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Growing Mustard greens, also gai choy

(Brassica sp.)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		S	P	P			P

(Best months for planting Mustard greens in USA - Zone 5a regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays. P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
Space plants: 14 - 24 inches apart
Harvest in 5-8 weeks.
Compatible with: Dwarf (bush) beans, beets, celery, cucumber, onions, marigold, nasturtium, rhubarb, aromatic herbs (sage, dill, camomile)
Avoid growing with: Climbing (pole) beans, tomato, peppers (chilli, capsicum), eggplant (aubergine), strawberry

Leaf mustard
Red Japanese mustard

Green leafy plant, popular for Asian cooking.

Grow fast with plenty of water and regular feeds of liquid manure to avoid bitterness. Pick young.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Mustard greens

Use young leaves in salad for a 'spicy kick'. Add to stir fry.

Your comments and tips

16 May 09, trish mann (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I've been growing mustard greens as a salad vegetable for a few years and find they come up in surprising places. Very hardy to grow summer or winter- great crunchy stem with slightly hot mustard flavour. The initial seeds came from a punnet of salad greens which I let go to seed.
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02 Jul 09, Trevor Heywood (Australia - temperate climate): This Autumn and Winter I scattered mustard seeds around the place - a biodynamic book said to do that. When I'm weeding I see a nice mustard green I just eat it on the spot. Leave some patches to grow bigger and eat them chopped up in your dal/lentils - stem & all. Keep sowing them all the year.
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31 Aug 09, Allen Shiley (Australia - sub-tropical climate): As a boy growing up the South of the USA we often ate mustard greens. Though they tend to be boiled with bacon or ham and stewed for at least 24 hours. Sometimes my grandmother would add a little sugar if the were bitter. We ate them much as you would boiled spinach.
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26 Sep 09, Melanie O'Connell (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I share a garden bed with my neighbours from Burma who speak very little English. We have been growing mustard greens and they are now about 1m tall and covered in yellow flowers. At what point (and how?) do I start collecting seeds? Thanks very much.
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23 Nov 09, Erna Stein (Australia - temperate climate): I have been growing mustard greens as a salad vegetable for a couple of years and simply love them. I have been starting them off from seedlings from the nursery however this year I've had trouble finding healthy seedlings and would prefer the convenience of growing them from seed. However I haven't had any luck in finding seeds. Can anyone tell me where I may be able to purchase them from?
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07 Jun 10, woody (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Try "the lost seed' on the net, I use their seeds and have had geat success in Tassie
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28 Feb 10, Caroline (Australia - temperate climate): I have been looking for mustard greens seed and I can't find them in the traditional gardening stores, where can I find them?
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20 May 10, frank (Australia - temperate climate): Can get a wide variety of mustard green seeds form seed clubs, ie diggers and greenseeds. Google for catalouge. Purple king is my faverout
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03 Jun 11, Jackie (Australia - temperate climate): Any supermarket in the spice section will do.
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27 Mar 10, wendy (Australia - temperate climate): where can you grow them in what soil
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I have been looking for mustard greens seed and I can't find them in the traditional gardening stores, where can I find them?

- Caroline

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.

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