The Greenhouse Forum’s third window in the advent calendar is written by the Danish garden blogger Birgitte Hasholt. There is a small acrid plant blooming in her greenhouse at exactly this time in December.

Text and Photos: Birgitte Hasholt

 

It is December and I have put all my clay pots in the garage and greenhouse. It is a huge work to empty all the pots as many of them are big and heavy. Some of them are strong enough to handle the cold when not emptied. It is always a gamble, but if the pots are protected (as they are in the greenhouse) and elevated (I lay down bamboo sticks with a fitting distance and place the pots on top) they will likely last.

 

Acrid Christmas herb

The pots in my greenhouse are filled with perennial herbs like rosemary and thyme. I also have other greens to harvest. Wasabi rocket, Diplotaxis Erucoides, is a green herb with a very acrid horseradish taste like the real horseradish I have in my kitchen garden. when you taste a wasabi rocket leaf, you will immediately think of sushi.

I had imagined that wasabi rocket sown in the late summer would sprout far into autumn, and it did. There are far more leaves to pick now. Despite frost for multiple days, the plant rises again as soon as the temperature rises above the minus degrees. This means that the pretty green leaves can be harvested during the winter too. The plant even blooms in December.

Cultivation

Wasabi rocket thrives in full sun or half shade and it thrives very well in pots in the greenhouse. You can sow it in April until August in approximately 0.2 inches depth. Push the seeds down so they are in contact with the soil surface and sprinkle soil on top, irrigate and then wait. You don’t need to be patient as the wasabi rocket sprouts quickly and grows in rocket speed.

 

Tip:

Wasabi rocket is interesting in salads. You can also put the leaves on a pizza. Wasabi rocket fits both fish, shellfish and meat.