A single mustard plant can develop up to 25,000 seeds. But how do you know when the seeds are ready to harvest? Find out below when and how to harvest your mustard and the best way to store and process it.

Mustard leaves can be harvested all year round

Harvest the mustard leaves

Mustard leaves can be harvested practically all year round, just a few weeks after sowing. It makes sense to only remove the outer leaves so that the mustard plant can continue to grow and thus continue to provide you with delicious leafy greens. The leaves can be used in salads but also in soups or other warm dishes. They give the food a slight mustard aroma.
If the mustard begins to bloom, the leaf harvest should be stopped, because the formation of flowers costs the mustard plant a lot of energy and nutrients, which it withdraws from the leaves, so that they lose their nutritional value and aroma. After flowering, the leaves begin to die back and seed formation begins.
If you want to use the mustard leaves as green manure, you can also harvest them during or shortly after flowering and during the entire growth phase.

Harvest mustard seeds

The pea-sized mustard seeds grow in pods and are usually ready for harvest in September/October. When the pods are ready to harvest, they are dry and light yellow. To make sure the seeds are ripe, shake one of the pods: does it rattle? Then it's harvest time!
When harvesting, proceed as follows:

  • Cut off the stems with the pods.
  • Place them in a burlap sack (€10.99) or some other durable material.
  • Hit the sack on a rock or wall to burst the pods.
  • Collect the seeds from the sack and place them on a plate or other shallow dish.
  • Repeat the process until all pods have burst open or open pods that are still closed by hand.
  • Let the mustard seeds dry on newspaper or similar in a dry place (e.g. on the radiator) for four weeks to ensure that all residual moisture escapes.
  • Process the seeds directly or place them in a closed jar and store in a cool, dark place.

Process mustard seeds

Mustard seeds can not only be ground and processed into mustard. They can also be used as a condiment for dishes such as:

  • mustard pickle
  • roulades
  • curry
  • Pickled Pumpkin
  • cucumber salad
  • meat dishes

tips

Alternatively, you can also dry the mustard seeds together with the pods and only separate them after four weeks.

Category:

Vegetable garden