Strawberry spinach and its growing features

This is a very interesting and, most importantly, useful plant. The scientific name of it is Mariolatum, but it is also called Cmida ordinary, raspberry spinach, At the same time it looks like spinach, strawberry and raspberry.

The popularity of the plant has become for an exotic look and great benefit to the human body.

Description

Crimson Spinach hailing from southern europe, north africa and mediterranean asia. But from where exactly it originates, precisely, perhaps, no one will say.

Since ancient times (more than four centuries ago) it was grown in Holland and Germany (due to edible greens and similarity to cooking with spinach), then zhminda ran wild and gradually spread to other regions. Now it is most often found on sand dunes and limestone soil of the Atlantic coast of Europe. Raspberry spinach is cultivated mainly because of its leaflets. Leaves appear overnight with early onions and continue to grow throughout the season. Harvest leaves жminda gives the entire season.

It will be interesting to read about: the beneficial properties of spinach for the body, varieties of varieties, it will also be useful for you to learn all about the features of growing this plant, how to grow spinach on the window sill all year round and what preparations for the winter can be made of it for the winter.

In addition to the leaves, edible and berries. They are similar in appearance to the fruits of raspberry, and because of this, the name Spinach-Raspberry has gone. The formation of berries begins after two months from the time of sowing, and their ripening takes place unhurriedly, the fruits fully ripen in August-September, but they can last even longer, up to the first frost.

Ripe berries - juicy crimson color and a diameter of about two centimeters.

In appearance, a multi-leaved mary can be described as a herbaceous plant up to 70 centimeters high with a thick root, bare, erect, mostly branchy stem, with leaflets in the upper part. Green leaves with a length of up to 7 centimeters and a width of up to 4 centimeters, triangular, narrow and pointed, there are also in the form of a spear, sharp top and base. The base of the leaf briefly passes into the scape, along the edges with pointed teeth. Flowers at the миmida ordinary both sexes, three-membered. They are rolled into spherical balls in the axils of the leaves. Pericles have some semblance of berries, contain a lot of pulp, crimson color, because of this they are often mistakenly considered berries. The seeds are smooth, hard, chestnut-black, slightly shiny, having small longitudinal strips and 0.9-1.3 millimeters in diameter.

Composition and nutritional value

Although spinach by itself does not have a taste, but this bad taste is perfectly compensated by the composition of microelements and the vitamin set. A high iron content is an excellent prophylactic agent for anemia.

Among the vegetables and fruits that are rich in iron are beets, leaf-type vegetables and dried fruits (raisins, figs, apricots).

Judge for yourself - in 100 grams of spinach:

  • on energy value has 22 kilocalories or from 1% of daily human needs;
  • carbohydrates - 3.63 g, or 3% of daily need;
  • protein - 2.86 g, or 5% of the need;
  • fat - 0.39 g, or 1.5% of the need;
  • fiber - 2.2 g, or 6%
  • cholesterol - 0 mg.

According to the vitamin composition in 100 grams of spinach:

  • folate - 194 mcg, or 48.5% of the need;
  • nicotinic acid - 0.724% mg, or 4.5%;
  • Vitamin B5 - 0.065 mg, or 1%;
  • Vitamin B6 - 0.195 mg, or 15%;
  • Vitamin B2 - 0.189 mg, or 14.5%;
  • Vitamin C - 28.1 mg, or 47%;
  • Vitamin E - 2.03 mg, or 13.55%;
  • Vitamin K - 482 mg, or 402%;
  • vitamin A - 9377 international units, or 312%.
For reference, an international unit is a unit of measure for a dose of a substance, based on its biological activity or effect.

Did you know? From the berries of raspberry spinach squeeze juice, make jam and compotes, as well as prepare kvass.

By electrolytes:

  • sodium - 79 mg, or 5% of the need;
  • potassium - 558 mg, or 12%.

By minerals:

  • calcium - 99 mg, or 10% of the need;
  • copper - 0,130 mg, or 14%;
  • iron - 2.71 mg, or 34%;
  • magnesium - 79 mg, or 20%;
  • manganese - 0.897 mg, or 39%;
  • zinc - 53 mg, or 5%.

For substances of plant origin:

  • beta carotene - 5626 mcg;
  • lutein and zeaxanthin - 12198 mcg;
  • beta cryptoxanthin - 0 µg.

Beneficial features

  • Slows down the aging of the body (due to the absorption of free radicals).
  • It protects against age-related physical impairment that occurs in the center of the retina.
  • Contributes to the preservation of visual acuity.
  • Helps to preserve a healthy state of the skin, mucous membranes and prevents oncology of the oral cavity and lungs.
  • Promotes stabilization of neurons in the brain.
  • It makes bones stronger by stimulating bone tissue cells.
  • It helps control the rhythm of the heart and blood pressure.
  • It protects against damage to the walls of the arteries and generally has a positive effect on the entire cardiovascular system.
  • Regulates the exchange of fats.
  • Prevents constipation due to dietary fiber.
  • Very useful for hypertension, hemorrhoids.
  • Participates in the prevention of cancer of the prostate and colon.
  • It activates the production of red blood cells, thereby increasing hemoglobin.
  • It has a preventive effect on the occurrence of fetal neural tube disorders in pregnant women.
  • Improves male reproductive function.
  • It has a positive effect on disorders of the nervous system, prolonged fatigue, and failures in the growth of children.
  • It has common anti-inflammatory properties.

Contraindications and harm

Everything on this earth has its pros and cons, and raspberry spinach is no exception. And although there are only two minuses, they are quite serious to disregard them.

