Sorrel has been known for a long time, but it began to be used on an industrial scale only a few centuries ago.
But sorrel is one of the earliest vegetable plants, giving vitamin greens in open ground.
Useful properties of sorrel
- The young leaves of sorrel have vitamins A, C, B1, B2, proteins, malic and citric acids.
- Sorrel improves digestion, helps with indigestion.
- It is a good choleretic agent, therefore it is recommended for liver diseases.
- Sorrel is an effective anti-scorching agent.
- Sorrel roots also have healing properties. A decoction of the roots helps with back pain, rheumatism. It is also an effective remedy for diarrhea.
But sorrel also has contraindications. Due to oxalic acid, which in the process of growth accumulates in the plant, it cannot be used for inflammation in the intestine and in violation of salt metabolism. Elderly people need to eat dishes with sorrel with caution or completely abandon them.
How to grow and collect sorrel
Sorrel is sown in early spring and seedlings appear in two weeks. In the first year, a rosette is formed, and flower arrows and seeds begin to appear in the second year of life.
It is possible to sow sorrel not only in spring, but also in summer, as well as before winter. Sorrel is a perennial cold-resistant plant, therefore, after wintering safely under the snow, in early spring it gives the first crop in the form of delicate vitamin leaves.
When leaves grow up to 10 cm in length, start harvesting. For spring and summer, the crop can be removed 3-4 times. The main thing is not to allow the appearance of peduncles, since then the leaves grow coarser and their taste becomes worse. Therefore, flower stalks must be removed. Leave them only if you need to get the seeds, but then with such an outlet leaves are not harvested.
After each harvest, it is necessary to loosen, feed ammonium nitrate and watering. Due to this, sorrel will quickly increase the green mass and again give a bountiful harvest. By the way, watering for sorrel is mandatory throughout the vegetative growth. Sorrel is not very picky about light, but grows best with sufficient light. To get a rich harvest, the soil must be well fertilized with organic and mineral fertilizers. They can be made as a plowing, and before sowing.
Harvested sorrel is harvested only in the spring or in the first half of summer, as later oxalic acid accumulates in the leaves, which adversely affects health.
Sorrel cut crop is not subject to long storage, so it should be processed as soon as possible. But for some time, the leaves of sorrel can be stored, packed in plastic bags, at a temperature of 1-2 °.
Before using it, cut off the basal part of the greenery, disassemble the sockets into individual leaves, simultaneously removing the yellowed, coarse or spoiled, and then washed.
