This seasoning was first grown as a medicinal plant.

Medicinal plants (herbalist)

2018-03-20 Coriander is not only a spice, but also a medicine.

Coriander (cilantro) is a valuable ornamental, medicinal, spice plant that can be grown in the garden and in the vegetable garden. Coriander seed preparations treat digestive ailments, and the herb helps the human digestive tract to cope with "heavy" food. We bring to your attention recipes for medicines from coriander.

Coriander (Latin Coriandrum sativum) has been eaten since ancient times as a spicy condiment. Dried and fresh coriander greens, often called cilantro or cilantro, are used to season fish, grilled meats and soups, and coriander fruits and seeds are used by bakers and pastry chefs around the world.

Growing coriander in the garden and vegetable gardenVegetable coriander can be grown in the garden and vegetable garden.

In order not to run to the store for each branch of cilantro, it is recommended to grow vegetable coriander in your garden, since coriander seeds are sold everywhere.

In the garden, try to place the sowing coriander on separate beds, so that it is convenient to approach it for cutting greens for salad and not only.

It is recommended to grow coriander as a border in the garden. After harvesting cilantro, you can decorate bald spots with similar plants. However, if coriander seeds are needed, it is better to organize a variegated lawn or a spicy mixborder.

Seeds of coriander are sown continuously, and after germination they are thinned at a distance of 1-2 cm from each other, the distance between the rows is 15-20 cm, the depth of seeding is 1.5-2 cm.

Vegetable coriander prefers fertile sandy or sandy loam soil. The best precursor for coriander is perennial herbs. Heavy clayey, waterlogged soils are not suitable for growing coriander.

The healing properties of coriander

The healing properties of coriander extend to all organs of the human body - except that dandruff is not treated with coriander.

Coriander fruits have pronounced healing effects:

antibacterial,
antiseptic,
pain reliever,
carminative,
anthelmintic,
choleretic
lactogonous,
expectorant
antihemorrhoid,
wound healing
regenerative,
secretolytic,
laxative
antispasmodic,
calming effect.

In folk medicine, coriander is most often used to treat digestive diseases and nervous disorders.

Traditional medicine recipes: coriander for the stomach and intestines

Heartburn, flatulence, constipation or diarrhea, intestinal cramps, impaired appetite and other companions of digestive ailments are known to everyone. Herbs and coriander, including, are of great help for digestive problems.

Coriander seeds are a raw material for medicines. Photo:

For example, dry coriander seeds have a carminative, choleretic, antibacterial, analgesic, mild laxative effect, improve appetite and have a beneficial effect on digestive processes. For medicinal purposes, water infusions of coriander seeds, alcohol tincture are used, oil and wine are insisted on these seeds.

You can buy coriander seeds at the pharmacy or in the store in the spice section.

Infusion of coriander seeds for heartburn and belching

For heartburn and belching, pour 2 teaspoons of seeds with a glass of boiling water, cover, leave for 20 minutes, drain.Take 1 glass 2 times a day after meals.

Infusion of coriander seeds for flatulence and dyspepsia

With flatulence and dyspepsia, pour 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds in a thermos with a glass of boiling water, leave for 2 hours, drain. Take 3 times a day, half an hour before meals, 1/3 cup of infusion. The duration of treatment is 2-4 weeks.

Coriander seed wine for constipation

For nervous disorders, dyspepsia and constipation, a soothing wine with coriander seeds is recommended. It is simple to prepare medicinal wine: pour 100 grams of crushed coriander seeds with one liter of "Cahors", seal, leave for 2-3 weeks in a dark place, strain.

Take 2 times a day with meals, 50-100 ml for dyspepsia, constipation. Also has a sedative effect and is used for nervous disorders. Keep refrigerated.

Coriander seed oil for flatulence

For constipation, flatulence and poor digestion, it is recommended to take coriander seed oil. They make the oil like this: pour half a cup of chopped coriander seeds one liter vegetable oil, stir well and stand for 1 hour in a water bath. Cool, drain. Pour the finished oil into a dark glass bottle and seal. Keep refrigerated.

Take 3 times a day, half an hour before meals, 10-15 drops on a piece of sugar or in a little water.

Also, coriander oil for baths and inhalations for colds, nervous disorders (in the form of inhalations).

We have already touched on the topic of growing indoor flowers for sale as an idea for your own business. Today we bring to your attention a similar idea - growing spices as a business... It is, in principle, similar to growing flowers ... However, it also has its own specifics, which primarily concerns the preparation of spices.

Growing spices as a business is a pretty promising idea. Many truly delicious recipes include not only the main nutritional ingredients, but also the ingredients that give the dishes their distinctive, delicious taste, color and aroma. In order to follow interesting recipes, quite rare, imported tropical spices are sometimes needed - black pepper, saffron, asafoetida and other spices brought from distant eastern countries.

However, experience shows that most of these exotic spices can be successfully replaced with herbs and fruits grown on their own. To do this, it is quite enough to have 1-2 acres of free land in the garden or even a few flower pots on the window. The pleasant feeling of supplying yourself and others with spices, and thanks to this, you can achieve not only exceptional success in home cooking, but also some monetary profit, will more than reward everyone for the little effort that will have to be put into growing aromatic plants.

Aromatic plants are not bred in gardens in order to stock up on spices for years to come. It is quite enough if two or three (if for yourself) and five to ten (if for sale) specimens of the species of interest to us grow on the "spice bed". From the rich assortment at our disposal, everyone can choose plants according to their taste and interests (as well as on the basis of demand).

Demand, as you know, needs to be supported - and since few people know about the beneficial "spice" properties of many plants, the spice growing business should include instructions for using certain seasonings.

