Some years ago, long before some idiots labeled people who ate arugula as elitists, I purchased some arugula seed from a seed catalog. I grew my arugula and was delighted with its spicy taste. In Texas, I grew a "rustic" strain of arugula; its flowers were yellow, its leaves slenderer, and its growing habit invasive. I purchased a different strain of arugula last spring; the leaves are just as tasty, but the flowers are white, and its growth is not invasive. I'll be trying out some new strains this spring. As my arugula grows, I'll harvest its leaves, enjoying at least the food of an elitist, if not the lifestyle. What crazy times we live in: our economy goes south; the American taxpayer bails out rich folks and the companies they plundered. People like Darrel Dochow, who made $230,000 a year as a government regulator (and who was "also the regulator in 1989 who oversaw the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan"), is accused of helping a bank falsify its records and yet gets to retire from his government job. He's probably receiving a government pension, too. Yet I, who brought home a laughably low paycheck as an educator, am elitist because I eat arugula. Go figure.
Arugula, greens of the gods. Poster plant for the Greene Victory Garden 2009.
Update: Tom just sent me an article that reminds us that while "our industrial food system is rotten to the core...heirloom arugula won't save us." But on a smaller, personal scale, homegrown arugula can certainly spice up our salads.
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