Giant purple mustard grows very quickly and will be ready to harvest before main crop of summer or winter vegetables are ready to be harvested. For continuous supply of fresh vegetables from the garden before others are ready, giant purple mustard can fulfilled that hope. It can be inter-planted with other vegetables to maximise space and productiveness of small gardens. Mustards can be treated as green manure and it is said to help control nematodes as well. Inter-planting mustard with plants that is easily effected by nematodes as companion plant will deter nematodes.Giant purple mustard is very tolerant to cool weather. Giant purple mustard leaves will turn to more purple colours in cold weather.
Giant purple mustard seedlings sown in late fall.
Giant purple mustard seedlings sown in the end of summer.
Giant purple mustard can also be grown as trap plants or sacrificial plant to attract pest to them. So that main crop brassica like broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower will be safer from pest attack. Broccoli and cauliflower takes long time to grow, inter-planting mustard around them will give many benefits to the brassica and productivity of ones garden like deterring nematodes, act as decoy to pest that like brassica and keep soil evaporation low as ground cover.
Purple Giant mustard ready to be harvest.
If letting them grow much bigger it will become too bitter.
Inter-planting potatoes with mustards.
Time to harvest those mustards which will give potatoes some space to grow.
Giant purple mustard can grow the same size as mature broccoli plants.
The dark purple leaves of this mustard is very striking in the garden.
Giant purple mustard starting to flower.
Blooming.
Flowers of the purple giant mustards attract bees into the garden.
Producing seed pods.
Have a nice weekend.
salam dan selamat pagi.Seperti biasa kebun Diana ni menarik perhatian Cm..bila pandang gambar-gambar ni rasa nak peggang cangkul dan berkebun:)
ReplyDeleteGiant purple mustard seeds yang Cm kasi tu masih blom di semai.Bunga matahari yg Cm tanam tu tinggi melebihi kepala Cm.Insyallah nnt nak ambik gambarnya.
cantiknya warna purple dia...tp bila dah berbunga dah tak rupa pokok sayur pula... ;p
ReplyDeletenice edible garden of you...
ReplyDeletethanks for a lot of seed you gave me.
cant wait to sow it tomorrow...
They look so pretty and decorative when contrasted against the green mustard leaves. Sayang je kalau dipetik untuk dimakan.
ReplyDeletehi malay kadazan girl, i have fallen in love with some of your garden photos, especially the one entitled.. Blooming....ooooooooo such great beauty... AND also pic of "the dark purple leaves of the mustard" (is this the same as the edible mustard paste sold in bottles?)
ReplyDeletewould you ever be so kind as to give me this photo plus a few lines write on it.. since i also do food art.i would like to post this in my blog and put there- this comes from your garden and put your link as well.
i will put your piece first, then i continue with my usual post after that.
thanks dear, if you agree, here's my email wmznahwm@gmail.com
thanks and have a wonderful weekend.
nice farm.... suka tgk.... salam perkenalan...
ReplyDeletesome interesting facts about purple mustard . pardon my ignorance, what do you mean they can be treated as green manure? as fertilisers you mean?
ReplyDeleteVery timely - I didn't realise they were so useful in the garden. I have just planted a couple out last week too. What do you use the leaves for. So far I have mostly just nibbled them when I'm out in the garden playing with the kids.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your post. I've never grown mustard and can now see the many benefits. I like the look of the mature plants too. The purple are very pretty.
ReplyDeleteWe grew this once and since it has self seeded everywhere - does it work attracting pests amongst brassicas. We could certainly do with something to attract the whitefly away
ReplyDeleteSome lovely foliage and a very nice area in the garden.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
It's such a pretty color. I bet it is loaded with all sorts of great nutrients too.
ReplyDeleteWe grew mustard last year and really aren't that fond of the flavor. That's a great tip to companion plant it as a trap crop!
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see that you describe nematodes as bad things. Here in the UK you can buy packs of nematodes to attack other pests like Vine Weevils.
ReplyDeleteBila pegi your blog rasa macam nak berkebun je blkg rumah tu. Dpt tanam kacang botol belakang rumah pun jadilah..tapi apakan daya..
ReplyDeleteBestnya you dpt makan fresh veges..:)
Of all the mustards Giant Purple has always been my favorite. It reseeds so easily that I have not had to plant it in many years. Loved your life-cycle pictures.
ReplyDeleteCikmanggis~Nanti ada masa kelapangan lepas raya haji bolehlah semai benih mustard. Cepat je tumbuhnya. Dalam masa 2 bulan dah boleh makan. Wah raya haji ni ada bunga matahari jadi penyeri di taman.
ReplyDeleteejaMaria~Jadi pokok bunga pula...hehehe...si sang lebah punya kegemaran.
Shafirul~Hope you have much fun with those seeds.
Sean L~ They can be pretty ornamental. Its too bitter anyway to eat them bigger they become.
Cookingvarieties~I am not really sure whether it is the same as the paste ones sell in shops. They are so many variety of mustard. You are welcome to use the photos. Which photo is it (No.6 or 7?). I will try to send you the photo ASAP. You have a nice weekend too.
Apa saja yang boleh dikongsi~Salam perkenalan. Nanti saya datang melawat ya.
Lena~Green manure as natural fertiliser. You let them grow in the patch and before they flower, dig these plant back into the soil. For example you can also use sunflower or soy bean as green manure.
Liz~This is not one of my favourite vegetables and even though I grow my own vegetables,I still can't get used to eat raw green leaves. I usually fried them with ginger and garlic or in soup. Last season most of this mustard harvest were given-away ;-). I over-sowed them.
Kelli~It will look interesting lining this purple leaves with other green leaves.
Sue~I used it more as a trap plant. If I saw that those mustard has been attack, I can find the culprit before it goes to the brassicas. I am not sure about the whitefly though.
Cher~One of the patch that has some colours last winter.
Tina~But the bitterness is something I can't make myself to eat it often. It grows so fast that its hard to harvest them before it gets too big.
Robin~Me too not that much fond of the flavor but more on growing it as companion plant.
Mark~They are so many types of nematodes. It will be depending on whether it is a good or bad one in ones garden. We here at down under have different type of nematodes than Europe.
TK~Saya tak pernah lagi cuba tanam kacang botol. Tapi ingat masa kecik-kecik dulu mak ada tanam di belakang ruman.
Mr. H~Self-sowed veggies are so handy. It also gave the sign of right sowing time for similar veggies that have the same environment requirement.
Robin~
Beautiful photos, especially of the bee. And I love the purple leaves, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteShaz~I have been worrying of a small number of bees visiting lately. Waiting for more spring flowers for many more visitors.
ReplyDelete