Botany: Learning the Most Common Plant by Family; part 2: The Mustard Family

“The book should be considered the personal property of the child and should never be criticized by the teacher except as a matter of encouragement; for the spirit in which the notes are made is more important than the information they cover.”

About Nature Study Journals, Charlotte Mason, Home Education

This week we looked at the Mustard Family. I couldn't find any of its members in our yard, but the Mustard Family includes radishes, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and kale, so we planted radish seeds.

Third and Fourth Students used their planters they made at Lowes; Second and Fifth Students used clear plastic cups.

The Mustard Family is identified by its four green sepals, four petals, six stamen (four tall and two short) and one center pistil.

They learned that the male flower part can be remembered because they are called stamen or "stay men." They also learned that when identifying a plant, one should work from the outside in...first the sepals, then petals and lastly the stamen and pistil.

First and Second Students drew pictures of a plant representing the Mustard Family. It was a little too complicated for Fourth and Fifth Students to draw this complicated a plant, so I cut out the different parts from construction paper and they glued the pieces together to make a mustard plant.

Commercial mustard is made from the seeds of the black mustard plant combined with vinegar.

The kids made their own mustard. We tasted it today and it was very hot, but it should mellow after it ages for two weeks.

English Pub Mustard
1 Cup dry mustard
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tea. salt
1/4 tea. turmeric
1/2 cup flat beer or ale
Mix dry ingredients in food processor or blender With machine running, add beer through the feed tube in a slow and steady stream. Blend until smooth and creamy, stopping the machine to scrape down the sides. Transfer to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Age in a cool dry place for 2 weeks. Store in the refrigerator.
We plan to make our own homemade mustard from ground mustard seeds this week.