Expect to pull it. Some of it might taste OK, experiment to find what is acceptable. I leave some to flower to attract bees to cukes. Here it doesn't care for heat at all, but unaffected by cold down to mid-teens and is reliable green from Nov-Mar and is always in winter crops.

Dan

Same here. But if you want to keep them longer, just cut off the stems with flowering budds. they will grow more new side shoots. Right now, I am pulling lots of then for salads(leaving room for the lettuce)

arugula's flavor tends to get overbearingly hot when it begins to flower (and lose a lot of the nuttiness that makes it so attractive)... succession planting is the way to go for spring arugula in virginia...

most of my first batch of brassicas have begun to flower as well... i'm sure the mustard and kale won't be far behind... fortunately batch 2 should be ready in a week or so...

That is quite normal. One April day at 80F is enough to make it bolt. It is much more reliable as a Fall vegetable. If you accept a slightly ragged garden look, you can let it go to seed. It will sprout in late summer and you will have feral arugula all over the place forever close to it. You could also grow it in shade, it will bolt more slowly.

MY arugula ALWAYS tries to flower before other veggies. Typically I don't even let it get there--I always harvest it as cut-and-come-again. As soon as the leaves are 3-4 inches long, I grab the whole plant in a bunch and cut it off 1 inch above the soil. In 1-2 weeks (depending on how warm it is), you'll have brand new 3-4 inch long leaves, which will give your other salad greens time to catch up.

Personally, I eat arugula alone, plain right out of the garden or lightly sauteed, if you're looking for a way to eat the first cutting before your other salad greens catch up. Don't let it flower though, or it gets tough and too spicy.

It sure can get spicy once it flowers!

When this happens, I chop it finely and sprinkle it on, like an herb

Just before the flowers open, snap off the stems with the buds and boil them for a couple of minutes. They are very good with garlic sauteed in olive oil, and cooked dry lima beans or pasta. Sprinkle with aged Romano or Parmesan, salt and pepper.

...succession planting...constantly all summer

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/continuousharvest.html

The flowers are tasty and colorful as salad garnishes.

How long does it take for it to re-seed itself and then germinate again after I let it flower?

It depends. By July it will have mature pods, which you can crush and spread with your hands, but then it will wait and it will sprout erratically depending on late summer rains. One year we had two inches during the Labor Day week end and in the Fall and following spring we had a bumper crop. Other years it is only a few plants. But a crop that feeds you in the cold months and takes no work at all can not be beat.

It's worth buying some arugula seed and re-sowing it in the garden every 2-3 weeks. I planted some last week and it sprouted within a couple of days. You can buy a year's worth of seed for a couple of dollars.