1/ It's an aphrodisiac. During Roman times, when it grew in Mediterranean regions, it was considered the perfect ingredient to give your sex life a boost.
2/ You don't need a garden. A window box, or even something smaller, like the plastic packaging container that you get strawberries in, will do. Throw some stones or old wine corks in the bottom and add some compost.
3/ It doesn't need much attention. You sprinkle seeds on wet compost, then sprinkle some more compost over the top. Water again, and you're off. Once well established you can abandon it for weeks on end and it will manage fine. For more detailed instructions, see this guide in Gardener's World.
4/ You don't need to worry about soil type. Rocket grows well in most soils, so you can avoid all the effort of pH testing kits and working out whether you're dealing with a clay or sandy patch.
5/ It grows like a weed. And it self seeds so if you plant it in your garden, you'll find patches of it cropping up all over the place.
6/ You won't be bound by a rigorous watering schedule. Only when the seedlings first appear, you should water every day or so, unless it rains. Later on, rocket won't need excessive watering; it is used to Mediterranean climes. Although in the height of summer, watering helps to stop it running to seed (this is when seed or flower heads form, so the plant no longer concentrates on producing leaves - it has reached the end of its growing life)
7/ It's good for you. Especially if you minimize the time between picking it and eating it, which is easy if it's growing metres from your kitchen. Fresh rocket leaves contain iron and vitamin C.
8/ You don't have to be limited to salads. You can cook it, treating it the same as spinach.
9/ It's hardy and keeps on growing all winter. Especially wild rocket, which is tougher than salad rocket. Mine is taking over a patch in my front garden, where I sowed some seeds, over a year ago.
10/ Slugs and snails don't seem to like it. Not as much as other salad crops anyway. To anyone who has witnessed the destruction of tender seedlings or suffered the loss of their favourite plant, this is a big attraction.
11/ It doesn't need space. It's not fussy about being crowded in a bed like asparagus, or likely to take up too much room like courgette plants.
12/ Bagged rocket from the supermarket is a rip-off. Say you bought a ??2 bag of rocket once a week from May until September, that would cost you ??46. One packet of organic rocket seeds costs ??1.49.
13/ You can make your own pesto. Either in a food blender, or do what I do and bash up some pine kernals, then add garlic, salt and roughly chopped rocket and grind it in a large pestle and mortar, or in a mixing bowl with a rolling pin. Add olive oil and lots of grated parmesan. It'll keep for a few weeks, sealed in a jam jar in the fridge. For a more accurate recipe, see here.
14/ It makes you feel green fingered. Sticking with something that is easy to grow does wonders for your gardening self-esteem. A thriving bed of greens promises of success with future venture.
15/ It'll impress friends. When you come in from the garden with a handful of freshly plucked leaves, they will gasp at your green and earthy ways, even if you only have enough to sprinkle on top of a salad made mainly from supermarket iceberg. With its peppery flavour, a little goes a long way.
16/ You can sow almost anytime. From early spring to late autumn, with the exception perhaps of the height of summer when it might run to seed
17/ It goes brilliantly with salami. Or, if you're posh about your pig products, prosciutto.
18/ It grows quickly. None of this wait-two-years-before-you-eat-it-palava that you have with rhubarb and raspberry canes.
19/ Seeds are easy to find in garden centres. Unlike obscure varieties of rainbow chard, most garden centres, however small, will stock a packet or two of rocket seeds.
20/ The more you eat the more it seems to grow. This is because most types of rocket are 'cut and come again'
21/ If your rocket is attacked by a pest, the leaves won't be inedible. The holes you might see in the leaves are caused by a tiny pest called the flea beetle, so called because it leaps like a flea when disturbed. There is no problem with eating the leaves, although you may wish to wash them first to remove any traces of flea.
22/ If you still want to cheat... you can order in young plants from Rocket Gardens, see here.