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Mustard -- A Spice of Life!
We are very familiar with mustard in jars or as a powder, like Colman's. But
prepared mustards use the seed to make their product or a blend of several
seeds. Jeremiah Colman created his mustard in 1814 by crushing and blending two different species of mustard seeds together: brown (Brassica juncea) and white (Sinapis alba).
I digress.
Mustard greens are the peppery leaves of the brown mustard plant, Brassica
juncea. There are also varieties of this genus that range in zippiness to suit
any palate.
Since mustard is in the cruciferae family, it is a good vegetable to eat when
you are interested in keeping your weight in an acceptable range. If you use
an oil to cook it in, there is your external energy. But if you consume
mustard greens in a salad with a vinegar and water dressing, your body must
fetch energy from its own stored fat deposits to reduce the mass to useable
components.
And cruciferae are great providers of antioxidant and vitamin properties that
lower bad cholesterol, keep your heart healthy and reduce blood clots. Its
high content of vitamin A helps smokers fight a tendency towards developing
emphysema!
Grown in nearly all parts of the US, the cooler weather crops are more
nutritious. You can sow seeds from about 3 weeks before spring's frost-free
date and every 3 weeks thereafter! You will get crops until frost, starting
45-50 days from first sowing, depending on variety.
Mustard is very easy to grow: sow, fertilize, weed, water during dry times,
and harvest, harvest, harvest!
1. Sowing seed is a matter of scattering seeds in a prepared patch of earth.
It is suggested that you thin the seedlings so that there are 5 inches between
plants, keeping the seedlings you removed for salad!
2. You can use a general fertilizer once or twice during the growing season.
3. Water enough to keep the plants from wilting, but not so much that they are
sitting in muck.
4. Harvest when leaves are young. Don't use yellowed or old wilted leaves for
food -- cut them off and use them as mulch to keep down the weeds. You can use older leaves, but the flavor gets stronger as the leaves get large. Using a
knife to cut your mustard greens (leaves) isn't necessary as the leaves are
crisp and snap easily .
Once the plant gets old enough to flower, pull it up and use it for mulch. If
you have sown every three weeks throughout the warm weather, you should have enough young plants coming up to keep you in leaf harvest til frost.
Be sure to wash your greens three times as they have a tendency to grow so
fast that soil will be pushed up with the leaves as they grow! On curly
mustard, the crenelations provide lovely catchalls for sand grains and bugs.
Heavy rains may splash soil onto the leaves, while aphids and small
caterpillars may hide on their undersides.
Mustard greens are nutritious. A half cup of cooked greens is 11 calories and
provides:
Dietary Fiber 1.4 grams
Protein 1.6 grams
Carbohydrates 1.5 grams
Vitamin A 2121 IU
Vitamin C 18 mg
Folic acid 130 micrograms
Calcium 52 mg
Iron 0.5 mg
Potassium 140 mg
You can also preserve mustard greens by freezing them. They must be blanched first, of course, and then stored in airtight containers.
You can use mustard greens like fresh spinach. Steam, fry or boil it, season
and serve. It is a quick and easy vegetable worthy of inclusion in everyone's
diet.
prepared mustards use the seed to make their product or a blend of several
seeds. Jeremiah Colman created his mustard in 1814 by crushing and blending two different species of mustard seeds together: brown (Brassica juncea) and white (Sinapis alba).
I digress.
Mustard greens are the peppery leaves of the brown mustard plant, Brassica
juncea. There are also varieties of this genus that range in zippiness to suit
any palate.
Since mustard is in the cruciferae family, it is a good vegetable to eat when
you are interested in keeping your weight in an acceptable range. If you use
an oil to cook it in, there is your external energy. But if you consume
mustard greens in a salad with a vinegar and water dressing, your body must
fetch energy from its own stored fat deposits to reduce the mass to useable
components.
And cruciferae are great providers of antioxidant and vitamin properties that
lower bad cholesterol, keep your heart healthy and reduce blood clots. Its
high content of vitamin A helps smokers fight a tendency towards developing
emphysema!
Grown in nearly all parts of the US, the cooler weather crops are more
nutritious. You can sow seeds from about 3 weeks before spring's frost-free
date and every 3 weeks thereafter! You will get crops until frost, starting
45-50 days from first sowing, depending on variety.
Mustard is very easy to grow: sow, fertilize, weed, water during dry times,
and harvest, harvest, harvest!
1. Sowing seed is a matter of scattering seeds in a prepared patch of earth.
It is suggested that you thin the seedlings so that there are 5 inches between
plants, keeping the seedlings you removed for salad!
2. You can use a general fertilizer once or twice during the growing season.
3. Water enough to keep the plants from wilting, but not so much that they are
sitting in muck.
4. Harvest when leaves are young. Don't use yellowed or old wilted leaves for
food -- cut them off and use them as mulch to keep down the weeds. You can use older leaves, but the flavor gets stronger as the leaves get large. Using a
knife to cut your mustard greens (leaves) isn't necessary as the leaves are
crisp and snap easily .
Once the plant gets old enough to flower, pull it up and use it for mulch. If
you have sown every three weeks throughout the warm weather, you should have enough young plants coming up to keep you in leaf harvest til frost.
Be sure to wash your greens three times as they have a tendency to grow so
fast that soil will be pushed up with the leaves as they grow! On curly
mustard, the crenelations provide lovely catchalls for sand grains and bugs.
Heavy rains may splash soil onto the leaves, while aphids and small
caterpillars may hide on their undersides.
Mustard greens are nutritious. A half cup of cooked greens is 11 calories and
provides:
Dietary Fiber 1.4 grams
Protein 1.6 grams
Carbohydrates 1.5 grams
Vitamin A 2121 IU
Vitamin C 18 mg
Folic acid 130 micrograms
Calcium 52 mg
Iron 0.5 mg
Potassium 140 mg
You can also preserve mustard greens by freezing them. They must be blanched first, of course, and then stored in airtight containers.
You can use mustard greens like fresh spinach. Steam, fry or boil it, season
and serve. It is a quick and easy vegetable worthy of inclusion in everyone's
diet.
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1. Vegetarian recipes
2. Smoothie recipes
How? It's easy!
Privacy policy:
Your email address is safe;
we NEVER share our list.
