Strawberry spinach: description
Strawberry spinach: photo
Wild strawberry spinach-raspberry grows in most countries, mostly in the mountains and foothills. Raspberry spinach comes in two flavors. Mary multifoliate - the first species, it originated in the southern European part, in Asia, in New Zealand. Mary capitate is the second species, its homeland is the North American territories. They differ from each other to a minimum.
Characteristics of raspberry spinach.
An annual herbaceous plant, belongs to the Aramantov family. Strawberry spinach bush is compacted, grows up to 80 cm. Green stems growing vertically have ribbing. Leaves in the form of rhombuses, triangles or arrows, corrugated, deep green color. The bush has a large number of small flowers that ripen in the leaf axils, when the flowers ripen, they grow together. Berries are drupes of fused flowers, 2 cm in size, deep red color. In appearance, they are more similar to raspberries, and not to strawberries. The ripening period is 60-90 days after the shoots have appeared. At this moment, they soften, the berries are easy to mash, for this reason it is difficult to pick them.
Varieties
Spinach raspberry: photo
There are few varietal varieties of strawberry spinach. This is because the plant is of limited use in the culinary business. This was not particularly taken into account during selection. Agrofirms and specialized shops do not know about spinach varieties, and therefore the sale of seeds is carried out under a single name. Some sources mention varietal varieties under the names "Sticks", "Strawberry Grill spinach", "Victoria", they were cultivated by domestic gardeners. But in practice, it became clear that varieties differ from each other to a minimum.
Strawberry spinach: useful properties
Strawberry spinach carries a large number of useful qualities. It contains such useful substances: oxalic acid, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, PP, E, K, H, beta-carotene, Mg, Ca, Fe. Raspberry spinach also contains 2.9% protein by weight of the vegetable. This product is low in calories - it contains only 22 kcal.
Since raspberry spinach is rich in useful elements, it means that it can be used in medicine. Strawberry spinach has a beneficial effect on the heart and blood vessels, helps to normalize the digestive system, and activates metabolism. Also, when eating strawberry spinach, an effect on the reproductive system is carried out - there is an increase in potency, a decrease in the risk of rickets, scurvy, tuberculosis, normalization of the course of pregnancy, strengthening of the immune system.
Beta-carotene, which is part of vegetables, has a positive effect on the skin, it improves, it also nourishes and smoothes wrinkles. Because of this, spinach is often used in cosmetology, it is added to nutritious masks.
Application.
The whole plant is edible, all its fragments. Salads and green cabbage soup are prepared from young leaves and shoots. The taste, of course, will not be particularly felt, but the dish will become more nutritious at times. The leaves are dried in order to further brew vitamin teas or prepare infusions.Also, the leaves are used in sourdough, like cabbage leaves.
Beneficial features
The plant is a source of many useful substances: vitamins PP, B1 and B2, E, H, K, trace elements (iron, magnesium, calcium, etc.).
Regular consumption of fruits increases hemoglobin, and the use of spinach leaves as an ingredient and as an independent dish leads to the cleansing of the gastrointestinal tract and improves the functioning of the nervous system.
In addition, the leaves can be used as an ingredient in warming compresses and to improve joint and muscle function.
Eating strawberry spinach is not capable of harming the figure, since the calorie content of the plant is low and is only 22 kcal. That is why the plant is the ideal food for dieting.
It is considered to be a source of protein, per 100 grams of the plant, 2.9 grams of protein is useful. Carbohydrates - 3.6 g, and fats only 0.4 g.
In addition, the plant serves as a source of beta-keratin.
Strawberry spinach: how to eat? Recipes
Strawberry spinach: photo
Strawberry spinach berries are an ingredient for filling in pies, they will also be an excellent decoration for salads. Often, compotes or tinctures that have no color are tinted with spinach-raspberry berries. Although the name is "sweet", the berries are almost tasteless and do not emit aroma, for this reason, pure fruits are almost never used anywhere. When the berries are fully ripe, they have a sweet taste. To prepare vitamin teas, dried berries are used. Below are the recipes for using raspberry spinach.
