Mustard greens are an easy choice for #seedsavingformarketgrowers
Mustard greens are in the Brassica juncea species.
I’ve heard that there is a whole world of Brassica juncea diversity out there including heading mustards and turnip root mustards and swollen stem mustards.
I can’t vouch for those.
But what I do know is that there is a stunning array of Juncea Mustard Greens in a dazzling spectrum of green to purple with leaves of so many textures and shapes.
There are probably some in your salad mix.
And they could easily be in your seed plan!!!
Brassica rapa and brassica juncea do not cross even though they make great salad companions.
Why Brassica juncea are so easy to save seed:
- Double harvest – you can get a couple cuts for salad greens and still harvest the seed
- Easily goes to flower and then to seed
- Easy to thresh pods – when they are dry, they easily shatter
- Easy to screen and winnow
- Annual – from seed to seed in 1 season
- Most varieties open pollinated
The biggest challenge:
- Flowering Brassica juncea in your salad greens can cross with your seed crop
- Flea beetles, flea beetles, flea beetles
- They do cross – only in about a 1000ft radius
YIELD:
5lbs to 10lbs from a 100ft bed
SEED LIFE:
4 to 6 years
More about saving Mustard seed
