Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Super mizuna
Versatile Japanese greens are best sown now for an autumn harvest, says MAT COWARD

MIZUNA is one of the most commonly grown oriental brassicas in this country, and for good reasons. It’s a pretty easy crop to succeed with, and it’s a particularly versatile foodstuff. It’s mild but not bland flavour and its crisp texture mean it’s equally good raw or lightly cooked. Mizuna isn’t the sort of vegetable that rudely dominates a meal, so you can use it with almost anything.

You may find the seeds on sale under the name Japanese greens, or as mizuna. Although, with a little trouble, it can be grown almost all year round, for me mizuna has always done best sown round about now for an autumn harvest. 

Very hot, dry weather doesn’t agree with it, which is why I rarely sow it before midsummer. Of course, the shifting seasons caused by climate change mean that many established sowing dates are having to be revised.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Kew Gardens
Gardening / 7 August 2026
7 August 2026

MAT COWARD says the heatwave is a testing time for gardeners — but he has some tips

Crocus flowers
Gardening / 10 July 2026
10 July 2026

More expensive by weight than gold, saffron is surprisingly simple to grow. MAT COWARD explains

Savoy Italian cabbage. Photo: Goldlocki/CC
Gardening / 2 January 2026
2 January 2026

MAT COWARD takes a look at some of the options for keen gardeners as we enter 2026

(L to R) Flowering parsnip in its second year; Oven baked parsnip with honey and mustard / Pics (L to R): Pic: Skogkatten/CC Takeaway/CC
Gardening / 6 December 2025
6 December 2025

Commiserations if you failed this year, MAT COWARD offers six points which, if followed religiously, will ensure you succeed next year