Astro Arugula

Spicy, nutty and delicious! Tolerates both heat and cold. Baby greens in 3 weeks! Direct seed in a row or block, around 1 seed/cm; lightly cover with soil. Seed mid-March to Sept.; staggered plantings will yield a continuous harvest. Can overwinter outdoors or under a coldframe. Harvest with scissors 2-5cm from the ground to allow greens to grow back. Large greens can be mixed with mustards for a tasty braising mix.

Certified organic in British Columbia. IOPA # 1606, 1105, 1920.

How to Save Arugula Seed

Fast Facts

Latin: Domestic arugula (eg. Astro): Eruca sativa, Wild arugula (eg. Bellezia): Diplotaxis tenuifolia

Cross Pollination: Will cross with other arugula varieties of the same species. Domestic arugula will not cross with wild arugula

Isolation distance: 800 feet

Minimum Population Size (variety maintenance): 20-50 plants

Minimum Population Size (genetic preservation): 80 plants

Learn more about cross pollination, isolation distance and population size, and why they matter in our blog post Seed Saving 101

Seeding and Care

Seed plants 10-12” apart, or plant densely and thin to the desired spacing. Care for plants as usual and rogue out small, deformed, sickly or fast-bolting plants. Arugula will put up lovely white flowers and seeds will form in pods. 

Seed Harvest

Keep an eye on the developing seed pods. Once the pods appear full and round, cut the whole plants and lay on a tarp to dry. Other signs of seed maturity to watch for include pods splitting and dropping seed towards the bottom of the seed stalk, and birds eating the seeds. 

Seed Cleaning

Thresh the seeds by laying the entire dry seed stalks on a tarp and stomping and shuffling on the plants to crack open the pods and detach the seeds. It’s important that seeds are very dry at this stage to prevent them being crushed by the threshing process. Shake the threshed material through a screen, allowing the seeds to pass through and the larger debris to remain on the top. Then, winnow using wind or a fan, pouring seeds from one container to another while allowing the lighter chaff to blow away. 

Learn more about growing arugula for seed at Seed Savers Exchange.