Grow your own tips for rocketing success
Rocket boasts zesty, peppery foliage, perfect for adding a kick to your salads. Try growing your own and adding them into a delicious Mushroom ricotta tart recipe as seen on the Big Kitchen at the BBC Good Food Show Summer this year.
While the optimal sowing period is from March to September, you can still achieve a bountiful harvest of flavorful leaves even with later plantings. Pluck the tender leaves as required, relishing in abundant harvests that can span weeks. To ensure an uninterrupted supply, sow seeds every fortnight during the spring and summer seasons. As autumn draws near, safeguard your arugula plants from chilly temperatures by draping them with layers of horticultural fleece. This protective measure could extend your harvesting period right up until the initial frost sets in.
We’ve paired some top tips from our friends at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine with the tart recipe below!
Looking for even more grow your own inspiration? Book a day out at the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair from 1-3 September at Audley End House & Gardens, Essex. Make a beeline for the Let’s Grow Stage to dig into plenty of grow your own talks and inspiration.
Growing rocket in containers is straightforward. Start by filling a pot or suitable container, leaving a small gap below the rim, with damp, peat-free, all-purpose compost. Sow the rocket seeds with care, maintaining a recommended spacing of approximately 3cm between each seed. Gently overlay a thin compost layer, then delicately water the seeds using a watering can equipped with a rose attachment. This ensures the seeds are adequately moistened without disruption.
Use a string or cord to delineate the planting row. Sow in a straight line 1m-2m long. Sowing in a straight line will enable you to pick out any weed seedlings.
A packet of rocket seeds typically contains an ample supply – often sufficient for sowing a row spanning up to 6m long. You may end up with a large harvest of rocket if sown all at once. Sow a small quantity at a time regularly for a prolonged harvesting window.
Sow your rocket seeds thinly along the row, spacing them out evenly 3cm apart. Water the seeds in well.
Mushroom ricotta tart
As seen on the Summer Kitchen with Helena Busiakiewicz at the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2023. Recipe credit: BBC Good Food Magazine.
Serves 4
- 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 525g family pack mushrooms
- 2 garlic gloves, 1 finely sliced, 1 crushed
- 250g tub ricotta
- good grating of nutmeg
- 1/4 small pack of parsley, leaves only and roughly chopped
- 50g rocket
Method
- Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and place a baking tray inside. Unroll the pastry onto a piece of baking paper and score a border around the pastry around 1.5cm in from the edge. Place the pastry (on the paper) on the baking tray and cook for 10-15mins.
- Heat the oil in a large lidded pan and cook the mushrooms for 2-3mins, with the lid on. Remove the lid and add the sliced garlic and cook for 1 min to get rid of excess liquid.
- Mix the crushed garlic with the ricotta and nutmeg and season well. Remove the pastry from the oven and gently push down the risen centre. Spread over the ricotta mixture and spoon on the mushrooms and garlic. Bake for 5 mins and then scatter over your parsley and rocket to serve.
Book a day out at the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair from 1-3 September at Audley End House & Gardens, Essex. Make a beeline for the Let’s Grow Stage to dig into plenty of grow your own talks and inspiration.
