How Nature Examined Us Last Season, Part 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Read part 1. ← How nature tested us in the past season

Giant beet

I never grow beets through seedlings, as this occupation takes time, which is always not enough in spring. Those gardeners who grow seedlings say that in addition to plants for planting, they also receive culled specimens, the leaves of which are used to cook beetroot. But for this it is quite possible to use the roots of the last harvest.

They need to be planted in a warm garden bed or compost. And they will kick out the leaves you need. And then from these plants in late summer or early autumn, you can still collect beet seeds. Mistakes are made by those gardeners who do not look at the growing season of a particular variety (they are indicated on the packages). This applies to all cultures.

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Now mainly hybrids are used, which ripen in 75-90 days. They will sow seeds in late April-early May in a greenhouse, and then in late July-early August such beets ripen. And there is nowhere to store it. So the housewives toil, keep ripe root crops in the garden in August and September. It is necessary to carefully study the description of the variety on the bag and comply with the requirements of agricultural technology, then there will be no problems.

Last season, I sowed only the seeds of the Pablo F1 beet hybrid. Usually the fruits of this variety are even, not very large. Sowed seeds in the garden on June 5. The growing season for this hybrid of beets is 90-110 days. This means that by the end of September, root crops should ripen even in a cold summer. But last summer was warm, we didn't have rain until September. And there was only enough water in our well for irrigation in the greenhouse and for a bath. I spilled garlic, onions, carrots well only once a season, and I did it to the detriment of greenhouse plantings.

Surprisingly, beetroot crops have grown to enormous sizes even under these conditions. As far as I remember, Pablo F1 never reached this size before. One root crop was weighed, it pulled 800 grams by 1 kilogram, and it was not the largest fruit. And the neighbor's beets of the Cylindra variety turned out to be too heavy, although she was counting on medium-sized root crops to make it easier to cook. Some might say that we have overfed our beets.

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No, I didn’t pay much attention to the beets this year, I just weeded them. As always, it grew along the edge of the onion patch. There was no frost in June, probably, the root crops immediately formed a good root system. But the onions on this bed turned out to be medium, there were only a few large bulbs. I shared my impressions with other gardeners, including those who regularly watered onion beds, but their bulbs were medium too.

What struck me the most in the past season is the beet leaves. The time had come to harvest the roots, and the beet leaves were tall, even, large, shiny, without a single spot. Beauty is not to come off. For a long time my daughter and I stood over them, admired, looked at all the veins, it was a pity to cut such leaves and bury them in the garden. The first time we regretted that there was no camera. That's what an even, warm summer means. Now I make kvass from beets, I drink it when I cut the root vegetables into small pieces, so the board is all in juice, very juicy beets.

Beet kvass

By the way, about the recipes. Usually vinaigrette is made from beets, borscht is cooked, various salads are prepared, and I also make kvass from it. I read his recipe in one newspaper as a useful remedy. Nutritionists say that beet kvass stabilizes blood pressure, therefore it is recommended, first of all, for hypertensive patients. In addition, this kvass is a real cleaner: it removes toxins, “sweeps away” all excess from the intestines and blood vessels, and since it contains the lipotropic substance betaine in its chemical composition, it also cleans the liver of toxins. It has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, cures insomnia, and even better than any lemonade and drinks, it quenches thirst. You just need to observe the concentration of this drink.

Once I had a very strong drop in blood pressure after taking it. Now I dilute kvass a little with boiled water. And further. Nutritionists pay attention to the fact that this kvass contains a large amount of oxalic acid. Therefore, it should not be drunk by people suffering from kidney disease, bladder disease, urolithiasis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout. At least drink it for a long time.

I offer his recipe, maybe someone will try to cook it. You need to grate 1 kg of beets or finely chop. You will also need 3 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, a crust of rye bread. All these components must be poured into a jar or saucepan with 2.5 liters of boiled water, covered with gauze. Insist warm for five days. Then drain and store the kvass in the refrigerator. I drink it a glass a day for a month.