There are general recommendations: in the mini-garden, such species as

Chives, or chives... Chives love sun and loose soil. Grows well in a flower pot and in a vegetable garden. It is used primarily for winter forcing so that it can be marketed as the first spring greenery. A young fresh feather is used, which should be cut at least 20 mm above the ground.Chives have a peculiar onion smell and the same onion taste, but more subtle and noble.
Kerbel ordinary (chervil, kupyr). An annual plant common by the ancient Romans throughout Europe and parts of Asia. Kerbela leaves are a delicate spice, typical primarily of sophisticated French cuisine. Their aroma, reminiscent of the smell of anise and parsley, easily evaporates; they should be added to hot dishes only at the last stage of preparation, best of all, fresh. Karballe is combined with parsley, tarragon and chives to form a delicate blend that is especially good in omelets.
God's tree, or healing wormwood... It is not easy to start a real tree of God, because it reproduces only vegetatively - by dividing the rhizome, layering, cuttings. The taste and aroma are very complex, but pleasant, in which there is the freshness of lemon and pine bitterness. In the old days, the leaves were "used in medicine to improve the taste of various unpleasant medicines." Young leaves are used in salads, in sauces for roasts and in seasonings for soups (introduced 3 minutes before cooking), for flavoring tea, fragrances of vinegar, added to the dough when baking bread and pastries, to add a spicy taste to pies, cottage cheese, mayonnaise ... In addition, the leaves can be dried for future use. By the way, if someone does not like the bitterness (albeit pleasant), then it completely disappears when drying.
Tarragon wormwood, or tarragon, or tarragon (Latin Artemisia dracunculus) is a perennial herb, a species of the genus Wormwood of the Astrovye family. Used in pickles, preservation, seasoning for meat dishes. Tarragon wormwood has a low-spicy aroma and a pungent, spicy and piquant taste. In cooking and medicine, tarragon greens are used, which are harvested at the beginning of the flowering of the plant. The collected greens are tied in bunches and dried under a canopy in a draft.
Hyssop medicinal - a kind of dwarf shrubs. Valuable honey plant, gives a lot of fragrant nectar and pollen. Hyssop honey is one of the best varieties. The plant, when used for food, promotes digestion, stimulates the appetite. Fresh and dried young shoots with leaves and flowers have a ginger-sage aroma and a bitter pleasant spicy taste. Used as a fragrant seasoning for flavoring first, second courses and cold snacks. It is used in the preparation of tender fried veal, which gives it a tart, spicy taste. Many people like to add hyssop to stuffed eggs and sausages. Suitable for cooking fried pork, fish dishes, stews, beef zraz, bean and potato soups, marinades. Hyssop improves the taste of fresh cucumber and tomato salads. Finely chopped fresh hyssop is mixed with cheese, which gives the product a spicy taste and pleasant aroma.
Lovage officinalis - a perennial herb. This plant has many popular names. Most of them are associated with the word "love": dawn, love, libistic, love potion, love potion, love, love-grass, love. In Russia it was known as mountain celery. The smell of lovage is sharp, spicy, the taste is sweetish at first, then sharp, spicy and moderately bitter. Fresh stems, leaves and roots are used to flavor confectionery, drinks, marinades. Even small additions of lovage greens change the taste and give the canned food a peculiar mushroom aroma. Green parts and roots of young plants are used for food as a spice in the preparation of green oil, salads; it is added to sauces, fried meat, gravies, soups, vegetables, rice dishes, cereals, poultry and fish. With the addition of a pinch of lovage, a strong meat broth acquires an exceptionally good taste, in which the taste of meat is emphasized and enhanced.
Fragrant marjoram Is a perennial herb of the labiate family. In culture, it is often grown as an annual herb, since when the temperature drops to -12 ° C, the plant dies.The optimum temperature for seed germination is 20-25 ° C. Germination lasts two to three years. Demanding on the light. In shaded areas, the essential oil content is reduced. It is drought-resistant, but at the beginning of growth and development it reacts negatively to a lack of moisture. By the way, wild marjoram is nothing more than oregano... Marjoram is a spice that can be added to any dish to add flavor. Tea made from flowers and young shoots is possible. Marjoram has a persistent spicy aroma and a slightly pungent taste. Sometimes it is compared to the taste of thyme or oregano (and it is no coincidence that these herbs are close relatives). In home cooking, the leaves and flower buds are consumed fresh, dried and toasted. It is used as a seasoning for meat dishes, soups, salads, drinks, gives a special aroma and taste.
Soul Basil, or Common Basil, or Garden Basil, or Camphor Basil (lat. Ocimum basilicum) is a kind of annual herbaceous plant. Basil has a slightly bitter taste with a sweetish aftertaste. Some types of basil smell like cloves or nutmeg. Fresh and dried leaves and flowers are used in the preparation of various national dishes in Greek, French, Italian (in particular, in spaghetti and pasta dishes) and Transcaucasian cuisines. As a seasoning, basil is added to vegetable salads, meat (pork cutlets, liver dumplings) and fish dishes, as well as to flavor canned vegetables, pickles and sausages. Basil is widely used as a spice both fresh and dry. It was once called the royal herb. The entire above-ground part of it is distinguished by a pleasant smell and delicate taste. Its properties appear in dishes as if gradually - at first it gives a bitterness, and then a sweetish aftertaste. It is used in soups, vegetable dishes, especially beans, peas, beans, tomatoes, spinach, sauerkraut, and meat dishes. As a spice, it is more appreciated fresh. Young densely leafy shoots are finely cut and added to sandwich butter, meat dishes.
Common oregano, or Oregano (lat. Origánum vulgáre) is a type of perennial herbaceous plants. A relative of fragrant marjoram. Oregano is propagated by seeds or by dividing the bush. Oregano is harvested during mass flowering, starting from the second year of the growing season. Plants are cut at a height of 15–20 cm from the soil surface so that the collected green mass contains a minimum number of stems. The plant is a part of spicy mixtures for pates, liver or meat fillings, homemade sausages. Dried or fresh herb is one of the components of the world famous spice "oregano". Oregano is added to fried, stewed and baked meats, sauces and gravies. In Italian cuisine, it is used to flavor pizza. In some European countries, mushroom dishes are prepared with oregano, which are distinguished by a delicate taste and aroma.
Thyme, or Thyme (Latin Thymus) is a genus of semi-shrubs. The leaves are used as a spice in cooking, canning and alcoholic beverage industries. Thyme is found in a condiment mixture known as Provencal herbs. The stems, along with the leaves and flowers, can be brewed like tea.
Salvia officinalis (Salvia from Lat. Salvere - to treat) is a perennial shrub from the labiate family, 30 - 70 cm high. Propagated by seeds, seedlings, as well as plant division and cuttings. Sage is also widely used in cooking: as a flavoring additive for poultry dishes and for fish sauces. Sage herb is also added to the filling for homemade sausages. Young sage leaves are used as a spice, adding them to salads, vegetable and fish dishes. More often they are used in dried form, taking advantage of a strong pungent odor, spicy and bitter taste. Leaves and twigs are ground into powder before use.Sage is added to dishes from leguminous plants, to fatty meats, to which it gives aroma, as well as a slightly bitter spicy taste.

