Byrd

Brassica juncea. Green, glossy, upright leaves. Leaves elliptic, slightly drooping, highly toothed. Light green, thick petioles. Early bolting when grown in spring 2014 at Heritage Farm. Leaves somewhat tough, highly pungent and slightly bitter. SSE member Dorothy Jones (AL JO D) of Hollins, Alabama began sharing this family heirloom mustard in the 1985 SSE Yearbook. Dorothy indicated that it "came from Georgia in 1839 with husband's great-great-great-grandma." Fellow SSE member Dr. Jim Tjepkema (MN TJ J), requested the variety from her in 1990 and Jim later donated the mustard to SSE in about 1993. Jim likes to lightly cook batches of this mustard and freeze it for winter use: "My cooking method is very simple, just clean and roughly cut up the greens, put them in a covered pot with some water in the bottom, and cook until they are tender. I only use enough water to get them cooked and I don't completely cover them with water. Then I just season them with a little salt and pepper and they are great." SSE Accession # 113909