden rocket. Its pretty crazy to me that these two vegetables taste very similar and are yet are totally different species. They are also almost always marketed and sold as the same vegetable.

Wild Rocket is a perennial plant and takes about double the time to grow as Garden rocket. They are both cultivated and sold as the same vegetable, and have been selected over the last twenty years to sometimes look almost identical.

Wild rocket and Garden rocket have been cultivated to look very similar, however they grow best in different conditions and have different requirements. For large scale production this is actually of benefit, as both plants grow best at different times of year, the result of which is rocket for all of us ~ at all times of year.

Both species have been eaten and enjoyed throughout history. Garden rocket has been cultivated in Southern Asia and Central Europe for centuries, and Wild rocket has been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean and the Near East in current day Egypt, Jordon, Syria and Palestine for centuries.

Tagliatelle with Wild rocket

It wasn’t until the 1990’s that rocket became a world leading global crop. Portuguese and Italian research centres led the way in producing highly desirable varieties, and marketing them for the world economy. They brought market gardeners, farmers, chefs, wholesale food giants, food scientists and professors together to bring rocket to the global market.

Plant breeders are constantly working with crop scientists, ethnobotanists and plant geneticists to bring to market different vegetables that will take the global market by storm.

Unlike, for example sprouting cauliflower which is a new variety of vegetable entirely, other breeders bring vegetables that have been passed down through history via traditional knowledge~ to the table.

Rocket is a really clear beautiful example of this~

Wild rocket growing at Broom and Brine, August ‘22

Perhaps we’ll see Puntarelle or Erba stella become the next big thing. Seed breeders and scientists are working really hard to develop commercial grade varieties for crops like these, to bring them into world wide production. We’re seeing more of this happening, and I love seeing Snake Beans and Bitter Gourd at Coles in Kingston.

With its pungent spicy flavour, Wild rocket is an extremely healthful vegetable, high in anti-inflammatory compounds like Vitamin C and anticancer glucosinolates. Peoples have been eating Wild and garden rocket as a salad plant, garnish plant and medicine plant for thousands of years.