  1. Spinach contains a lot of oxalic acid. In small doses, it is harmless and is easily excreted naturally, but when there is a lot of it, stones in the bladder and kidneys are formed, diseases of the liver, duodenum, and joints and general inflammation occur. Because of this, spinach should be excluded from the diet of people suffering from diseases of these organs, both children and adults. In addition, spinach is not recommended again because of the large amount of oxalic acid in case of problems with salt metabolism and gout.
  2. It has the ability to accumulate poisons of biological origin. Because of this peculiarity, only its young leaves can be eaten.

How to grow

Although multi-leaved mari is a very unpretentious plant that can form and grow on different soils, under the sun and in the shade, it is better to adhere to certain rules when growing it.

Growing seedlings

Growing by this method allows you to speed up the collection of early (already in early July) berries and greenery. To do this, start growing seedlings at the beginning and before mid-March, the temperature of the soil should not exceed +10 degrees. Seeds are placed in pre-cooked peat pots (in order to avoid unnecessary injuries of the root system when picking into open ground) with a diameter of about 5 centimeters.

Important! Old and stale spinach is bad for the human body.

Then a little sprinkle with soil and spray from the spray. It will not hurt to cover the pot with a film of polyethylene in order to improve germination, that is, to create a greenhouse effect. After 10-14 days the seeds will ascend, then the film should be removed.

When the seedlings grow and there will be from four to six leaves, it should be transplanted into open ground or individual pots. This is usually done a month or more after sowing.

Seed cultivation

It is best to plant a multi-leaf marrow in fertile and sufficiently moist soil. On the eve of sowing, the seeds should be processed: soak in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or a special preparation for 20-30 minutes. This procedure will prevent fungal diseases and accelerate seed growth for three to four days.

In open ground, sowing can be done immediately after the snow melts, on previously prepared beds to a depth of 2-3 cm, at the rate of one plant per area of ​​40 to 40 cm. The seeds are mixed with sand in a ratio of one to three and are placed in the wells. For reliability, three or four seeds are placed in one hole. After the hole is covered with a can or a cut-off plastic bottle, which are removed immediately after the sprouting. As they grow, weak sprouts are removed, leaving one or two plants.

Did you know? Growing raspberry spinach can only be far from roads and railways, as well as in places not subject to chemical treatment.

Some gardeners make sub-winter seeding in the ground, by analogy with other one-year-old vegetable crops. But to get a longer harvest, sowing seeds should be carried out in June-July. Then the harvest can be removed until the first frost.

Growing up on the windowsill

At home, growing a multi-leaved mar is also not difficult. Only an acceptable temperature is required for growth not exceeding +15 degrees, good watering and spraying. The acidity of the soil is not less than 7. The first shoots after 20 days should be transplanted. As a fertilizer organic fish emulsion or flour from cotton seeds is used. During the entire period of growth, fertilizing with a nitrogen solution and careful not to harm the roots, loosening the soil, is necessary.

There is also another way.

Home garden on the windowsill is a great opportunity to pamper your family with fresh greens or vegetables at any time of the year. Learn how to grow on the windowsill: dill, cilantro, chervil, green onions, arugula, oregano, lettuce, chili pepper, cherry tomatoes and basil.

Spinach seeds are first planted to a depth of 2-3 cm in a peat pot with a diameter of 5 cm and a depth of 7 to 10 cm, then the pot is placed in the ground. In the winter they dig a pot and take it home. Houses can be placed on the balcony or on the windowsill. The care rules are described above.

Care culture

When plants are still weak and small, they require watering and weeding. Reasonable watering is also necessary so that over time the berries become juicy and large.

Also, the need for watering increases in hot and dry periods. However, this is not all. To increase the size of the berries need regular feeding, without it, the berries will be large and will remain small. As the first feeding, ammonium nitrate is used in proportion to one tablespoon of nitrate per ten liters of water.

Then feed wood ash and organic matter (in a ratio of 1 to 5 diluted mullein water), then the feed is produced alternately organic and mineral fertilizers (calculation: 30-40 g per 10 l of water). The need for weeding disappears with a noticeable growth of the zhmida - its overgrown branches just clog the weeds.

We recommend that you learn how to remove weeds from the garden, which herbicides will help get rid of them and what tool to choose to remove weeds with roots.

Under the weight of the berries, the branches will gradually fall down to the ground, then the need for their garter will arise. However, it is done with the sole purpose - to preserve the purity of the harvest.

It is easy to cope with undesirable spinach shoots - you just need to weed them in time and further prevent the ripening of the berries.

Stocking

For the subsequent sowing, seeds collected from the first and largest and mature berries are used. Gathered berries should be carefully kneaded on gauze or paper (you can also on a napkin) and dried.

It is possible and in another way: to knead the berries, for a couple of days to fill with water. As soon as the pulp sour, wash the seeds again with water. Fully matured seeds will have a dark brown, almost black color. A glass jar or paper is used to store strawberry spinach seeds. Keep in a cool place with low humidity.

Important! Raspberry spinach has the ability to reproduce by self-sowing. Therefore, in order to avoid its disorderly growth next year, the berries should be removed very carefully.

In such conditions, they will not lose their properties for several years. But the very zhminda can be frozen. In the freezer, it will not deteriorate and will partially retain its useful properties.

Strawberry spinach is again popular and is increasingly common in vegetable gardens and front gardens. And this is all due to its beauty and useful properties.

Watch the video: How to Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Hanging Baskets (April 2024).