Growing Mustard
The further one coasts along the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles, the more the landscape changes. LA’s strip malls and condos and Santa Barbara’s mission rooftops crowd the road even as both give way to the very mountains. To the left, the Pacific ocean waits patiently, its steel gray waters churning against the rocky surf coast. The famous hot rods and hippie vans of countless beach flicks meander the twisty roads that bleed off of the PCH towards the beach. Anglers and philosophers (is there much of a difference?) settle along piers so long that the path seems to disappear into the fog that lies over the ocean.
The ride is contemplative save for the chatter of wine country plans among the passengers or the patter of the satellite dj when the riders feel quiet. As the last of the outlet malls and roadside restaurants melts away, the hills seem to move closer, and before you know it and somewhat surprisingly, you’re in farm country. Livestock from cowboy horses to beef cattle wander land that is parceled out by split rail fences. The occasional hacienda spreads along the rise, but for the most part, homesteads are hidden in the valleys on the other side of the hills. Even outbuildings are a rare sight from the road.
California’s famous crops march up the hillsides in impressive patches of lettuce, berry vines, orchard trees. Vineyards for public viewing are tended with an eye towards cultivation, but that will be most evident when you arrive in the Central Coast. Along the highway, working vineyards are planted for yield. The berries are trained upwards to tower over the earth even as they traipse in rows toward the horizon. Often in the fallow space mustard grows, like ochre fire at the feet of the vines.
Along with grapes, mustard is California’s prize crop. It gets its due in Napa, but clusters of mustard plants are unmistakable along the travel routes of the entire state. In part this is because mustard, which is very hearty to begin with, takes especially well to the weather along the Pacific coast. But it is also because, to many a California farmer, planting mustard is just good agriculture.
Just as a slather of mustard is good for your sandwich, a spread of mustard plants is good for the land. Growers typically plant field mustard as a cover crop. Mustard germinates quickly and requires minimal care, so there is always a profitable harvest of greens and seeds either happening or imminent. Mature mustard plants function as a natural insect repellent. And, when the spent plant is returned to the soil, it releases a significant amount of nitrogen to reinvigorate the soil.
If it is provided with the right conditions, mustard can contribute much to the home garden. It is good as a border, especially in the herb patch, and grows well in containers if properly provided for. Mustard requires moist soil with a pH of no less than 6.0. If you’re not sure about your soil, take a soil sample to your local home center, nursery or county extension. They can test the soil and, if it is of lesser quality, advise which soil treatment will nourish the soil. In our urban gardens, we like to use organic fertilizer with a ratio of 5, 10 and 10. The county extension can also put you in touch with other herb gardeners – perhaps even mustard growers – and of course, they can advise how best to grow mustard in your USDA Hardiness Zone. Except for extreme conditions, mustard is sturdy against both heat and frost.
In most zones, the optimal time to grow mustard from seeds is spring, timed to final frost if there is one in that zone. (In some zones, you can sow a second planting in autumn timed to first frost). Place short holes in the soil at 6-inch intervals in a border or 3-inch intervals in a well-drained deep container. Sow a few seeds in each hole and cover lightly with soil. Mist the soil and prepare to keep it moist. Once the plants germinate, watch for thin or underdeveloped slips and pinch those off. With moist soil, the plants should grow tall and hearty fairly quickly. Once the plants are heartened off, transplant the smallest plants into another prepared plot or container, either for your garden or to give as a gift. Once mustard is established, it only needs water, sunshine, and routine care to thrive.
Finally, if you want to harvest the seeds, you will need to watch for the appearance of pale green pods. As a rule of thumb, mustard will present seed pods in 30 – 45 days. Once the pods appear, watch the plants carefully, for as the pod matures it will be oriented towards the goal of germination, which it does by falling off of the plant and bursting open to scatter the seeds within. As the pod matures, it will turn from green to a pale straw color. Once it achieves that straw color, use a boline to gently remove the pod from the parent plant. Tie a piece of string around the neck of the pod and hang it in a warm dry place over a tray outfitted with a clean fine mesh screen. The pod will either burst on its own or, once you sense that the pod has dried out, thereby indicating that the seeds are ready, you can use the boline open the pod over the screen. Pick through the debris from the bursted pod to gather the seeds. Return the debris to the compost. Clean the tray and scatter the seeds across the tray to dry. Once the seeds are dry, you can save, share or plant them. But be careful if you want to cook with them – make sure they came from a food safe plant, meaning nothing contacted the plant that would be harmful for anyone to digest.
