2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Left in the shade of various green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, dock and nettle, quince has long been neglected undeservedly by gardeners and as a delicious food. In fact, quince is one of the most ancient such plants known to humans and thousands of years ago it was given what it deserved, as a very useful gift from nature.
Nowadays, few people grow up quiverto trade it on the market because the plant is extremely fine and does not have much durability. Shortly after it comes off, it is no longer usable. But this does not prevent amateur gardeners to grow in their own yard quinoa, both for food and for decorative garden decoration.
The quiver is from the large botanical family Lobodovi (Chenopodiaseae), which includes 100 genera with 1500 species. Loboda (Atriplex, English: saltbush, orache, orach) is a genus of annual grasses and semi-shrubs of the Loboda family. About 230 species grow in temperate areas, in Bulgaria - 7 species. Garden quince is cultivated as a vegetable (because of the leaves) or ornamental plant.
There are only two varieties of quinoa that are of interest - green and yellow, because many other varieties are also used, but only as ornamental plants. Garden quince (Atriplex hortense) is also known as sweet grass and sagebrush, and in turn the wild quiver (D.roseum) is known as the dog quiver, famous, fiery weed. Only the roots are consumed from the wild quince.
The garden quiver (Atriplex hortensis) is an annual plant. This green leafy vegetable with slightly purple hues has a straight stem, branched and up to 2 m high. The leaves are triangular, entire or with slightly serrated edges, different in color - yellow-green, green, red, variegated. The leaves of the young branches are most often used for food, and sometimes the tops of the stems and branches. Used like spinach leaves.
Growing quinoa
Garden quince can be grown quite easily - it is not a pretentious plant and cultivation and is not difficult even for novice gardeners. It is grown by direct sowing in the open, as early as possible in the spring, in stages - every 10-15 days, until the onset of dry and hot weather. Sowing of quinoa can continue until summer - in July-August. The seeds must be sown in early spring, in March, without pre-growing seedlings. Loboda prefers richly fertilized, light and moisture-intensive soil. It is necessary to first dig and level the surface with the help of a garden rake, then form furrows, about 30-40 cm from each other.
A single long furrow can be formed next to other vegetable crops. In this case, the quiver will play the role of a backstage crop, which protects from wind and from the invasion of harmful insects carried by it. The stem of the quince, grown on rich soils, reaches up to 2 m in height. 100-150 g of seeds are needed for 100 square meters. When the plants develop 3-4 leaves, they should be thinned so that one is left at 10-15 cm.
Further care consists of regular hoeing and watering. Water the quince if it is not raining, because in drought flower stalks develop quickly instead of fresh leaves. Garden quince can be harvested in two ways - by cutting the young plants when they reach a height of 30-40 cm, and by successively tearing off the leaves, leaving the plants to continue their growth.
Composition of quinoa
The richest source of B-carotene are green leafy vegetables such as nettle, dock, spinach, quiver and others. Here, nature has kept the secret by masking B-carotene from chlorophyll. Garden quinoa is rich in many minerals and is a good source of iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium.100 g of quince leaves contain 6.1 mg of manganese. Quince leaves are rich in vitamin C (93.6 mg), rutin (113 mg), protein and mineral salts.
Selection and storage of quiver
Choose fresh leaves quiver, on which there are no traces of wilting or darkening. Loboda is a very volatile product, which is why traders regularly avoid it. Quince leaves are stored for up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator, and if you want to keep them for a long time you can sterilize them and freeze in the freezer.
Culinary application of quinoa
When you want to cook something with quiver, then the leaves must be freshly plucked. Well cleaned, they can be eaten on a fresh salad in combination with other green leafy vegetables and spices. In fact, quinoa can be used to prepare all the dishes we are used to cooking with spinach. Delicious and useful soups and soups are prepared from quinoa. It can be used as a side dish for meat or to wrap sarmi instead of dock leaves or cabbage leaves.
Recipe for Colorful porridge with quinoa
Necessary products: quiver - 1 kg, bacon - 200 g, corn flour - 100 g, salt, pepper.
Method of preparation: Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in its own fat until golden brown. Add some of the flour and stir briefly. Immediately after that, put the washed and finely chopped quinoa and stew until soft. Add salt to taste and pour hot water. Simmer over low heat for a few minutes, then add the rest of the flour, diluted in a little cold water. The colored quinoa porridge is left to boil for another 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve with the addition of boiled egg and yogurt if desired.
Benefits of quinoa
The Byzantines describe the garden quiver, as cold and moist, with emollient action on the chest and throat. Greeks have known for thousands of years that quinoa helps the liver with heat, jaundice and dandruff. In traditional medicine, quinoa is known as a remedy for some stomach ailments. It has pronounced bactericidal properties. In folk medicine, quince is used as a painkiller, sedative, as well as anti-inflammatory, expectorant, laxative and anthelmintic and cholagogue.
Juice or tincture of quince leaves is used for tooth decay. Even our ancestors knew that quinoa is a wonderful remedy for toothache and gum disease. They used it to make their teeth healthy, durable, beautiful and most importantly - white. The kids were given quince seeds prophylactically against parasites.
In case of liver and spleen problems, it is recommended to take a tincture of the seeds in a glass, 4 times in 24 hours. Tincture of quince is taken for cough, have been treated for pulmonary tuberculosis, inflamed bile, duodenal ulcer, flatulence. Conditions of neurasthenia, hysteria and severe, prolonged headache are improved and positively affected by quince. Loboda was once used even for paralysis.
