My Komatsuna tendergreen and Japanese Purple Mustard is growing. It has been kind of limping along because our weather has been so cool. I’ve thinned it out and made a wonderful salad with a light oriental dressing. Those tiny tender leaves sell for over $15.00 a pound here. Of course a pound is a bushel so you wouldn’t need but 1/4 pound to make a salad for four.
After thinning the mustard last week, it grew really fast. I’ll harvest leaves for salads a little at a time, and will let some grow larger for cooking in stir fry. The Japanese purple mustard has a real “bite” but being so young, cannot be called “hot”. Last year my mustard grew to maturity in about 3 weeks, but this year, because of the cool weather along the coast, I’m sure it will take 6 weeks. I have several posts on growing tendergreen mustard, the first being last spring. Can you tell I’m an enthusiast? Just search “mustard” and you’ll see them all.
Our Australian labradoodles both like greens. I’ve had to put bird netting over my vegetable boxes to prevent the pups from eating them before I get a chance to thin them out. One of my Australian labradoodles, “Tillie”, helped me thin the mustard greens last week. The two dogs, at a year old, are becoming more manageable and I love having them as companions in the garden.
