Wild Mustard

Wild Mustard, sometimes called field mustard, is a selection of our local adapted Wild Mustard here in Southern Oregon. For us here in zone 7, this mustard has been reliable, vigorous, resistant to pest and diseases and very cold hardy.Wild Mustard has become a regular staple in our diet and we enjoy the mild greens (as far as mustard greens go) in gentle soups, sauteed with vinegar and soy sauce, or added to any number of soups, stews, omelettes, etc. You can easily replace kale or spinach in most recipes 1-1 with wild mustard, and because of their mustardy flavor, they really shine in dishes that call for any number of Asian mustards such as pac choy.In our climate, the mustard thrives in the fall and early spring and that's when the greens are their mildest. Wild mustard puts on most of the growth in the cooler shoulder seasons. You can get greens year round if you want, but the plant wants to flower in the hotter seasons. So we go with the flow, eat in season, and enjoy greens during the cooler months.The young, unopened flower bud clusters and young supple flower stalks are also a delicacy which we include in soups or fry up as their own vegetable with noodles (e.g. inspired by pad see ew) or on their own.In the summer we are collecting mustard seed heads, threshing and winnowing or screening off the lighter chaff, and we are left with a beautiful mustard seed with a moderate level of spiciness. The colors of the mustard seed are diverse and range from yellow to dark brown, non-uniformity an indicator of the genetic diversity available in this stable land race of mustard, from which we have selected our wild garden companions.We enjoy the mustard seed in curries especially, but can be used anywhere mustard seed is called for, including making your own deli mustard or prepared mustard from scratch! Tags: Harvest: Early, Color: Green, Size: Large, Specialty: Drought Tolerant, Season: Spring Fall.

Wild, or Field Mustard is the origin of many varieties in the Brassicaceae family, including turnips, bok choy, and canola. Originally from Europe, and pervasive in temperate climates.