In addition, all types of onions, celery, chamomile, bitter wormwood, garden balsam, coriander, indau, or eruca, fennel, lavender, watercress, mint, watercress, or watercress, poppy, purslane are successfully bred. garden, radish, mustard and fenugreek - Greek hay. In the same way, without hassle, you can breed the same mysterious saffron, it is also one of the types of ordinary crocus.

It is, of course, impossible to give universal recommendations for the cultivation of all aromatic plants. Each species has its own specific needs, each grows in a different environment. But this does not mean that most of the above plants cannot be grown on the same bed at the same time. You can cope with this task if you provide universal conditions:

high-quality fertile soil,
abundance of water,
light and
heat.

The soil should provide each plant with all the nutrients it needs, retain water so that the plantings do not dry out, and at the same time not obstruct the access of air, which is so necessary for plants to breathe. Therefore, sandy soils, poor in humus, unable to retain either nutrients or water, are not suitable for growing aromatic plants. Silty soils with a very low permeability, excessively retaining water and preventing air from reaching the roots, are also unsuitable.

Therefore, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil in the garden where aromatic plants will grow by adding sand or humus to it (best in the form of a "leaflet", turf or peat). The result is a versatile substrate that allows water to pass through well and at the same time retains nutrients, is rather loose, does not stick together and does not cake when excessive moisture is present, and when it dries, it never becomes covered with a hard crust. The layer of fertile soil in such a bed must be deep enough so that crops can grow here, the roots of which go deep into the soil.

With regard to light and heat, these indicators depend on the geographic location of the garden. Therefore, here our possibilities are more limited than in relation to the soil. Nevertheless, it is in our power to choose a place for a garden with spicy plants where there will be maximum sunshine on our garden plot, bringing the existing conditions closer to the ideal conditions typical for a plant in its homeland. The plant will thank for our care by presenting a crop containing aromatic and flavoring substances in the tissues.

Any, even the best soil becomes poorer over time: after all, plants constantly draw nutrients from it. Therefore, the land in the garden should be systematically fertilized, preferably watered with solutions of combined mineral fertilizers. Fertilizers should be applied in spring and early summer, during a period of intensive plant growth. However, fertilizers must be applied carefully, otherwise an excessive increase in green mass will be to the detriment of taste and aroma. It remains to be recalled that most spicy plants are among those requiring the presence of lime in the soil. Therefore, where there is little calcium in the earth, it should be added, preferably in the form of ground limestone.

Most aromatic plants are grown by sowing seeds. For annuals and biennials, this is the only possible way. Usually they are sown in spring, when there is no longer a danger of late spring frosts, whether directly to the garden bed (and after the emergence of seedlings, the planting is thinned out to the required distance in accordance with the size of the species being bred), or in boxes and flower pots. In boxes, you can prepare seedlings in early spring. Then you have to cover it at night with glass or synthetic film, which retains moisture well and protects delicate sprouts from the night cold.Seedlings grow faster (already strong plants are supposed to be transferred to the beds, placing them immediately at an appropriate distance from each other), the crop is harvested at least a month earlier.

Biennials, which are bred for the sake of leaves and roots, are grown in the same way as annual plants, otherwise they will quickly bloom, fade, and die after the formation of seeds. Perennial plants can be propagated not only by seeds, but also vegetatively, by dividing, for example, bulbs (garlic, saffron), as well as older bushes of the plant. The last operation is recommended to be carried out in the spring or at the beginning of summer, so that the processes take root thoroughly even before the onset of winter.

By this intervention, old plants are simultaneously rejuvenated, again beginning to give high yields within several years. In autumn, one should not forget that almost all types of perennial aromatic plants come from warm regions where there is no frost (thyme, hyssop, sage, oregano, etc.). Therefore, they should be cut about 10 cm from the surface of the earth, and where the soil freezes, cover them with leaves, straw or coniferous spruce branches. In the spring, when the plant awakens, the sketched insulating material is carefully raked so that the new shoots do not steal under it and do not become infected with fungal diseases.

Currently, hydroponics is becoming more and more popular in our everyday life, that is, the cultivation of plants in solutions of mineral salts. This method is especially good for growing ornamental plants in apartments, since there is no need for daily watering. Aromatic plants can also be grown hydroponically. To do this, you need to have light-blocking dishes of appropriate sizes and shapes and one of the mixtures of mineral salts sold in stores.

You just have to try which of the available mixtures works best for your chosen aromatic plants. An example of a crop recommended for cultivation in hydroponic solution is Capsicum frutescens, which blooms and bears fruit all year round. It gives us spices and brings aesthetic pleasure: this bush, in addition to beautiful glossy green leaves, is decorated with white flowers and gradually ripening green, yellow, orange and fiery red fruits. One such plant is able to provide the whole family with always fresh pods of hot peppers.

General summary: If you can grow rare spices, no chemicals and no GMOs, then you have a great competitive advantage over existing seasoning suppliers.

