Arugula....

[Greenthumb18]

Funny thing i noticed today, it was pretty warm out,while out in the garden i tasted a few leaves of arugula some how they tasted very spicy, a little bitter, and very pungent. Then i go out to taste a few more leaves again from the garden while it was getting cool and dark out and it didnt taste that much spicy and the taste wasn't as pungent, it tasted much better. So does this mean to only harvest the arugula when its cool out since heat causes the taste to be overly pungent and bitter?

 

[digitS']

I thought that it always tasted pungent and bitter . . .

I'm not sure how "adventuresome" I am with salad greens. I'm a cooked veggie guy myself . If it isn't lettuce or spinach . . . I look at it with suspicion. Maybe I should try arugula cooked - grow it every year but I'm not the one to eat it . . .

Mche is an interesting green. Essentially, tastes the same as lettuce but is harder to grow :/.

Count me OUT when it comes to radicchio!

Steve

 

[vfem]

Sorry as I've never eaten it! It was never on my list of things to try.... though I'm sure one day I will make a spot for it in the garden.

When I think spicy, its either 'pepper' spicy or 'radish' spicy?! Which would you say?!

Sorry I wasn't any help... I rarely am!

 

[Greenthumb18]

Sorry as I've never eaten it! It was never on my list of things to try.... though I'm sure one day I will make a spot for it in the garden.

When I think spicy, its either 'pepper' spicy or 'radish' spicy?! Which would you say?!

Sorry I wasn't any help... I rarely am!

digits,
No its not suppose to taste bitter, i guess its like lettuce in the heat of the summer it can turn bitter. I have mache too its still quite tiny but is another nice green.

vfem,
Ohh i would say radish spicy, for a second i could mistake it for eating a radish. I'm sure you'll try it one day vfem, maybe you could plant some this fall. It really is good (great on pizza) it has a nice meaty taste to it, its almost like eating steak.
Thanks for replying guys !!

 

[digitS']

Pizza!?!? So, you are cooking the arugula! (I may try this .)

I envy you the mche. Germination failure after germination failure convinced me that I may as well not try. It seems to have one of those narrow "windows" when it will start to grow and plenty of "closed doors" when it won't, in my garden.

Apparently, it is considered something of a weed in some parts of the world - I should be so lucky :/.

Steve

 

[Greenthumb18]

Pizza!?!? So, you are cooking the arugula! (I may try this .)

I envy you the mche. Germination failure after germination failure convinced me that I may as well not try. It seems to have one of those narrow "windows" when it will start to grow and plenty of "closed doors" when it won't, in my garden.

Apparently, it is considered something of a weed in some parts of the world - I should be so lucky :/.

Steve

No, i believe the arugula is placed on top after the pizza comes out of oven, not cooked in the oven. Yep mache tends to take awhile to germinate, but if you sow plenty of seed i'm sure it will grow fine. Mache is native in Europe they eat lots of it over there.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there!

As far as I know there seems to be several different strains of Arugala (or Rocket as we Brits call it). The 'Wild Rocket' that I grow is certainly
hotter in taste (as in mustard, vfem). It also has more serrations in the leaf & is more 'pointy'! I have grown ones with much larger leaves than the usual. I suspect the growers are trying to breed out the bitterness which personally I should be very upset about. Why can't they leave the characteristics of vegetables alone -- after all there are masses of bland salad veg about for those who like them.

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/chilternseeds/211/default/d/r/mt/c/rid/18423/pn/F

Well, talking of bland, Mache (or as we call it Lamb's Lettuce or Corn Salad) I think you might have been trying to grow it in too hot weather. I sow it in the fall for a winter crop along with Land Cress (like watercress, without the water). I have been known to eat these on Christmas Day, made into a salad with segments of fresh oranges, dressed with olive oil & a little balsamic vinegar, to eat with roast duck or goose -- I don't eat turkey as it makes me feel very ill !!

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/chil...ad+large+leaved+heirloom+variety/pid/31513806

How do you feel about Batavian Lettuce & all those chicories (or do you call them endive, I've lost track of our common language ) the Italians grow so well? I love them!

Happy Gardening everyone :coolsun It's very hot here but it should get cooler on Thursday. I shall be glad of that as I have some more shifting of soil to do.......! I'm off out into the garden.

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[HiDelight]

I pick all my sharp greens first thing in the morning and do find them to be a bit more defined in flavor and more mellow when I do..they are still sharp and spicy but the flavor is more well rounded first thing in the AM before the sun hits them
I dont know the reason but I think it has to do with the sun for sure !
hope this helps since I am just really agreeing with you! yes they are more bitter and spicy if I taste them in the middle of the day

 

[digitS']

. . . I suspect the growers are trying to breed out the bitterness which personally I should be very upset about. Why can't they leave the characteristics of vegetables alone -- after all there are masses of bland salad veg about for those who like them.

. . . Well, talking of bland, Mache (or as we call it Lamb's Lettuce or Corn Salad) I think you might have been trying to grow it in too hot weather. I sow it in the fall for a winter crop along with Land Cress (like watercress, without the water). I have been known to eat these on Christmas Day, made into a salad with segments of fresh oranges, dressed with olive oil & a little balsamic vinegar . . .
How do you feel about Batavian Lettuce . . .

See how Hattie provides such a nice balance to me ? Yep, if I'm going to eat it raw - ahem, it better be bland.

I'm very pleased with the ability of the Batavians to stand up to our hot, dry summer weather. "Nevada" is a good choice in my garden and that name alone gives you an idea of what my lettuce-growing conditions are like during the summer.

Growing the corn salad will require too much attention, I suspect. It was a 1st year, it's great! Then trying the 2nd and 3rd year . . . nothing! When it turns hot and dry this porous, rocky soil is just not very hospitable to small, shallow-sown seeds.

Growing anything in the autumn is unlikely. It is not at all uncommon to have well below 0F before Christmas. That's -18 Celsius.

Cold, windy springs; hot, dry summers; cold autumns; frigid, snowy winters -- yep, I go for "bland" .

Steve