Few people seem to be aware of the fact that the deliciously pungent herb commonly known as rocket is indigenous to many areas of Pakistan and that, being climatically suitable, it is much easier to cultivate than many other salad herbs, especially those originating in cooler climes than ours.

Botanically called ‘Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa’ and otherwise known as ‘roquette’, ‘Italian cress’, ‘rucola’, ‘arugula’ and ‘salad rocket’ the cultivated version of this annual plant can, with a little care, be grown all the year round irrespective of which part of the country you reside in and can, this may surprise some, also be cooked like spinach although the taste is perhaps too strong for some palates.

The indigenous species, ‘Eruca sativa’ grows all over the place but especially so in Sindh, Balochistan, Waziristan and mountainous regions in general and tends to be slightly smaller in size and stronger in flavour than its cultivated counterpart but is still worth having around as a fall-back crop.

Seed, for cultivated varieties, is easily available these days and the majority of seed supply stores stock it. If you have grown it once, however, you should, if you have either harvested your own seed or allowed a few plants to self-seed, not have to go to the expense of buying it ever again.

Rocket seed is best sown every two or three weeks, around the year if you live in the plains but with a gap of three months — December/January/February — if you live at altitudes over 3,000 feet or thereabouts. High altitude growers will find that seeds sown during October and November will germinate sporadically throughout the winter months, irrespective of how cold it happens to be, supplying a steady stream of fresh salad greens when there may be little else available although, providing you have planned and planted correctly, the garden should have things such as giant red mustard, mustard mizuna and winter radish too.

Humus rich soil is ideal for growing this delectable herb which, to produce a steady supply of tender young leaves, needs regular watering to prevent it from bolting and going rapidly to flower and then seed formation. Having written that though, it must also be said that if you forget to water it or, more likely, are too short of water to provide regular drinks, then just let it go to seed and spread itself around at will. Seedlings will pop up, when they feel like it, all over the place and all that is necessary is to thin them out a little if they are overcrowded.

Best sown directly where it is to grow, rocket has long tap roots which hate being disturbed. Prepared soil should be raked level and all stones and roots of perennial weeds removed during the process. Sow the seed very thinly in drills eight to 12 inches apart and at a depth of no more than half an inch deep. Seeds germinate rapidly, in as little as five to seven days when fresh and perhaps 14 days when older. Thin emerging seedlings out to approximately six inches apart to allow for unhindered development and, this is fast, within two or three weeks you should be able to start harvesting, leaf by leaf, for salad use.

Keep on harvesting individual leaves — don’t pull them off but cut them with a pair of sharp scissors to avoid plant damage — as fast as they develop as this encourages the plant to keep on making more and more. If leaves are not harvested the plant will decide to flower and leaf production will be reduced to a minimum and eventually stop altogether.

Rocket can be grown directly in the ground, in pots or other containers and both indoors and out. If growing indoors, lots of natural light is essential although, this on good authority, it flourishes in shallow trays placed in the bath as long as a bright light is left on for at least 18 hours per day!

Crops grown during the hot months of the year are best positioned in partial shade whilst those cultivated in the cooler months enjoy a sunny spot.

Rocket, depending on which variety is planted, can reach a height of approximately three feet with a spread of up to two feet and is usually completely pest free except for a brief spell in cold weather when woolly aphids tend to congregate on flowering or seeding spikes which, bothersome as this is, is easily dealt with by snipping ‘infected’ spikes off and disposing of them properly which is not in the compost bin!

Please send your gardening queries to

zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail.