Organic Oriental Purple Frills

Purple Frills
Latin name Brassica juncea
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.

Purple frills is an excellent addition to a mixed leaf salad. As the name suggests it has a delicate, deeply cut, glossy leaf with a beautiful purple colour. The base of the plants are green. The colder the conditions the more purple the colour becomes so bare this in mind when growing undercover. Pick young as a cut and come again crop or leave to mature into a more substantial plant. The flavour is mildly spicy which develops more fully as the plant matures.

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:
Purple frills is best served raw in salads where it’s attractive leaves can enhance and augment any mixed leave salad. Try it with one of the milder green oriental salads and the equally attractive golden frills.