
Mustard Seed Blend 375ml
$27.50 USD
Unit price perEstimated delivery between August 29 and September 03.
Mustard Seed Blend 375ml
The Mustard Seed Blend features a refined balance of white, brown, and black mustard seeds combined in a clear 375ml Bordeaux wine bottle to celebrate the Napa Valley’s Mustard Season in the vineyards. Perfect as a gift, a keepsake, or planted in your yard.
The Beauty in Regenerative Agriculture
Each year, as winter ends and spring begins, the Napa Valley undergoes a stunning transformation. From January through March, with its peak vibrancy often seen in mid-February, the vineyards become a spectacular sea of bright yellow mustard flowers.
Mustard Season is a beloved secret of the valley, a testament to sustainable viticulture and the profound connection between nature and nurture that defines Napa’s world-class wines.
These mustard varieties are invaluable allies in vineyards. They're planted as cover crops during the dormant season of the grapevines, offering a wealth of benefits that contribute to healthier soil, more robust vines, and ultimately, higher quality wine.
These diligent cover crops do the hard work of renewing and rejuvenating the soil’s fertility, preparing the land for another cycle of exceptional grape harvests. These benefits will do the same for you!
- Mustard crops use their dense mat of vegetation and strong root system to save your soil from eroding, especially on sloped fields and vineyards. The same density can outcompete and suppress weeds by shading them out and sometimes by releasing allelopathic compounds that inhibit weed seed germination.
- When mustard plants are tilled back into the soil, they create “green manure” as they decompose and improve your soil structure, aeration, and its capacity to retain more water and nutrients.
- Mustard’s deep taproots act as “nutrient scavengers”, drawing up nutrients from deeper layers of soil that shallow crop roots may never be able to reach. When the mustard decomposes, these nutrients are released back into the topsoil.
- The extensive root system also breaks up compacted soil, improving its tilth, which enhances water filtration and air circulation, which are vital for healthy root growth.
- One of the most celebrated benefits of mustard cover crops, particularly white and brown mustard, is that they contain glucosinolates. When glucosinolates are chopped and incorporated into the soil, they release natural biofumigants, which are toxic to various soil-borne pests, fungal pathogens, and other diseases harmful to your crops. This highly reduces the need for synthetic pesticides.
- The bright yellow flowers of mustard plants are a strong attractant for various beneficial insects, including pollinators and predatory insects such as ladybugs that help control crop pests, reducing reliance on chemical insecticides.
- This cover crop also provides a habitat for a diverse range of microorganisms, contributing to a healthier and more balanced ecosystem.
Our Mustard Blend is a beautiful testament to this natural partnership, celebrating the often-unseen work that underpins Napa Valley's celebrated bounty.
Vermiculite Included! Vermiculite improves heavy soil, prevents compaction, and improves drainage and aeration.
Mustard is ideally sown in the spring and fall for cool-weather growing conditions, with planting taking place 2-4 weeks before the last spring frost and 6-8 weeks before the first fall frost. In warmer regions, it can grow throughout the winter. Mix the seeds and vermiculite well, scatter evenly across a roughened soil, and lightly sprinkle topsoil over the seed mixture. Water daily until germination and responsibly thereafter.
Seeds must be stored in a cool, dark place unless saving as a keepsake.
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