So, growing spices as a business is not only pleasant, but also profitable!

Based on materials

For those who adhere to the "informal" style in landscape design, the herb garden is a real find. A garden in which spicy herbs reign is not an invention of today, but an old tradition that is again becoming fashionable. If the plot has a small free space that you would like to decorate with ornamental plants and use with maximum efficiency, then the “aromatic” garden is what you need. From spicy herbs, you can build a flower bed, a curb and, in the end, an ordinary garden bed. What kind of herbs are best grown in an “aromatic” garden, read the article.

Spices

Content:

Rules for organizing an "aromatic" garden
Harvesting herbs
Choosing plants for a spicy garden

Rules for organizing an "aromatic" garden

Forming a flower bed or herb bed is not too different from forming a regular flower garden.

Choose a place in the garden for the flower bed so that it is convenient to approach it in any weather. Its shape can be any: round, square, triangular. Plant the tallest plants such as cumin, fennel, tarragon in the center so that they do not obscure other plants.From the flowering spicy plants in the center, you can also plant cucumber grass with bright blue edible flowers and a red swan with bright beautiful leaves. On the border, you can plant plants with graceful leaves - chervil, curly parsley, thyme, savory.

A special place should be reserved for annual spices. In the space allocated for them, be sure to sow basil, chervil, dill, mustard leaves and other plants of your choice, desire and taste.

An indispensable element of the garden in the village is a vegetable garden, and therefore even the most uncomplicated beds will look natural on the site.

To prevent tall plants from shading other residents of the spicy garden, build them an easy support from twigs or wire. The rest, smaller spicy herbs, should be grouped around tall plants. In order for the spices to grow well and have the same pronounced smell and taste, it is better to place the garden in a sunny place and water it more often.

It is not at all necessary to plant all the herbs directly in the ground. Some of them can be planted in pots without a bottom and plastic containers, for example, mint - after all, its roots can spread over a large area.

Herbs in containers

To use the aerial part of the plants as spice additives, they must be harvested during the period of full development (when the growth of the leaves is complete or the plant is in the full flowering phase). Such harvesting of plants, as a rule, is carried out in the summer.

It is necessary to collect raw materials in good dry weather, in the afternoon or in the evening, when there is no dew on the leaves. It is advisable not to water garden plants on the eve of collection. Good watering is best done after harvesting raw materials - for better growth of new leaves or to stimulate the formation of inflorescences.

Well dried raw materials are brittle, easily crumble when touched. It has a beautiful green or other natural color, without defects or damage. It is better to store dry raw materials in glass jars or kraft paper bags.

For a small family, it is not worth harvesting a lot of dry raw materials for the winter, since dried essential oil plants are stored for no more than a year. Having started to make preparations and use essential oil plants for cooking, you will soon evaluate and decide which herbs are raw materials and how much your family needs to harvest for up to a year.

Drying herbs

Agastakhis wrinkled

Agastakhis wrinkled, or Polygrizzly wrinkled, or Lofant Tibetan, or Korean mint (Agastache rugosa) - anise aroma for exquisite salads and teas. It is called “northern ginseng” for its ability to strengthen the immune system. They are used in cosmetology to preserve the elasticity and youthfulness of the skin.

Perennial herb of the Yasnotkov family. The aboveground part is used fresh for making salads and tea. Lofant is also an excellent honey plant and has unique medicinal properties. The advantages of this spicy herb include its simplicity and ease of cultivation. Lofant is propagated by direct sowing of seeds in open ground or through seedlings. The minimum planting pattern is 25x25 cm. Plants must be covered for the winter.

Agastakhis wrinkled, or Tibetan Lofant (Agastache rugosa)

Anise ordinary

Anise ordinary, Anise thigh (Pimpinella anisum) is an annual, thinly and shortly pubescent plant. The root is thin, fusiform, taproot. Stem up to 30-50 cm high, erect, rounded, furrowed, branched in the upper part.

Medicinal annual herb from the Umbelliferae family with an erect, branched stem, up to 60 cm high, covered with a short downy. The leaves are alternate, the lower ones are solid, long-petiolate, rounded-reniform or cordate. The flowers are small, white, in complex umbrellas. Blooms from June to September. Prefers sunny areas, sandy loam or loamy soils.

The ripe fruit of anise is used, which contains an essential oil. Anise fruit preparations delay putrefactive and fermentative processes in the intestines, relieve abdominal spasms, inhibit the development of microbes in the renal pelvis and bladder, have expectorant and diuretic properties. Anise fruits are brewed like tea.

Anise ordinary, or Aniseed thigh (Pimpinella anisum)

Basil

Basil (Ocimum) - belongs to the mint family of herbs, used as a condiment to many dishes. Fresh basil has a rich aroma that can be described as a cross between licorice and cloves. Most varieties of basil have green leaves, but opal basil has a beautiful purple color. Other types of basil, such as lemon basil and cinnamon basil, are so named for their respective aromas.

A strongly branched plant with tetrahedral stems from 30 to 60 cm high. Its leaves are oblong-ovate, sparsely toothed, green or purple up to 5.5 cm long. At the ends of the stems, basil ejects inflorescences in the form of tassels, consisting of several flowers. Their color can be different: pink, white, white and purple.

Basil is widely used as a spice both fresh and dry. As a spice, it is more appreciated fresh.

Mustard salad

Mustard salad, or Leaf mustard - a variety of Mustard (Brassica juncea) - an annual cold-resistant early maturing plant. Within a month, she develops a large rosette of large leaves, original in color. The flowers are small, yellow, collected in a spike-shaped inflorescence, the fruit is a pod.

Young leaves of mustard leaf are used fresh for preparing salads and as a side dish for meat and fish dishes, in boiled form, as well as salted and canned. Mustard is a relative of arugula, but is more like watercress in early maturity. Mustard leaf stimulates appetite, enhances the secretion of gastric juice and bile, has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects.

