Mustard

SherryA
SherryA Posts: 314 ✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Vegetables

Just read this great article on growing mustard. I admit to being prejudiced, as I love mustard. All my greens failed last year, so I'm really trying to pay attention this year and do better. Little critters got a lot of my greens as they came up, but I think there was more. Maybe I planted too late?

https://thegrownetwork.com/growing-mustard-greens/

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I am looking forward to trying out the mustard recipe in this article.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    @figsagee Mustards are pretty cold hardy. I know that they can be planted in the late Summer for a Fall garden, in the Winter to overwinter and return in the early Spring, as well as in the early Spring.

  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,390 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We have tried to like mustard green but they are bitter no matter how I've cooked them unlike collard, chard, and kale. I hope you guys enjoy them! Also, I make greens in my Instant Pot and mustard greens leave a very strong smell on the seal that has to wear off. No amount of cleaning gets it off. I've been growing the other 3 this winter and have used them for salad greens as well as cooking them. They are winter hardy as well.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    😕 Anything mustard here quickly gets devoured by the flea beetle blanket caused by canola & conventional farming practices. I won't even try growing it anymore as it is just so very disappointing. It is amazing as those little black insects now seem to go after other things that they never seemed to touch in the past. I can't even try it indoors, as they go through the screens.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @Laurie So do the canola farmers spray for this insect? So they come to your garden cause its not sprayed? I had never considered that spraying in one area would create an overpopulation in surrounding non-spray zones. How awful, for something we have no control over! While we do have farmers and ranches here that use a variety of chemicals, none are done on such a large scale and I haven't heard of any neighbours with complaints. Much less mono-cropping goes on here. Is there a trap crop that you could grow? I know lovage attracts aphids and it seems to keep them off most of the surrounding plants. Not sure how it would work for this bug, though. It sounds insidious, flying through screens! Do they go for other cruciferous plants or just the mustard types of the family?

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kbmbillups1 You might try some full strength white vinegar from a spray bottle. Walk away and check for odor after about 15 min or so. Repeat if necessary but that should dissipate the smell pretty quick. It works wonders for kitty accidents. And for cat spray. i had to spray twice about 15 to 30 min apart and the stink was so totally gone.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @torey They do spray for them, but the beetles keep building up through the season anyway as they don't quite get everything. Everything the conventional farmers do here is monocrop.

    The insects ate the mustard & radish tops fairly early and ate few types of flowers. These became black and then were fully stripped in short order.

    It has become worse the more they spray. When they cut canola somewhere, we get an influx of them on our ceilings. I never see them coming in, but it is easy to see them on a white surface. They are always gone by morning & back again in the evening.

    I don't spray anything. I am not sure that a trap crop would be sufficient as they get pretty bad here.