Growing Non-GMO Japanese Red Giant Mustard Herb Seeds
How to Grow Red Giant Mustard from Seed
Mustard plant is a cool-hardy favorite best sown direct 4-6 weeks before the final frost date or can be started indoors for transplants. Sow 3-4 seeds .5" deep and 2-3" apart in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Seeds germinate in 4-7 days, thinning to 1 plant every 12-18" in the garden once true leaves establish. Harvest large outer leaves, allowing smaller leaves to continue to mature. Provide midsummer shade in warmer climates. It can also be grown for the microgreen and baby leaf stages.
Your mustard crop will give off a peppery scent and spicy flavor with hints of tang. Similar to kale, Mustard continues growing leafy greens through the season. As the warm temperature rises, Red Giant Mustard will bloom yellow flowers before setting seed.
Although tolerant to diseases, monitor regularly for aphids, flea beetles, slugs, and caterpillars.
Red Giant Mustard in the Herb Garden
In general, mustard is an ideal garden plant to grow near herbs. As a hardy leafy green that provides peppery and tangy flavor, Red Giant Mustard is a vegetable that is commonly grown for its culinary and herbal benefits. This Japanese mustard variety develops crimped burgundy-colored leaves variegated with green and growing 10" long"making Red Giant Mustard perfect to mix in fresh salads, cook as savory greens or harvest its spicy seeds to use as herbal remedies!
Non-GMO (Brassica juncea) Red Giant Mustard grows as a hardy leafy vegetable reaching 12-24" tall. As a biennial, this Japanese mustard variety blooms from late spring throughout the summer or again as a fall crop. Harvest the baby mustard greens of earlier in the season. Once your plants reach maturity, Red Giant Mustard develops crimped burgundy-colored variegated green leaves that grow 10" long!
Mustard is currently in its renaissance as a vital sprouting, microgreens, and cover crop variety grown just as popularly on the kitchen counter as in the garden bed. Mustard leaf features a wide selection of color, flavor, and leaf types such as classic broadleaf, curly, and mizuna. As a cover crop, mustard is sown in the fall to repair and replenish depleted and hardened soils, only to be mulched back into the spring garden as an all-natural Organic "“green" fertilizer.
Harvesting Red Giant Mustard
Most varieties of mustard are ready for harvest about 80 days from sowing. Like other Brassicas such as kale, broccoli, and collards, mustard leaf is a "“cut and come again" crop able to produce well into the frost. Carefully cut outermost leaves from the stem while leaving rest of the plant intact.
Mustard can be left in the garden to easily reseed for next season. Sow mustard in the fall to overwinter and till back into the soil for a springtime nitrogen-rich Organic fertilizer.
Mustard greens may be harvested throughout the season, as long as they are sprouting. As a rule of thumb, it is important to never harvest more than 1/3 to 2/3 of the plant at one time, so that it will continue to grow. If you want to continue growing leaves longer, pluck off the flowers as they come in. Once the flowers blossom, the leaves will no longer grow.
About Red Giant Mustard Seeds
Red Giant Mustard is very similar to the Japanese Giant Garnet (milder in taste-usually harvested at the baby leaf stage) and Red Garnet mustards (grown to maturity or as microgreens). Though these are each separate, individual varieties. They share many of the same uses. Red Giant, however, is favored for its traditional use in pickled Japanese cuisine. It can also appear redder in warm weather while its inner leaves will remain greener with cooler temperatures.
Red Giant Mustard hails from the Orient.
Red Giant is cold tolerant and slow to bolt, giving you a long growing season.
Very colorful plant, and is used many times for garden borders because of its spectacular purple color.
Great in urban gardens and on the farm alike.
Alternate row plantings with Green Wave Mustard for a real show stopper!
As mustard in general, is a leafy green garden vegetable that's commonly grown for its culinary and herbal benefits, Red Giant Mustard varieties are most often used in cooking. Due to the tender, spicy and savory flavor this Japanese Mustard provides, it's best to use the fresh burgundy-colored mustard leaves in a salad mix such as sesame chicken or in a medley with arugula, radicchio and endive!
Recommended by the Following State Universities or Ag Extension Offices as a variety that performs well for their region. OR
