Organic Oriental Mizuna

Mizuna
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.

Mizuna is probably the most popular oriental salad which has been grown in the UK for many years now. It was one of the first oriental salads we grew. It produces loads of green, deeply cut leaves with a spicy flavour. The stem is white in colour and crisp. It is not as hot as some of the oriental salads. The plants are vigorous and 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:
Mizuna is best eaten raw as a salad leaf. Even larger leaves remain tender and mild making them a good base for a mixed leaf salad. Mizuna is high in vitamin C and iron.