Kvass... Ingredients: 1 liter of fruit, warm boiled water (2 liters), sugar (500-750 grams). You do not need to wash the fruits, we mash them well, fill them with water, add sugar, mix thoroughly, pour into a bottle and put them where it is warm. Fermentation of kvass will take place thanks to the yeast that is on the berries. After 3 days, drain the ready-made drink from the sediment, filter and put it where it is cool.
Jam... Since the fruits have almost no taste, they can be added to any jam for greater vitaminization. In another case, other components are added to the strawberry spinach jam, which have a brighter taste and an attractive aroma. To prepare the base - syrup - we need equal parts of granulated sugar and water. Mix the ingredients and bring the syrup to a boil. Next, you need to pour the fruits into it. This mixture is brought to a boil, then removed from the stove and cools down for half a day or overnight. This action is repeated 3 times. Then the ready-made jam is poured into jars, closed and placed where it is cool.
Salad... To prepare dishes, not only berries are used, but also spinach-raspberry leaves. Ingredients for the salad: young leaves, 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon of sake, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Grind sesame seeds with a blender, add them to the leaves. The remaining components are mixed and we fill the salad with this composition.
Berry recipes
Jam
Boil sugar and water syrup (product ratio - 1: 1). Rinse the berries, dry a little and put in the finished syrup. Let it boil and leave to brew for 12 hours. After that, once again let the mass boil and leave to infuse again. Cook for the third time until tender.
Other berries can be added to the jam to improve the taste. It works especially well with kiwi.
Kvass
Do not wash the berries! They contain unique natural yeast that helps the kvass to "ferment".
Collect half a bucket of berries, pour a bucket of warm water over them, add 2 kg of sugar, close and put in a warm place. Fermentation lasts 3 days, after which an incredibly tasty, slightly hoppy and very aromatic drink is ready.
For whom is spinach-raspberry contraindicated?
Spinach raspberry: photo
The benefits of eating raspberry spinach are good, but the fact that spinach is high in oxalic acid can have a negative impact. Saponin, which is found in leaves and berries, is a toxic substance. For this reason, the use of leaves or berries in food in large portions can affect the appearance of bowel disorders. For what diseases is it forbidden to eat spinach: diseases of the urinary tract, digestive organs, ulcers, gout.
Contraindications
An interesting, beautiful, useful and not capricious plant - strawberry spinach, truly one of the best gifts that nature has presented to man.
Introducing these miraculous berries and leaves into your diet will help prevent many diseases. But despite all the benefits, spinach has some contraindications. Since it contains a lot of acid, it should be used with great caution by people with stomach ulcers, gout and diseases of the urinary system. Moderate and regular consumption of the product will only result in benefits.
Strawberry spinach: growing
Spinach raspberry is successfully cultivated in the Russian center, in the northeast, in the southern regions of our country. Strawberry spinach has unpretentiousness, frost tolerance, it is easy to care for it, it grows on any soil. Cultivated outdoors and at home.
Often, the plant is not looked after at all, its reproduction occurs with success and self-sowing. However, a rapid transformation from a vegetable into a weed can occur, then you will have to wage a tough fight with it.
Planting and agricultural technology
Planting and tending the crop is simple. It is possible to sow strawberry spinach seeds once, then the spinach will multiply on its own. On neighbors spinach does not care, it can grow separately, and adjacent to peppers or tomatoes, or between the rows of carrots or beets.
How to plant raspberry spinach
Plants need to be planted after sufficient heating of the soil. It can be planted in two ways: by seeds or seedlings, the seedling method takes more time and effort, but it contributes to a quick harvest. The ridges are dug up in advance, at the same time top dressing is applied. It is better to fertilize with organic mixtures, manure, which is already quail, or humus.
Strawberry spinach: grown from seed
Before planting, the seeds are stratified - the seeds need to be kept in the refrigerator for several days. This helps to increase their germination. After stratification, strawberry spinach seeds must be soaked for 30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect them. Sowing of ready-made seeds is carried out in rows 1.5-2 cm deep. Then they are sprinkled with soil or sand. Watering is carried out for the plantings, and a film cover is made before seedlings appear. As a rule, this happens after 10-12 days. Further, the covering material is removed. Sowing seeds can be done before the winter season. You will receive fresh leaves in the days of May.
