Price range: £1.85 through £18.75
Japanese green with long strap-like leaves. Tastes slightly stronger than Mizuna though it is still quite mild. Pick young leaves after about 3 weeks or allow to mature.
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Mibuna
Latin name Brassica rapa
Approximately 450 seeds per g
Oriental vegetables have revolutionised winter salad production. As their name suggests they come from China and Japan. Being brassica, or cabbage family, the plants are very cold tolerant making them ideal for our autumn and winter months. It also means that some of the varieties have that hot, mustard kick to them. The variation in leaf, colour, shape and texture make them perfect for mixed salad and they are very quick growing too. Most varieties are cut and come again salads while some can also be stir fried.
Mibuna has a long strap like leaf with a rounded end, mid or pale green in colour with a small white stem. The leaves are soft and tender, a little stronger than Mizuna but still quite mild. The leaves can be picked after just a few weeks or left to grow on. The plants are very fast growing producing numerous cut and come again leaves. Mibuna is also very cold tolerant.
How to grow:
Sow March until September in open ground. Prepare the soil and sprinkle the seeds over or grow in drills. Thin as necessary. You can use the thinnings in salad or as garnish. Plants may bolt in very hot weather so you may need to avoid mid summer sowings. Later sowings can be grown undercover.
Harvest young leaves three to four weeks after planting and cut larger leaves frequently as required.
Pests and diseases:
Protect the plants from slugs with an environmentally friendly method. Flea beetle may also be a problem. You can protect the plants from flea beetle using fine mesh.
How to cook:
Mibuna is a great late salad crop. Pick young leaves frequently. Although the larger leaves are still very tender for salads they can also be used to make sauteed or stir fried greens.