Eruca sativa
Origin: Palestine
Improvement status: Landrace
Seeds per packet: ~400
Germination tested 12/2025: 98%
Life cycle: Annual
This beautiful Palestinian arugula (known simply as "jarjir" or "jarjeer", which means arugula in Arabic) comes from deep in the hills of the UNESCO World Heritage village of Battir at a place called Ein Abu-El-Harth ("the spring of the plowman") in the occupied West Bank. This is a spicy, strongly-flavored arugula, excellent for salads — often served with fresh onions and wild-harvested sumac. It's typically found raw as a side dish next to lentil soup and other Palestinian dishes, especially in winter — when the plant is at its best.
Palestinians (among others) consider arugula to be an aphrodisiac, particularly beneficial for those who lack adequate stamina to keep up with their partner in the bedroom!
Battir — known especially for its ancient irrigation works, in place since at least the Roman era — has long been something of an oasis in an occupied West Bank with many violent flashpoints from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south. But the escalation of violence and harassment against Palestinians across the West Bank has increased, and not even serene Battir has been immune. In May of 2025, a report from the Palestine News Network highlighted the presence of international volunteers aiming to witness and ideally protect farmers in Battir from settler violence and intimidation. It reads, in part: "In recent weeks, dozens of international activists have joined efforts to clean farmland, restore water canals, and replant areas in the Ein Amdan region of Battir. The land belongs to the al-Shami family, which reported that settlers had uprooted trees, demolished terraces, and chased them off the property. 'We’re seeing an alarming increase in settler violence, especially since the start of the war in Gaza,' said Elias D’eis, director of Holy Land Trust. 'This campaign is about more than planting trees. It’s about protecting farmers, keeping the land cultivated, and making sure the international community sees what’s happening here.'... Samir al-Shami, a farmer from Battir, said settlers have prevented his family from accessing their land since October 7. 'They destroyed hundreds of fruit trees, broke stone walls, and damaged the water springs we rely on for irrigation,' he said. 'They even threatened us with guns.' According to al-Shami, the presence of foreign volunteers has enabled the family to return to their fields without immediate threats. Some of the same activists, he added, also helped the family during the recent olive harvest, deterring settlers from interfering."
We grow and offer seeds like these, and work closely with our dear friends at the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, in the hopes that our doing so helps to remind people around the world — many of whose governments, like our own, are complicit in the Israeli oppression of Palestine — that Palestinians are not the evil monsters portrayed by their Israeli oppressors. They are people of the land who want and deserve freedom. They want to plant the seeds of their beloved plants, just as all the rest of us to. They want to cook their beloved dishes with these plants. And they want to share them tenderly with the people they love.
These seeds were produced by a member of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library's Seed Protectors Project. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library to support their critically important work preserving a vital part of Palestinian culture in the face of political oppression, systematic violence, and cultural erasure.
GROWING TIPS: Usually planted in late summer or fall for production through Palestine's relatively mild winter, it can be succession-sowed during the spring and early summer as well (but it has a short harvest window in the warm months, quickly going to flower and ceasing leaf production). Direct-sowing is recommended.
