Arugula, arugula, arugula. What’s up with arugula these days?

Over the past month I’ve heard murmurings here and there about the lack of arugula in my area. I talked with a couple of restaurant owners and they had a hard time sourcing fresh arugula. Weird I though, arugula is really easy to grow. I just stick it in the ground and it grow like a weed.

So anyways I just came back from a meeting with a group run out of the country ag department whose purpose is to develop the local food market. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what to do business wise.

Well it ends up there is a shortage of fresh arugula. They don’t have anyone listed who grows it and restaurants want it as well as people.
I found out why too. South of me is field crop country with canola being one of the main crops. With canola you get flea beetles, the same type that attack brasccias (broccoli etc) and mustard family plants like arugula.
That why we don’t see much of any of these at local farmers markets. They’re a pain to grow without a lot of work.

There’s no canola around me and I’m buffered by several lakes. I haven’t yet had a problem with broccoli, it grows great. I never even realized flea beetles were even an issue with these plants.

Long story short it’s looking like I may have found an completely untapped market that by chance of location I can fill.

Never thought I would ever consider becoming an arugula farmer….