Mustard greens, in which ascorbic acid and rutin (vitamins C and P) predominate in the natural complex of vitamins, is an excellent antiscorbutic agent that prevents untimely aging of the walls of blood vessels, their loss of elasticity and the deposition of cholesterol plaques on the inner wall of blood vessels. Because mustard greens stimulate appetite, it should not be included in a weight loss diet.

Oregano

Oregano, or Oregano (Origanum) - a genus of herbaceous plants of the Lamiaceae family, includes 45-50 species. Perennial herbaceous plants or shrubs, 30-75 cm high. Rhizome glabrous, often creeping. Stem tetrahedral, erect, slightly pubescent, glabrous in the upper part. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, oblong-ovate, whole-edged, pointed at the tip, dark green above, gray-green below, 1-4 cm long.

This herb has a strong aroma. Traditionally used in Greek and Balkan cuisine. It goes well with cheese, fried fish, and is also suitable for flavoring vegetable oils.

Leaves are plucked as needed. Outdoors from June to November, at home all year round.

Oregano, or Oregano

Hyssop

Hyssopus, blue St. John's wort (Hyssopus) is a genus of plants in the Lamiaceae family. Perennial strongly odorous spicy herbs or shrubs with linear or oblong leaves.

Drought-resistant and winter-hardy shrub. Forms a bush 50-60 cm high and up to 60-70 cm in diameter, with erect branchy shoots. Shoots from below are lignified: in the first year they are green, later they acquire a grayish-brown tint. Leaves sessile, without petiole, small, green. The flowers are blue. The taste of stems, leaves and flowers is bitter and spicy.

In culinary use are mainly the dried leaves of the upper third of the plant.Young stems, leaves and flowers, fresh and dried, are used to flavor meals and snacks. In folk medicine, hyssop is used for angina pectoris, gastrointestinal diseases. It promotes digestion, stimulates appetite.

Hyssop infusion is recommended for the elderly as a fortifying drink. Possesses bactericidal properties.

When grown for seasoning, it is harvested throughout the summer: from a plant intended for medicinal purposes, the stems are cut off before flowering. At the same time, the upper part of the stems is cut off and the collection is dried in the shade. Store in a cool, ventilated area.

Common chervil

Openwork chervil, or Buten-leaved Kupyr, or Common chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) is an annual plant 15-50 cm high with a fusiform root. Stems are straight, shortly pubescent, branchy almost from the base, swollen at the nodes. The leaves are triangular, thrice-pinnately dissected.

It has a sweetish aniseed aroma, a spicy sweetish, parsley-like taste, which is why it is used as a spice. It goes well with other green vegetables - tarragon, parsley, basil. In North America, ground chervil is used for grilling poultry, fish and egg dishes. It is used with hard-boiled eggs, salted omelets, fish sauces, green butter, potato soup, potato salad, spinach, poultry, fish, lamb and mutton.

Chervil dishes are a good vitamin and tonic. In folk medicine, the leaves and fruits of the plant were used for diseases of the kidneys, bladder, as an expectorant and astringent for gastrointestinal disorders. Good honey plant.

Sowing coriander, or cilantro

Cilantro or Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is an annual herb of the Apiaceae family, one of the most popular herbs. The stem of the coriander is erect, glabrous, up to 40-70 cm high, branched in the upper part. Basal leaves broad-lobed, coarsely dissected, with wide lobules and long petioles, upper leaves on short petioles with narrow linear lobes. The flowers are small, white or pink, arranged in complex umbrellas at the ends of the peduncles, forming 3-5 rays. Marginal flowers 3-4 mm long.

Coriander fruits are widely used as a spice for aromatization and fortification of sausages, cheese, canned meat and fish, pickles, pickles and liqueurs, are added in the baking of Borodino bread, confectionery and culinary products, as well as in the manufacture of certain types of beer.

Leaves of young vegetable coriander plants are eaten in the phases of the rosette and the beginning of shooting. The leaves have a pungent smell, they are eaten in salads, and also used as a seasoning for soups and meat dishes. Excellent honey plant. Delicate leaves are an excellent seasoning for salads, first and second courses, and the seeds are used in the preparation of marinades and confectionery. Coriander is also useful for colds and stomach ailments.

Coriander seed, Cilantro

Lovage

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a perennial herb; monotypic genus of the family Umbrella. The stem is 100-200 cm high, glabrous, with a bluish surface, branched at the top. The leaves are shiny, feathery, with large obovate or rhombic, slightly incised lobes.

Frost-resistant and cold-resistant. The smell of lovage is sharp, spicy, the taste is sweetish at first, then sharp, spicy and moderately bitter. An essential oil is obtained from the plant, which is used in perfumery and cooking. Fresh stems, leaves and roots are used to flavor confectionery, drinks, marinades. Even small additions of lovage greens change the taste and give the canned food a peculiar mushroom aroma.

Green parts and roots of young plants are used for food as a spice in the preparation of green oil, salads; it is added to sauces, fried meat, gravies, soups, vegetables, rice dishes, cereals, poultry and fish. With the addition of a pinch of lovage, a strong meat broth acquires an exceptionally good taste, in which the taste of meat is emphasized and enhanced. Lovage is of particular importance in the diet along with dill and basil. The roots of lovage are shown in the diet for diseases of the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, obesity, rheumatism, flatulence.

Marjoram

Marjoram (Origanum majorana) is a species of perennial herbaceous plants from the genus Oregano (Origanum) of the Lamiaceae family. In the Middle East, it is better known as Za'atar. Stems are erect, branched, 20-45 (50) cm high, woody at the base, silvery-gray. Leaves are oblong-ovate or spatulate, petiolate, obtuse, whole-edged, gray-tomentose on both sides. Inflorescences are oblong, tomentose-hairy, from three to five rounded, sessile, ovoid, short spike-shaped bundles at the ends of the branches. The flowers are small, the corolla is reddish, pink or white.

