Rarámuri Mequasare is a wild mustard green from the Native Seeds/SEARCH collection, a tender leafed brassica that defies its appearance by delivering a surprisingly mild flavor. Often called 'espinaca' in Spanish despite being neither spinach nor a typical mustard, this cultivar has the silky texture of spinach leaves but with a subtle, complex mustard undertone that emerges when cooked. It thrives in cool seasons, making it ideal for fall, winter, or early spring planting depending on your elevation, and offers gardeners a chance to grow a variety with deep roots in Rarámuri food traditions.
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The leaves have a delicate texture nearly identical to spinach, yet they're a wild mustard with a distinctly mild flavor that transforms beautifully when sautéed. Native Seeds/SEARCH preserved this cultivar from their Seed Bank Collection, connecting modern gardeners directly to traditional indigenous agriculture. Its adaptability to different seasonal windows across desert and highland regions makes it far more flexible than most brassicas, and the gentle mustard notes it develops through cooking offer complexity that pure spinach simply cannot match.
Rarámuri Mequasare shines both raw and cooked, though its true character emerges in the kitchen. Use the tender young leaves in salads for a delicate, mild bite, or sauté the entire plant to coax out its subtle mustard flavor, a preparation that brings depth and complexity the leaves don't reveal when eaten raw. The spinach like texture makes it equally at home wilted into soups, stir fries, or traditional cooked greens dishes.
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Direct sow seeds in fall (low desert) or late winter (low desert), or early spring (higher elevations). Sow seeds directly into prepared garden beds where you want them to grow.
Harvest the tender leaves as soon as they're large enough to use, beginning with outer leaves and working inward to encourage continued production. Young leaves offer the mildest, most spinach like texture and flavor; as the plant matures, the mustard character becomes more pronounced. Regular harvesting extends the season by preventing the plant from bolting. In cool seasons, you can continue harvesting until the plant goes to seed.
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“This variety comes to gardeners through Native Seeds/SEARCH, an organization dedicated to preserving crop diversity of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Rarámuri Mequasare originates from the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) people of northern Mexico, where it has been cultivated as part of traditional foodways. By including it in their Seed Bank Collection, Native Seeds/SEARCH has ensured this culturally significant plant remains available to gardeners and communities today, maintaining both agricultural heritage and food sovereignty.”