Spinach

Medical scientists advise spinach for the prevention and treatment of cancer, stomach ailments, age-related changes in vision, and wise beauties use it to prolong the beauty and youth of their skin. To many, this vegetable - the salad will seem tasteless, but you only need to properly combine and cook this "storehouse of vitamins."

Spinach: what is it and what is it eaten with?

This is a green annual plant champion in the content of vitamins and nutrients. The concentration in vitamins B, C, E, A, K, Ca and trace elements in spinach - selenium, iron, phosphorus, iodine, magnesium, manganese, folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, proteins and fiber - makes it an indispensable dietary product. Plant carotenoids are able to restore sight, flavonoids counteract inflammatory processes, high fiber content acts as a brush for the stomach, vitamin K and peptides have a good effect on the cardiovascular system and pressure, vitamin K is converted to K1 increases the resistance of bone tissue to damage and breakage. Spinach iron is easily digested, so it is an indispensable product after blood loss and anemia.

But you need to be attentive to people with problematic kidneys, liver and gout. Although spinach and not sour, like sorrel, but contain oxalic acid, so it will be harmful in these diseases. But to remove it is very easy - boil spinach in plenty of water for 15 to 60 seconds without a lid. This method of cooking nutritionists consider the most useful.

From spinach you can cook a lot of delicious, both simple and restaurant dishes. But it is difficult to find it, it is only on the shelves of some supermarkets. Therefore, you can consider an alternative - self-growing spinach from seeds at home. If you do not have a plot - do not give up - you can grow it on the balcony or even just in the room with the help of hydroponics. If you are a happy owner of a personal plot, then the presence of such useful greens in your diet with a small expenditure of time and effort is ensured almost all year round.

What you need to know and do before planting spinach?

It is very easy to grow spinach from seeds. For this you need to go through some preparatory stages:

• site preparation for planting
• determining the frequency of harvest
• variety selection
• seed treatment
• landing directly

Site preparation for planting consists in the selection of a well-lit southern or southeastern garden. It is desirable to take into account the predecessors. The most favorable option would be the land after beans, potatoes and cabbage. If the earth has an acidic environment, then when digging up, add 200 g of lime per square meter. m. Also make organic fertilizers. Before the landing, ammonium nitrate (20-30 g per sq. M.). If you plan to plant in the spring, then we prepare the land in the fall. We prepare for the late autumn sowing in the summer or in the spring.

Determination of the frequency of harvest

Spinach is a ripening crop that allows you to shoot several harvests per season. With good care from early spring to late autumn, you can update the crops every 15-20 days. It is also a cold-resistant culture, so it is advised to sow it before winter. Do not recommend to put spinach later than August 15-20. With such planting dates you can get a bigger crop and crisper leaves than in spring. Of course, the characteristics of seeding also depend on the variety.

Variety selection

There are various varieties of spinach, but we consider the most common. All of them can be divided by maturity (early, middle and late).

1. Early varieties (14- 35 days) - Giant, Gordy, Virofle.
2. Medium varieties (20-40 days) - Matador, Fortress.
3. Late-ripening (some up to 65 days) - Fat-leaved, Korent.

All of them have the usual type of spinach, but there is a variety that will be not only useful, but also attractive in the garden. This is the so-called strawberry spinach or spinach - raspberry. It reaches a height of 60 cm and in the interstices grow berries like raspberries. In the food are leaves and berries. Growing strawberry spinach from seed is real and easy.

For each grade on the package indicated landing parameters.

Seed treatment needed to protect against disease and improve germination. For this, seeds are soaked in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes. And then kept in a damp cloth for a while. This speeds up shoots for 5-7 days.

Proper landing is half the success

To obtain high-quality shoots and harvest, it is necessary not only to plant correctly, but also to care for the crop. The technique of planting and caring for spinach is not complicated.

The prepared land is loosened before planting and we sow the seeds in rows with a distance of 10-20 cm. Between the seeds in a row, 4-5 cm must be observed. If the soil is light, then we sow at a depth of 3-4 cm, and for heavy soils, 1-2 cm. Top sprinkle with earth and slightly compacted rake back. It is necessary to make the boards of the earth along the edges of the beds, so that water lingers here.

Care is in watering, loosening the soil, thinning and cleaning the weeds, as they are often the causes of disease. When planting strawberry spinach, it is necessary to provide for the timely garter of branches that descend under its weight.

The most important advantage of spinach is that it appears before all other vegetables and easily copes with spring avitaminosis. And even an inexperienced gardener can master growing it from seed. This vegetable can flaunt you even in winter on the windowsill, it is enough to provide him with proper care!