Chard leaf beet - a little-known culture in Russia. This is a big omission for gardeners. Vegetable has great nutritional value, excellent taste, has healing properties. Chard is absolutely unpretentious to the conditions of cultivation and provides a tasty and useful food ration from the beginning of winter to frost.
- Contents Origins and characteristics chard
- composition and useful properties
- Popular varieties
- growing chard
- Sowing seeds
- Care leaf beet
- cleaning and storage of the crop
Origins and characteristics
chard Mangold - one of the oldest vegetable crops. Its cultivation by man began around 2000 BC.e.in ancient Mesopotamia. Culture came to Russia in the 16th century.
Leaves of chard Changes in climatic and soil conditions led to the evolution of the chard root. It sounded wide, the woody fabrics became juicy and fleshy. After some time, the wild forms of the vegetable were transformed into red beets. Therefore, vegetables have similar agrotechnology, taste and food quality.
Mangold belongs to the Amaranthee family and the Beetroot family. The food uses leaves and petioles, the root of the plant is inedible .Culture is popular in Europe, USA and Japan. In private gardens of Russia is rare.
This is a biennial plant. In the first year, the roots and rosettes of leaves develop, in the second year it blooms and forms seeds. For the vegetable is characterized by large leaves with a variety of color, corrugated surface and wide petioles. To taste, petioles and leaves resemble young beets and spinach.
Chard of different colors Composition and beneficial properties of
Useful substances accumulate in the leaves and petioles of the chard, forming a unique biological complex in their composition.
Ingredients:
- vitamins: C, E, K, PP, group B, provitamin A, biotin;
- mineral elements: potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, copper;
- betanin, betaxanthin;
- flavonoids: vitexin, quercetin, catechin, myritin;
- phenolic acids: caffeic, syringic, vanilla;
- pectic substances, amino acids.
100 g of beet contains 93 g of water, 3, 74 g of carbohydrates, 1.6 g of dietary fiber, 1.8 g of proteins. Energy value of 19 kcal.
For the human ration, chard is valuable with an impressive set of nutrients and fiber content that improves the digestive system. e. Salads, stews, cabbage rolls, vegetable soups and winter preserves are made from beetroot.
Stuffed cabbage from chard Mangold has anti-inflammatory, regenerating, hemostatic, antioxidant properties. In folk medicine, it is used to treat colds, bleeding, inflammation of the eye membranes, anemia and beriberi.
Leaf beet regulates blood sugar levels, activates brain activity and strengthens eyesight.
Vegetable antioxidants inhibit the effect of free radicals on healthy cells, cleanse the body of toxins. It prevents the development of cancer cells, immune depression and metabolic disorders.
Popular varieties
Leafy beets are not distinguished by a variety of varieties. Plants of different varieties have almost identical aroma and taste, resistance to cold and drought. When choosing a variety, gardeners are guided by the timing of ripening and decorative plants.
Beet chard variety Volcano Overview of some varieties:
- Emerald. Plant with a rosette, up to 45 cm high, with medium-bubbly leaves and petioles of a light green color. Resistant to tsvetushnosti. Ripening in 35 days after germination, full harvest in 60 days. The yield of 5-7 kg per 1 m2.
- Bride. Rosette plants up to 60 cm tall, leaves are dark green, light stalks with golden tint. The variety is relatively resistant to drought and cold. The first harvest 55 days after germination. Productivity from a plant - 1 kg.
- Ruby. Plant with bright red petioles and streaks on the leaf plate, vertical rosette up to 45 cm in height. Ripening leaves 40 days after germination, mass cleaning after 80 days. The yield of 1 plant to 1.5 kg.
The following varieties are popular with gardeners: Lukullus, Argenta, Belovinka, Brazilian, Vulcan, Curly and Spinach.
Growing chard
Leafy beets are relatively cold-resistant plants. Young seedlings are able to withstand t -2-3 ° C, die at t -4 ° C.Adult plants are able to withstand short-term cold to -7 ° C.In the southern regions, the roots of the plant are well preserved in winter, and in spring they give fresh shoots. In the conditions of the middle zone of the Russian Federation and Siberia, the crop is grown as an annual plant.
Sowing of seeds
Chard seeds It is rational to grow leafy beets by sowing seeds in open ground. Seeds germinate well when the soil warms up to + 5 ° С- + 7 ° С.Depending on the region, they can be sown at the beginning or in the middle of May.
The soil for chard is prepared in autumn. Choose a non-shaded area, ideally, if tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions or potatoes were grown on it. Culture can not be planted after beets or spinach.
Plot digging, remove residues and roots of the precursors. Per 1 m2 make:
- rotted manure 5 kg;
- superphosphate 20 g;
- potassium chloride 15 g.
In the spring, shallow loosening is carried out, adding 10 g of ammonium sulphate to 1 m2.
For better germination, seeds are kept in a growth stimulator( Zircon, Appin) for 2 hours. Seeds are sown to a depth of 2 cm in one line, leaving an interval between rows of 35 cm. After sowing, the surface of the furrows is mulched with peat and watered. Consumption of seeds per 1 m2—1 g.
Shoots appear in 7-10 days. Prior to that, monitor soil moisture.
Important! For quicker harvest and save time during the period of spring work, leaf beets can be sown before winter. Sowing of seeds is carried out while reducing t to + 5 ° C.The bed surface is mulched with peat or rotted humus layer of 3-5 cm.
Care for
beet Chard is watered at the root as the earth coma dries out, in dry weather almost every day. Hardened soil loosened, removing weeds.
The first thinning is carried out after the appearance of two true sheets. A distance of 15 cm is left between the plants. After 2 weeks, thin out again, leaving a distance of 40 cm.
10 days after the last thinning, the plants start feeding every 10-12 days .To do this, use organic and mineral fertilizers.
Application of fertilizer for beets Options:
- solution of mullein 1: 10;
- solution of chicken manure 1:20;
- Kemira Wagon;
- solution of nitrophoska 50 g / 10 l.
Fertilizers are applied only after abundant watering with an average consumption of 1 l per plant. For the replacement of mineral fertilizers, wood ash 150 g per 1 m2 can be used. It is simply scattered on the surface of the soil before loosening and watering.
Harvesting and storing crops
Leafy beets - freezing for the winter Cut chardy leaf chard varieties begin after the development of 5-7 leaves, and petiolate in the phase of 10-12 leaves. The stalks and leaves are harvested during the summer, cutting 3-4 pieces from the outside of the outlet at a height of 3 cm from the soil level.
The final harvesting is carried out before long frosts in the middle of October by .For storage, cut leaves are laid in wooden boxes in a thin layer. Sheet beets at t 0 ° C can only be stored for 7 days. The only method of long-term storage is freezing.
Mangold successfully combines decorative, nourishing and healing properties. And this with minimal care. It is not surprising that leaf beets are gradually gaining popularity among Russian gardeners, with virtually no negative reviews.
