A lot of the vegetables you can grow in your garden require the utmost patience before you can pick. But mustard greens require a different skill set ahead of the harvest.
They demand diligence. Starting about 10 days after sowing, you’ll need to keep an eye on their progress if you’d like to pick some as microgreens.
If you’re growing baby leaves or full-size, a couple of weeks later, you’ll need to start monitoring their progress frequently so you don’t accidentally allow them to get oversized and hot, tough, or bitter.
Stamina helps, too. If you plant more than a couple, they’ll produce bushels of greens in a short period.
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I’m talking about cultivars like ‘Ruby Streaks,’ which can grow as a microgreen in 10 to 15 days. I’m also referring to broadleaf varieties such as ‘Red Giant,’ that can grow 16 inches tall and fully mature 40 days after sowing.
Any that you intend to cook with, eat fresh, juice, or add to smoothies should be picked promptly at regular intervals, so they’ll continue to send up more shoots.
This is not a “wait and see” veggie garden choice, but more of the “try to keep up” variety.
That quick turnaround is part of what makes it so gratifying to grow mizuna, tatsoi, ‘Florida Broadleaf,’ and other varieties of mustard.
And if you follow the tips I’m going to share, you’ll be able to pick these leafy greens at their peak, and enjoy them fresh or in cooked recipes.
You can even extend the harvest for many months, and for more than one season if you like.
Ready to pick premium greens with the best of them? Let’s get to it. Here’s the lineup:
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