Currently, marjoram is used mainly as a spice; it is added to salads, soups, fish and vegetable dishes, fresh or dried, and for canning. The plant is also used for the preparation of liqueurs, liqueurs, puddings, sausages, vinegar and tea flavoring. Essential oil is extracted from the aerial part of the flowering plant. Dry leaf powder is found in pepper mixtures. Marjoram improves digestion, is indicated for flatulence, has a diuretic and sedative effect.

In medicine in some countries, the plant is used for diseases of the respiratory tract and digestive organs. The use of marjoram is indicated for the dietary nutrition of gastric patients. In folk medicine, it is known as a gastric, tonic, anti-catarrhal and wound healing agent. Together with other drugs, marjoram was used for paralysis, neurasthenia, bronchial asthma and rhinitis. The plant was used internally in the form of infusion and externally - for baths and lotions as a wound healing agent. Valuable honey plant.

Melissa

Melissa, lemon mint, honey, mother plant, swarm, bee (Melissa officinalis) - a perennial essential oil herb from the genus Melissa (Melissa) of the Lamb family. The rhizome is highly branched. Stem branched, tetrahedral, pubescent with short hairs with admixture of glands, or almost glabrous. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate to rounded-rhombic, crenate-serrate, pubescent.

It is grown for the sake of oval leaves, which, when rubbed, emit a strong lemon scent. Melissa, as a spice, goes well with game, veal, pork, lamb, fish, mushroom dishes. Fresh lemon balm leaves are added in the preparation of sauces, vegetables, soups of all kinds (fruit, pea, potato, mushroom). Many people like to add lemon balm to milk to make it smell better, to grated cottage cheese.

Melissa treats indigestion, it improves appetite, it is used for neuralgic and rheumatic pains, as a diuretic, used for depression, insomnia, migraine, menstrual pain, nervous weakness, migraine, insomnia, general loss of strength, some forms of asthma, colds, skin rashes, pain in the heart and palpitations, colic in the stomach and liver, anemia and to improve metabolism. Outwardly - with gum disease and furunculosis.

An alcoholic tincture of this spicy herb is used for rheumatic pains and neuromyositis, poultices made from the herb, as a pain reliever for bruises, arthritis and ulcers. The plant enhances the activity of the digestive organs, has a mild laxative, stops nausea and vomiting, relieves the stomach and intestines from gases. In folk medicine, it is used for heart pain, bone pain, vomiting, to strengthen memory. The juice is used to treat old wounds.

Mint

Mint (Mentha) is a genus of plants in the Lamiaceae family. The genus has about 25 species and about 10 natural hybrids. All species are highly aromatic, most of them contain a lot of menthol.

Mint is widely used in medicine, pharmacology and cooking. Most often, we use it as a herb when brewing tea.

Borago

Borage, borage, borage, borago are a monotypic genus of the Boraginaceae family. The only species is borage (Borago officinalis) - an annual herb.Annual plant, stiff-haired, 60-100 cm high. Stem is straight or ascending, thick, ribbed, hollow, branched at the top. Basal and lower stem leaves are elliptical or oval, obtuse at the apex, narrowed towards the base into a short petiole; stem leaves are oblong-ovate, sessile, embracing, like the stems, covered with stiff whitish hairs.

They are good substitutes for cucumbers, they are added to vinaigrette, salads, sauces (mustard, tomato, sour cream), side dishes, okroshka, cold vegetable soups and borscht. The roots collected in autumn are used to make green butter, added to cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream, for flavoring tinctures, wines, punch, vinegar, syrups, beer, essences and cold drinks.

Cucumber herb gives a spicy taste to minced meat, minced meat and fish fried in vegetable oil. Fresh and dried cucumber flowers are used in the liqueur and confectionery industry.

Borago, cucumber herb

Perilla

Perilla is a monotypic genus of annual herbaceous plants of the Lamiaceae family. The only species is Perilla frutescens. Herbaceous plants with a straight ascending stem. The lower leaves are large, long-petiolate, ovoid, the upper ones are oblong-ovate, sessile or short-petiolate.

New spice and flavor culture. Due to its high decorative effect, it can be grown as a curb plant. The variety is early ripening, cold-resistant, with a long growing season - 135-150 days. The plant is tall - 120-140 cm, the stem is erect, branching, tetrahedral. Grown in open ground and in greenhouses, through seedlings or direct sowing. The mass of one plant is 200-500 g. The yield of leaves, depending on the growing conditions, is 0.5-5.0 kg / m2.

Recommended for fresh green young leaves (salads, meat and fish dishes), in the phase of technical ripeness, the leaves are salted and pickled, and also used as a powder from dry leaves as an aromatic additive to meat and vegetable dishes. Perilla greens are juicy, delicate with a refreshing taste and an unusual mild aroma, where there are tones of caramel, anise flowers and very light pepper tones.

Parsley

Parsley (Petroselinum) is a small genus of biennial plants in the Apiaceae family. Leaves are double- or triple-pinned. The teeth of the calyx are inconspicuous, the petals are yellow-green or whitish, often with a reddish tinge at the base, cordate, notched at the apex and in the notch with a long, inwardly curved lobe.

Parsley is used as a spicy herb in fresh, dried and less often salted form, leaves as an integral part of salads, and leaves and root vegetables as an addition to side dishes and soups, especially fish dishes. Freshly frozen greens fully retain their nutritional and healing properties for several months (if stored properly, up to a year).

Parsley root vegetables are edible, but thin and coarse, so they are rarely used. In medicine (less often in cooking), parsley seeds are also used. Parsley is known for its diuretic, choleretic and stimulating effects.

Purslane

Purslane, Dandur (Portulaca) - a genus of plants of the Portulacaceae family (Portulacaceae) - a genus of one- or perennial succulent fleshy plants of the Purslane family. About 100 (according to other sources, up to 200) species in tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. Stems open or ascending, leaves are alternate or almost opposite. Flowers are often small, inconspicuous, less often - large single.

