Mustard – Giant Red

When small, the lovely burgundy coloured leaves with light green veins are so mild and delicious they can be eaten in salads. In summer, big leaves pack a proper mustard punch but they are much milder when cooked or when grown in cooler weather. Very winter-hardy, Giant Red mustard seeds can be planted into October or in early spring to harvest as small leaves every few days. For big plants, thin to 20-30cm (8-12″) apart in the row. This variety makes excellent microgreens that are ready to harvest just two weeks after sowing. As baby leaf greens, they are not spicy, but still impart a distinctive flavour to salad mixes. This variety comes from Japanese breeding, and makes fine pickled mustard greens. It is very slow to bolt.