by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips |  Mustard greens: they’re mild when picked young as a baby green and spicy when mature. They’re just begging to be added to deli sandwiches for their one-two punch of mustard flavour and leafiness. While they may fetch a high price in the store or market, this hardy plant is very easy to grow yourself, and it’s not too late to get cracking!

If you’re tight on space, mustards are easy to grow in containers. Utilize a rooftop, balcony, fire escape, garden, friend’s garden, or whatever free space that presents itself (they’re hardy and easy to grow under various light conditions). Mustards are a cool season plant and they bolt quickly, so if you want to plant them, do so until the end of May, enjoy the fruits of your labour, and then continue in September for Fall and Winter harvests. You can clip baby leaves every few days while leaving some to fully mature.

Where to find ’em? If you want to grow them, Victory Gardens sells organic Giant Red Mustard seeds and starts. If you want to eat them now, check out the vendors at Vancouver’s many Farmers Markets. They often have mustard mixes in bags for about $5. If all else fails, try Whole Foods!

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Victory Gardens is a team of local urban farmers for hire. Lisa, Sandra and Sam help transform tired or underused residential and commercial green spaces into food producing gardens. Their goal is to challenge the way communities use space and to participate in the change needed to consume food more sustainably. For the rest of the growing season, they’ve hooked up with Scout to share some cool tips and tricks on how to get the best from of our own backyards.