Mustard Red Frills

Deeply cut leaves for all round inclusion in salads. Slightly pungent but welcome flavour and a lovely colour.

How to Grow Mustard from Seed

There are three main types of Mustard, Black Mustard, Oriental or Brown Mustard and Yellow or White Mustard.

Black seeds are moderately spicy and traditionally used to make Dijon-style mustards. White seeds are milder and have the strongest preserving power making them the mustard of choice for pickles, relishes, and chutneys. White varieties are typically not grown for greens. Brown seeds are the hottest of all types and commonly used for curries, oriental dishes and strong Dijon-style mustards. Brown varieties are the best when growing mustard for greens.

Mustard plants are easy to grow and produce seed in as few as 60 days. The greens are edible, the flowers attractive and the seeds will self-sow readily. Mustard also acts as a green manure, releasing nitrogen when dug back in to the soil.

Mustard will grow well in most soils, but will produce the most seed in rich, well-drained, well-prepared soil and will thrive if given constant moisture. It prefers cool weather and a light frost can even improve the flavour.

Sow Mustard seeds thinly in trays from early spring through to the autumn. Do not use bottom heat. Germination normally occurs within 7-10 days. Seedlings emerge rapidly, but then usually grow slowly.

Take care not to allow the pods to get too ripe, unless you want your garden to become overrun with mustard plants. If you want to harvest the seeds, pick the pods just after they change from green to brown, before they are entirely ripe then air-dry them in a warm place for about two weeks on clean muslin, an old sheet, or a fine screen. Once dry, gently crush the pods to remove the seeds from the hulls.