The ride is contemplative save for the chatter of wine country plans among the passengers or the patter of the satellite dj when the riders feel quiet. As the last of the outlet malls and roadside restaurants melts away, the hills seem to move closer, and before you know it and somewhat surprisingly, you’re in farm country. Livestock from cowboy horses to beef cattle wander land that is parceled out by split rail fences. The occasional hacienda spreads along the rise, but for the most part, homesteads are hidden in the valleys on the other side of the hills. Even outbuildings are a rare sight from the road.
California’s famous crops march up the hillsides in impressive patches of lettuce, berry vines, orchard trees. Vineyards for public viewing are tended with an eye towards cultivation, but that will be most evident when you arrive in the Central Coast. Along the highway, working vineyards are planted for yield. The berries are trained upwards to tower over the earth even as they traipse in rows toward the horizon. Often in the fallow space mustard grows, like ochre fire at the feet of the vines.
Along with grapes, mustard is California’s prize crop. It gets its due in Napa, but clusters of mustard plants are unmistakable along the travel routes of the entire state. In part this is because mustard, which is very hearty to begin with, takes especially well to the weather along the Pacific coast. But it is also because, to many a California farmer, planting mustard is just good agriculture.
Just as a slather of mustard is good for your sandwich, a spread of mustard plants is good for the land. Growers typically plant field mustard as a cover crop. Mustard germinates quickly and requires minimal care, so there is always a profitable harvest of greens and seeds either happening or imminent. Mature mustard plants function as a natural insect repellent. And, when the spent plant is returned to the soil, it releases a significant amount of nitrogen to reinvigorate the soil.
If it is provided with the right conditions, mustard can contribute much to the home garden. It is good as a border, especially in the herb patch, and grows well in containers if properly provided for. Mustard requires moist soil with a pH of no less than 6.0. If you’re not sure about your soil, take a soil sample to your local home center, nursery or county extension. They can test the soil and, if it is of lesser quality, advise which soil treatment will nourish the soil. In our urban gardens, we like to use organic fertilizer with a ratio of 5, 10 and 10. The county extension can also put you in touch with other herb gardeners – perhaps even mustard growers – and of course, they can advise how best to grow mustard in your USDA Hardiness Zone. Except for extreme conditions, mustard is sturdy against both heat and frost.
In most zones, the optimal time to grow mustard from seeds is spring, timed to final frost if there is one in that zone. (In some zones, you can sow a second planting in autumn timed to first frost). Place short holes in the soil at 6-inch intervals in a border or 3-inch intervals in a well-drained deep container. Sow a few seeds in each hole and cover lightly with soil. Mist the soil and prepare to keep it moist. Once the plants germinate, watch for thin or underdeveloped slips and pinch those off. With moist soil, the plants should grow tall and hearty fairly quickly. Once the plants are heartened off, transplant the smallest plants into another prepared plot or container, either for your garden or to give as a gift. Once mustard is established, it only needs water, sunshine, and routine care to thrive.
Finally, if you want to harvest the seeds, you will need to watch for the appearance of pale green pods. As a rule of thumb, mustard will present seed pods in 30 – 45 days. Once the pods appear, watch the plants carefully, for as the pod matures it will be oriented towards the goal of germination, which it does by falling off of the plant and bursting open to scatter the seeds within. As the pod matures, it will turn from green to a pale straw color. Once it achieves that straw color, use a boline to gently remove the pod from the parent plant. Tie a piece of string around the neck of the pod and hang it in a warm dry place over a tray outfitted with a clean fine mesh screen. The pod will either burst on its own or, once you sense that the pod has dried out, thereby indicating that the seeds are ready, you can use the boline open the pod over the screen. Pick through the debris from the bursted pod to gather the seeds. Return the debris to the compost. Clean the tray and scatter the seeds across the tray to dry. Once the seeds are dry, you can save, share or plant them. But be careful if you want to cook with them – make sure they came from a food safe plant, meaning nothing contacted the plant that would be harmful for anyone to digest.
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