Plant name: Mustard Greens
Variety: Red Giant
Site: Part Shade
Type: Hardy Annual
Height: 15cm
Care: Crop the plant at 15cm
Harvesting: Harvest outer leaves when young for best flavour, leaving inner leaves to grow out. Use scissors or a knife to avoid damaging the plant.
Growing: You may set them out as they are, but they will grow faster and give you more if you take a little time to separate the seedlings. Gently tease the seedlings apart into 3 to 6 clumps. Be careful not to tear up the roots. If they don’t tease apart gently, you can cut the clump in half with a knife and in half again. Space clumps 12 inches apart.
Storage: Store unwashed greens in plastic bags in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. They will keep for about three days after harvesting. Wrap in moist paper towels for longer storage, up to five days. The flavour may intensify in the refrigerator during the longer five-day storage.
Benefits: One cup of mustard greens yields over 500% the daily value of vitamin K, 85% of your daily vitamin A, 60% of vitamin C, and high levels of folates, manganese, dietary fiber, calcium, and a bit of protein to boot. That's a whole lot of nutrition for just 20 calories worth of food!