Seedling method
Spinach raspberry: photo
Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out in April days. It is better to plant the grains in separate peat glasses, in order to avoid the current transplant. Seeds are sown 1-1.5 cm deep. After deepening, the soil is watered, the glasses are covered with film material and placed where it is warm and dark. 10-12 days after the shoots have appeared, the shelter is removed, the cups are placed on the windowsill. After the formation of 4-6 true leaves on the seedling, they are transplanted into open beds.
Strawberry spinach: care
Watering and feeding
Raspberry spinach does not like the soil to dry out, it cannot stand it, for this reason watering should be regular.It is recommended to water under the roots in a thin stream. Spinach is unpretentious for feeding. In the spring season, the bushes are fed with ammonium nitrate to enhance the green mass gain. Then you can only feed the plants with an ash solution or a complex containing potassium and phosphorus.
How to weed and loosen soil
If strawberry spinach was planted by direct sowing of grains into the ground, then weed the plantings very carefully and scrupulously. From the time that they were planted before the shoots appeared, it can fly by 10-14 days, during this time period the growth of weeds will not occur weakly, and they can simply stifle weak sprouts. After the shoots have appeared, it is recommended to mulch the ridges with peat or humus. This will be a protective measure against the growth of weeds, plus water will be retained in the soil.
Treatment of diseases and prevention of harmful insects
A case of raspberry-spinach getting sick is a rather rare occurrence. The appearance of the disease can occur due to neglect of the beds or due to bad weather. In most cases, the appearance of the fungus in the form of specks or plaque on the leaves occurs on the culture. Then the infected bush is destroyed. Almost no harmful insects are observed on plants. Since berries without taste and leaves containing a lot of oxalic acid are not to their liking.
Strawberry spinach: photo
Features of cultivation
If you have a desire to grow strawberry spinach, planting and caring for it will not cause difficulties. Having so many weeds among its relatives, the plant adopted from them extraordinary vitality, unpretentiousness and fertility. It grows on any soil, in the shade, partial shade and in the sun, with or without watering. It tolerates winter frosts perfectly, rises as soon as the first blades of grass begin to appear from the ground. If suddenly at this time frosts come, strawberry spinach will transfer them without the slightest damage to its green "organism". That is, it grows like ordinary grass. But in order for the plant to have a more beautiful appearance, it is better to plant it in the sun or in a thin partial shade, water and weed regularly. The most favorable soils for it are fertile ones, which contain a lot of calcium.
How to harvest
The word “harvest” somehow does not fit with the spinach-raspberry, because all its fragments are edible. Young greens are torn off before flowering in order to prepare a salad, later it begins to taste bitter and become tougher, although useful qualities are preserved at the same time. In the third summer month, the berries begin to ripen. The fact that they have a deep red color does not mean anything - this is not a maturity trait. The berries ripen fully only in the autumn season. At this point, they turn into a maroon color, soften and can easily wrinkle. It is at this time that the fruits become sweet. The berries are cut with the stem, then carefully separated from each other.
Strawberry spinach: gardeners reviews
Oleg Sergeevich, Rostov region, 38 years old: “Raspberries crawled onto my land plot from neighbors, I didn’t plant them. Initially, I wanted to pluck spinach, then I decided to read about it, in the end I left it. I use it as a greenery for salads. The fruits are tasteless, despite the decorative effect. "
Anastasia Romanovna, Belgorod region, 62 years old: “Once I decided to try planting a spinach-raspberry variety, spurred me on in a specialized store. The green part is delicious. And from the fruits of zero sense, they are only beautiful, but there is no taste. I dyed apple compote with them. The next year, seedlings appeared on their own, she did not sow it herself. Left, okay. I am weeding out the excess, of course, so that there is no strong growth. "
Valentina Vyacheslavovna, Maykop, 56 years old: “I planted strawberry spinach-raspberry for the first time for testing, it became interesting. I liked the photo. In life, it turned out the same.Strawberry spinach bushes resemble swords with berries strung on them. Spinach grows on my site for decorative purposes, the fruits are unsuitable for food, as they are tasteless. "
Strawberry spinach: video
