"One Picture And One Story Week #21"

Growing mustard and mustard flowers brings many benefits to the soil, the environment and human health.
Some of the benefits include: Mustard quickly produces large amounts of biomass that can prevent erosion and suppress weeds as a cover crop in your garden.
Mustard loosens compacted soil and recovers nutrients that can improve soil fertility and structure
Some varieties of mustard are used to control soil pests through biofumigation, which releases natural chemicals from plant tissue that can suppress pests
Mustard is an excellent source of selenium, magnesium and iron
and calcium, all of which help support our body's natural healing process
Mustard also has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce inflammation in the body and provide antioxidant protection against free radicals
Mustard has been used for thousands of years as a spice and in the Middle Ages as a medicinal plant
It has been shown to help control asthma symptoms, prevent gastrointestinal cancer, promote weight loss, reduce arthritis and muscle pain, slow aging, lower cholesterol and stimulate hair growth.

Mustard is a cool-season crop that belongs to the family of Cruciferae. It is widely used in Indian cooking as a condiment, oil, and vegetable. It grows best in moist, humus-rich soil with a pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. It can tolerate partial shade and mild frost

Mustard seeds are usually sown in September-October for Rabi season or in February-March for summer season. The seed rate is about 4 to 6 kg per hectare. The seeds are sown at a depth of 0.5 to 1 cm and spaced at 30 to 45 cm between rows. The seeds germinate in 5 to 10 days and the plants mature in 100 to 140 days

Harvesting is done when the pods turn yellow and the seeds become hard. The crop is cut close to the ground with a sickle in the morning hours to avoid shattering of seeds. The harvested plants are tied in bundles and dried in the sun for 7 to 10 days. The seeds are then threshed, cleaned, and stored in gunny bags. The average yield of mustard is about 8 to 10 quintals per hectare