Spicy Curls Mustard Greens
Brassica juncea
Seeds per pack ~ 200
Germination: 80% Oct 2025 Packed for 2026
Mustard Greens are leafy vegetables from the Brassica family, closely related to cabbage, kale, and collard greens. They have a peppery, slightly spicy flavor, which can vary in intensity depending on the variety and how they are grown. Mustard greens are commonly used in Southern, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisines, often cooked or added to salads for a bold, tangy flavor. Growing mustard greens is rewarding for both their nutritional value and flavor! They’re packed with vitamins A, C, and K, along with calcium and antioxidants.
There are several varieties of Mustard Greens:
- Curled Leaf Mustard: Has deeply frilled leaves with a spicy flavor.
- Giant Red Mustard: Large, reddish-purple leaves with a strong mustard taste.
- Tendergreen Mustard: Milder and often smoother in texture.
- Mizuna: A Japanese variety with feathery leaves and a milder taste.
Origins & History Spicy Curls Mustard Greens (Brassica juncea) is an open-pollinated, farmer-bred “modern heirloom–style” mustard known for its diversity and resilience. It was bred in Oregon by seed breeder Tim Peters (Peters Seed & Research) with an emphasis on improved cold hardiness and disease resistance, making it especially useful for fall, winter, and early-spring gardens.
Appearance & Characteristics Spicy Curls is a striking mix rather than a single uniform leaf type: expect curly and wavy textures with a palette that often leans red, purple, and green, creating high visual “lift” in beds and salad mixes. Flavor is typically moderately hot when raw, with that classic mustard zing, and the leaves can be harvested young for tenderness or grown on for bigger, bolder bunching greens.
Culinary Uses Use Spicy Curls anywhere you want peppery bite + texture:
- Raw: baby leaves in salads, sandwiches, wraps, and slaws for a bright mustard kick.
- Cooked: sauté, braise, stir-fry, or add to soups—the heat mellows noticeably with cooking, leaving a rich, savory greens flavor.
Growing Tips Mustard greens are a cool-season crop that can be grown in most USDA zones—timing matters more than the zone number. Aim for spring and fall planting, and in warmer zones (9–11) you can often grow mustard through much of the winter for repeated harvests.
- Sow depth: plant seed about ¼–½ inch deep in moist soil.
- Spacing: sow thickly for baby leaf, then thin; for larger leaves, thin plants to roughly 3–6 inches apart (or a bit wider for jumbo leaves).
- Culture: full sun to light shade, fertile soil, and steady moisture support fast, non-stressed growth (stress can increase bite and encourage bolting as weather warms).
Harvesting Guidance
Harvest as baby leaf in ~20 days or let it size up for full leaves around ~40 days (often longer in cold weather). For the longest season:
- Cut-and-come-again: snip outer leaves or shear a patch above the growing point to regrow.
- Best quality: pick leaves young and tender; fall crops are often sweeter and more tender than late-spring crops that run into heat.
