Onions and Mustard

Yesterday the plan was to harvest the onions and bring them directly inside since they had dried plenty in the bed. Most were dry enough as to almost be ready for storage. But Mother Nature decided it had to rain a tiny bit in the morning. Just to get everything wet. The weathermen were clueless about this or I would have harvested them the day before. So once the rain stopped. I laid them all down on the paths to dry.

I suppose there was one good thing about the rain. I could straighten up their foliage and let it dry straight as opposed to how it had dried which was all crooked. This will make it much easier to make braids.

I had four types of onions this year. The Ailsa Craig I harvested earlier. It did OK. There were no terribly large bulbs and with that variety there ought to have been. But still it was decent. The Copras (top photo) did very well. These are not a large onions so I didn't expect large. At 3-4" in diameter they turned out quite well. The Redwings (both photos, red onion) did OK this year. Last year they were larger than the Copras by a little. This year they might be smaller. But still last year they stored better than the Copras, so I'm glad they did at least OK. The Varsity (bottom photo) are another yellow storage onion, but they are supposed to grow large. They didn't. Most of them are smaller than the Copras. This is the second year they have not performed up to par. I think this will be the last year I grow them. The Copras are good tasting onions and store well. The Varsity onions are supposed to produce better, but if they don't, there is no reason to grow them.

I harvested my brown mustard two days ago. Yesterday I decided to get the seed out. I put it in an old pillowcase and tied the end shut. Then I stomped on it to shatter all the pods. As I took out the stems, I used my hands (in gloves this time) to make sure all the pods had come off. The pods that were green held on which is good. I've left them in a bag to see if they will ripen eventually. I wouldn't use them for seed, but my spices.

Mustard seed is easy to separate from the chaff compared to something like dill or even coriander. The seed is smooth and heavy. So I shook the bag and let most of the chaff come to the top. Then I just picked out most of it. The last layer had to be winnowed however so I wouldn't lose seed. The wind was spotty but with the addition of my breath it got pretty clean. I might try to clean it again later if I can get a good day with the wind, but it is pretty clean right now as you can see from the above photo.

And did you notice that it wasn't brown. I was shocked to find all the seed was yellow. I checked what I thought was the yellow mustard and indeed it is brown. So I mixed up which one was which. I'm glad this one was the yellow one though. I want more yellow seed than brown seed and the remaining mustard had more trouble growing. Lots of the plants died. So I won't get nearly as much seed from it. Each mustard had 14 sqft to grow in. I harvested 8.9oz of yellow mustard seed. As weight to space goes it is probably my worst producer.

If I look at its value, it isn't all that good either. And I'm not really sure how to price it. Usually I price locally produced things. No one grows mustard seed here. If I were buying it, I'd have to get it off the web. For about 8oz I'd be paying about $14 for organic and shipping. Weirdly if I bought two pounds I'd pay the same. So is growing mustard worth it in the home garden? Well if you planted 3 sqft and just wanted to fill up your spice jar, you are saving about $4. Which isn't good, not even as good as dried beans. If you are growing mustard seed to make homemade mustard it is even worse. Since you can buy two pounds of organic mustard seed for about $14, it would only be about $0.50 per square foot. However isn't making homemade mustard that you grew yourself priceless? Well at least if you have the room which I do. And mustard is a good fumigant for nematodes. If I grow my carrots here next year They ought to grow fabulously. At least I'm hoping.