Young shoots and leaves of Portulaca oleracea (preferably harvested before flowering) are used as a garnish for meat and fish dishes - boiled with garlic, vinegar, vegetable oil or stewed with onions in vegetable oil.

The use of large-flowered purslane in garden design is extremely diverse.It is planted in flower beds (often in carpet flower beds), on ridges, flower beds, dry slopes, retaining stone walls, at the joints of concrete slabs in rockeries. On dry soils, purslane can replace the lawn.

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)

Rhubarb

Rhubarb (Rheum) is a genus of plants in the Buckwheat family. These are perennial very large grasses with thick, woody, branched rhizomes. Aerial stems are annual, straight, thick, hollow and sometimes slightly furrowed. Basal leaves are very large, long-petiolate, whole, palmate-lobed or dentate, sometimes wavy along the edge; petioles are cylindrical or multifaceted, with large sockets at the base. Stem leaves are smaller. The stem ends with a large paniculate inflorescence.

Fresh petioles, after removing the dense skin, are cut into pieces and eaten:

Cooked in sugar syrup, they give a sour, delicious jam;
Slightly boiled in thick sugar syrup, dried and again immersed in syrup the next day, give candied rhubarb;
Boiled with boiling water, mashed through a sieve and boiled with sugar, they go as a filling in sweet pies, reminding the taste of applesauce;
Wine, like Chablis, is prepared from the juice of the petioles, and the juice mixed with water and sugar is first fermented, when the latter is finished and the liquid clears up, filtered, defended and bottled, in which they are kept for at least a year in the basement.

Rosemary

Rosemary (Rosmarinus) is a genus of perennial evergreen shrubs of the Lamiaceae family. The calyx is ovate-bell-shaped, two-lipped, two-split; upper lip with three short teeth; lower two-toothed, three-lobed, with a large middle lobe. Two stamens, single-celled anthers. Leaves are opposite, narrowed, linear.

Rosemary has a strong aromatic sweetish and camphor scent, reminiscent of pine, and a very spicy, slightly pungent taste. Fresh or dry leaves, flowers and young shoots are used as a spice for processing fish, in small quantities they are added to vegetable soups and dishes, in salads, minced meat, to fried meat, fried poultry, to mushrooms, red and white cabbage cabbage and marinades. Gives a pleasant taste to soft cheeses, potatoes, game meat, fish and pastry.

Rosemary essential oil is used in the perfumery and cosmetic industry; leaves, flowers and young shoots - in the alcoholic beverage and bakery industries.

Leaves and annual shoots of rosemary were used in folk medicine internally for amenorrhea, as an astringent, tonic for impotence; sedative - with nervous disorders in menopause; pain reliever - for pain in the heart and stomach colic and externally - for neuritis, thrombophlebitis, rheumatism, parotitis, leucorrhoea, as a wound healing agent. It is used in modern combined herbal preparations

Arugula

Arugula, Sowing caterpillar, Indau sowing (Eruca sativa) is a biennial herb of the Eruca genus of the Cabbage family (Brassicaceae). The stem is straight, branched, slightly pubescent. The leaves are lyre-pinnate or dissected, with serrated lobes.

It has been cultivated as a spicy herb in the Mediterranean since the days of the Roman Empire, where it was considered an aphrodisiac. Until the 1900s, arugula was mainly harvested in the wild, cultivation on a mass scale was not used, and practically not studied by science. It has a rich, pungent taste.

It is mainly used in salads, and also as a vegetable additive to meat dishes and pastas. In coastal Slovenia (especially in Koper) it is added to cheese cheburek. In Italy, it is often used in the preparation of pizza; usually arugula is added to it shortly before the end of cooking or immediately after that. Also used as an ingredient in pesto in addition to (or replacing) basil.

In the Caucasus, young shoots and leaves are eaten. The leaves are used as a seasoning for dishes in the form of a salad, young shoots are eaten fresh, the seeds are used to make mustard. In Indian medicine, seeds are used as an irritant and anti-cutaneous drug; in folk medicine - for skin diseases, juice - for ulcers, freckles, hematomas, calluses, nasal polyps.

Arugula, or Indau sowing

Ruta

Ruta is a genus of evergreen perennial fragrant grasses, semi-shrubs, shrubs of the Rutaceae family. The leaves are trifoliate or pinnate, speckled with translucent glands, with a fragrant essential oil.

Ruta is bred as a spicy herb for the sake of young leaves, which go as a seasoning for dishes, for sprinkling sandwiches and in vinegar (a taste that resembles garlic or onions), and also as a medicine, for which the plant is cut off just before flowering and then dried ...

Celery

Celery (Apium) is a genus of plants of the Umbrella family (Apiaceae), a vegetable crop. There are about 20 species in total, common on all continents. A biennial vegetable herb with a thick, spindle-shaped yellow-white and brownish root vegetable with a porous flesh. The leaves are shiny, dark green, the petioles of the basal leaves are long and fleshy.

All parts of this spicy herb are added to the first and second courses, salads, drinks, sauces, seasonings. The rhizome is also used in a dried form. The stems are recommended to be used instead of salt for diseases of the gallbladder, osteoporosis, kidney disease. In medicine, it is used as a diuretic. It is an aphrodisiac.

Root celery has a diuretic and tonic effect and is widely used for kidney and bladder diseases. In homeopathy, extracts from seeds, roots and leaves are used as a diuretic and cardiac remedy, as well as for diseases of the genital organs.

Thyme

Thyme, Thyme, Thyme, Bogorodskaya grass, Thymus are a genus of semi-shrubs of the Lamiaceae family. Perennial shrub up to 35 cm tall with woody recumbent or ascending stem and erect or ascending herbaceous branches. Taproot, woody. Stems are woody at the base, spread over the soil, branched, with covered hairs bent down or erect.

