Yellow flowers blooming on fiery purple stems will fill your midwinter garden!
Misha: This time we’re going to try growing purple stem mustard.
Hachibee: Purple stem mustard? I’ve never heard of that vegetable.
Misha: This vegetable is native to China, after all. It may not be sold in many local supermarkets yet.
Hachibee: I see. So, can you eat this purple stem mustard?
Misha: You eat the distinctive red stems, and they’re delicious! In my personal opinion, the texture is like asparagus, and the taste is like edamame. You can eat the buds too.
Hachibee: Oh, I’m already drooling!
Misha: And best of all, purple stem mustard is a rare flower that blooms in the middle of winter. It brightens up a lonely garden in the middle of winter with a sea of yellow flowers.
Hachibee: I’m sure I’ll make some new discoveries, so let’s get started!
Purple stem mustard “almost weekly” cultivation report
9/29 Planting
Misha: These are purple stem mustard seeds. They’re pretty big.
Hachibee: As the name suggests, it’s purple stem mustard, so the seeds are also purple.
10/6 Germination!
Hachibee: Wow! This is so cute! I can’t believe the leaves are coming out in such fancy colors!
10/13 Leaves start to grow
Hachibee: And then in an instant, it turned into a normal green leaf…
Misha: Hehe, you managed to fake it.
10/20 Red stems appear
Hachibee: Wow! These are the purple stems of purple stem mustard. Even at this early stage, they’re already a pretty nice red color.
Misha: The leaves turn purple all the way to the base.
10/27 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: Even though the leaves are getting bigger, the stems aren’t growing very much. They’re starting to get limp!
11/3 The stem begins to thicken
Hachibee: Oh! The stem is getting a little stronger.
11/10 The whole plant begins to grow steadily
Hachibee: Oh, the leaves and stems have grown so beautifully! It’s hard to believe they were so floppy back then, they’ve grown so sturdy now. I see, ambition is important for both people and vegetables.
11/17 The leaves and stems begin to grow rapidly
Hachibee: Here it comes! The growing season has begun! Actually, it’s already mid-November, early winter, so maybe it thrives better in the cold?
11/24 Leaves are broad and grow large
Hachibee: The leaves and stems are growing tall and I can really feel their incredible vitality.
Misha: Red mustard moss will start growing as the weather gets colder, and it’s really resistant to the cold.
12/1 The grass grows taller
Hachibee: It’s getting bigger and bigger!
12/15 The stem becomes thicker
Hachibee: I noticed that the stem has gotten so thick! It looks like a burning purple torch.
12/22 The stem continues to grow
Hachibee: It looks like a rusty iron pipe. And if you look closely, the coloring is timely. Merry Christmas.
12/29 Leaf veins turn red
Hachibee: Purple stem mustard means that it’s not just the stem that’s purple; the purple color spreads towards the tip of the leaf, like capillaries.
1/5 New leaves start to appear
Hachibee: Happy New Year. I wonder if the cold weather has made the purple stem mustard a little weak?
Misha: Well, what about that?
1/12 Blooming!
Hachibee: The flowers suddenly bloomed! Purple stem mustard is unpredictable. It’s like a mass of surprise, not to be underestimated.
Misha: Last week it was saving its energy so that it could bloom.
1/19 The flower stalk begins to grow
Hachibee: The purple stem is starting to grow!
1/26 Flowers start to grow
Hachibee: The flowers of purple stem mustard don’t all bloom at once; instead, buds form little by little and the number of flowers increases.
Misha: The purple stems give way to bright yellow flowers, which are supported by large green leaves. It’s like a beautiful painting.
2/2 More flowers appear and the stems grow taller
Hachibee: Before you know it, the flower stalk has grown to a height of over one meter and is purple. It’s like a purple tower!
2/9 The stems branch out and start to flower.
Hachibee: It’s not just one flower on one stem! It keeps branching out.
2/16 Flowers start to bloom one after another
Hachibee: The flowers are arranged at different heights so that they don’t overlap. That’s quite an idea, purple stem mustard.
Misha: Now that the red stems have branched out and many more have formed, it’s time to harvest. Maybe I’ll try stir-frying them in sesame oil first? By the way, the stems are getting really thick.
3/2 The flowers grow rapidly!
Hachibee: It came all at once!
3/16 Full bloom
Hachibee: Wow, this is amazing! Purple stem mustards bloom with so many flowers!
Misha: The world is completely yellow. How beautiful!
3/30 Seed clusters begin to form
Hachibee: Small pods are starting to form after the flowers.
4/6 The seed clusters begin to ripen
Hachibee: It’s starting to color nicely.
4/27 After flowering, a large number of seed clusters are produced.
Hachibee: It’s easy to see how the flowers change color as they finish blooming.
Misha: It’s like the leaves are changing color.
5/4 The seeds emerge
Hachibee: Maybe the pods are drying out and shrinking little by little, or the seeds are getting bigger, but the individual seeds are becoming more visible.
5/11 To purple
Hachibee: It looks like autumn leaves!
Misha: Purple Stem Mustard lived up to its name right to the end. It showed off a variety of beautiful colors.
5/18 Seed bunches ripening
Hachibee: Yeah, and the purple pods that gradually turn amber.
5/25 Seed Harvesting
Hachibee: I got the seeds! I still have the red seeds I saw last September, but most of the seeds this year are black.
Misha: That’s a lot of seeds! With purple stem mustard, my usually dreary winter garden becomes lively and colorful, which is fun.
～Cultivation tips for purple stem mustard～
Cultivation difficulty level：★★☆☆☆
It loves the cold.
Even in the coldest winter, it blooms yellow flowers.
Just take a little care of it until the purple stems grow strong,
and you won’t have to worry about anything else.