Do not be lazy to sow leek

It is good that our experienced gardeners have learned how to grow leeks, although not every plot can be found. The yield of this onion per square meter is two to three times higher than that of onion. The thickest "leg" (the white part of the false stem) is the Elephant variety. I didn't have his seeds, I bought the Gulliver variety just in case. The bag says: growing season 110-150 days, plant height 40-50 cm, bleached stem diameter 2-3 cm, leg height 15-20 cm.

She sowed seeds on March 24, planted the seedlings without picking on the garden bed, almost completely covered it with humus. The height of the plant (false stem) turned out to be 80-100 cm, the leaves were of incredible length, some kind of dense forest grew with my growth. The white part of the stem turned out to be 20-25 cm long, the diameter was really 2-3 cm, and in some plants even 4 cm. There used to be the Tango variety, and so Gulliver reminds him. True, in a cold rainy summer, the Tango variety was not so high. I use leek in pies open with egg and sour cream, in pumpkin pilaf, in lean pickle, and I also freeze so much that is enough until the new harvest.

Here are the recipes for my leek pies for young housewives: Leek pie open. Any dough can be used, I make yeast. Lightly blanch the finely chopped leek with hot butter (pour hot butter into the onion and mix it thoroughly). I spread it on the dough, fill it with the prepared mixture (I mix raw eggs with sour cream or mayonnaise) and bake. Closed leek pie. Finely chop the leeks, lightly simmer in a frying pan in butter. I add boiled eggs and some rice. Cover with dough on top and bake.

Black radish is tasty and healthy

I definitely grow radish because I just love it. The body simply requires it in late October, November and December. It could be used later, but in apartment conditions the radish becomes not very juicy.

Alas, for many reasons, gardeners have stopped growing black radish. The fact is that at the stage of cotyledons it is often completely eaten by an earthen flea. If she does not eat at this time, she will get it at the stage of 1-2 small true leaves. If you manage to save the seedlings, then the radish begins to shoot. If small arrows in their embryonic form can be watched and removed, then after a while they will appear again. It seems that you have already defended your plants, the roots began to grow, but then slugs and snails arrived. So gardeners have stopped growing black radish - a very laborious culture.

But I still grow it. But it requires a lot of attention. Every morning and evening I spray the seedlings, sprinkle with ashes during the day or just dry soil (dust). You have to keep track of it until the very harvest, but what a nice radish it turns out! Juicy, dense, large, heavy.

As for shooting, it began to drive the arrow only in recent years, 4-5 years ago this was not the case. There are many reasons for this, including weather ones. In my opinion, they don't fit. For example, last season the radish shot out, but in 2012, in a rainy, not cold, but not hot summer, it also gave arrows. I think something is wrong with the seeds.

In 2013, I bought three packets of seeds in different stores. Radish of the Negryanka variety gave arrows, the Winter round black radish also shot out, the Negritianka radish, but in a different package, also gave arrows. All seeds in three stores were from SeDeK. It turns out that all the seeds are from one manufacturer, only packaged in different packages. Radish seeds keep their germination for a long time, which means that this year they will be sold, only in other bags.

And the potatoes are delicious

If you believe the laws of biodynamics, then potatoes in the year of the moon turn out to be tasteless. All the varieties that I planted last spring have shown themselves well. When boiled, the potatoes turned out to be white, crumbly, tasty. I think that it turned out to be tasty because it is not the first year that I have been bringing the preparation "Giant" by the firm "Fart" under the potatoes. I advise you to carefully consider this fertilizer.

The nutritional formula for potatoes is correct. When we bought our plot, there was a swamp there, covered with sand and stones on top. In the fall, I buried manure there, and in the spring, when planting potatoes, I used "Giant" - brought it into the holes. And they reaped the harvest. That was 25 years ago. Now I do this: if we buy manure, then this year I do not apply fertilizer, and in the following years I will use it again.

Each new season brings some surprises, so the past one also examined us. And the main thing here is to draw the right conclusions.

Luiza Klimtseva, experienced gardener

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