The leaves are varied in size, venation and shape (from round or ovoid to linear-oblong), rigid, almost leathery, short-petiolate, less often sessile, entire or sometimes serrated (a constant feature in some Far Eastern species).

Young shoots of thyme have a strong, pleasant lemon aroma and a slightly bitter pungent taste. It is recommended to add thyme to fatty lamb and pork dishes. This spicy herb contains an essential oil with a strong scent. Thyme works well with peppers to enhance the flavor. It is used in the manufacture of many medicines, as well as an ornamental plant for landscaping the site.

Thyme, or Thyme

Caraway

Caraway (Carum) is a genus of perennial or biennial plants of the Apiaceae family, of which the common caraway (Carum carvi) species is the most famous. Leaves are double or triple pinnate. The flowers are bisexual or partially staminate. Petals are white, pink or red, round obovate. Fruitlets are oblong, somewhat laterally compressed, ribs are obtuse.

The roots are used in cooking as a spice. Leaves and young shoots are used in salads. Seeds - for flavoring homemade baked goods, for pickling cabbage, pickling cucumbers.

Savory

Savory (Satureja) - annual plants, semi-shrubs or shrubs, a genus of plants in the Lamiaceae family. Leaves are whole-edged or almost whole-edged, short-petiolized. The flowers are 4-9 mm or 10-15 mm long, bluish-white, light purple or pinkish, collected in 3-7-flowered whorls in the leaf axils.Calyx bell-shaped, two-lipped or almost regular, five-toothed. The corolla is two-lipped; four stamens; anthers are bilocular, separated by not very wide connective; stigma with diverging lobes. Fruits are nuts, from round to ovoid, obtuse.

The medicinal effect of savory is antispasmodic, bactericidal, astringent. You can pick young leaves as a seasoning, but dried savory is also an excellent strong spice. Savory greens are very fragrant and reminiscent of thyme, but with pungent undertones.

Ramson

Ramson, Bear Onion, Wild Garlic, Bulb (Allium ursinum) - a perennial herb; a species of the genus Onion (Allium) of the Onion family (Alliaceae). The bulb is elongated, about 1 cm thick. The stem is triangular, there are two leaves, shorter than the stem, with a lanceolate or oblong sharp blade 3-5 cm wide and a narrow petiole, twice as long as the blade or equal to it.

It is used as a green culture, it is included in salads and other dishes. Ramson has an antihelminthic and antimicrobial effect. It is recommended to use it for scurvy and atherosclerosis, in folk medicine it has been used for thousands of years, including for fever, as an antihelminthic and antimicrobial agent, as an external agent for rheumatism, for various intestinal infectious diseases. In ancient Rome and in the Middle Ages, wild garlic was considered a good remedy for cleansing the stomach and blood.

Sage

Sage, Salvia (Salvia) is a large genus of perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs of the Lamiaceae family. Leaves are simple or feathery. Calyx bell-shaped, tubular-bell-shaped, conical or tubular, unchanging or slightly increasing during fruiting; the upper lip is three-toothed. The corolla is always two-lipped; the upper lip is helmet-shaped, sickle-shaped or straight; the middle lobe of the lower lip is much larger than the lateral ones, very rarely equal to the lateral ones. Stamens - 2; the column is threadlike; the stigma is bilobed.

Fresh and dried, the spice is used to add a piquant taste and aroma to dishes from meat, game, fish, salads, pies, and when preparing tea. It has anti-inflammatory and disinfectant effects, is used as a medicine for rinsing, compresses. All species of this genus are essential oil; many of them entered the culture as medicinal, for example, Sage (Salvia officinalis). The different properties of essential oils in different types of sage and the possibilities of their use have not yet been studied. The most famous is Clary sage.

Tarragon, tarragon

Tarragon wormwood, Tarragon, Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is a perennial herb, a species of the genus Wormwood of the Astrovye family. Stems are not numerous, 40-150 cm high, erect, glabrous, yellowish-brown. Stem leaves are whole, oblong or linear-lanceolate, pointed; the lower leaves are incised at the top. The flowers are pale yellowish. The inflorescence is paniculate, narrow, dense; envelope leaflets are short-elliptic or almost spherical; the envelope is glabrous, greenish-yellowish, shiny, membranous along the edge.

Tarragon wormwood has a low-spicy aroma and a pungent, spicy and piquant taste. There are known varieties of salad direction, common in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and spicy-aromatic forms (Ukraine, Moldova).

The green mass of the plant is widely used in fresh cooking as a spicy-aromatic seasoning for pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, making pickles, for pickling cabbage, soaking apples and pears.

It is used as a spice in the preparation of rice dishes, boiled fish, mayonnaise, fried game, lamb. Finely chopped fresh leaves are added as a spice to poultry, eggs, light sauces, meat dishes, and all types of salads. They can be used to make green butter.

A refreshing drink "Tarhun" is prepared from the plant and used to flavor wines and liqueurs. Especially popular in France is the manufacture of a special aromatic-spicy vinegar from the aerial part of tarragon wormwood, used for dressing salted fish. A bunch of tarragon branches - green or dried, put in a bottle of vodka for several weeks, gives vodka a special taste and aroma. Depending on whether you took green or dry branches, the taste is different.

Tarragon, or Tarhun

What herbs do you grow in your garden or garden? Share your experience in the comments or on our Forum.

There is tremendous power hidden in the fragrant celery root,
That adds ardor to young men and burns the loins of the elders with fire.

Celius Apicius. About culinary art (III-IV centuries A.D.)

There are vegetable plants, at the mention of which it is difficult to see them, but their familiar image arises, or the knowledge that some can be eaten raw, others are better to put in soup, and from the third to prepare a medicinal infusion, pops up in memory. This fully applies to fennel and celery. When we hear the word "celery", we immediately associate it with a fragrant bunch of greens - a fairly frequent guest in our kitchen. After reading the name of the fennel plant, sometimes we remember that something is being treated with its fruits, and we find it difficult to immediately answer the question - is it edible or not? But life does not stand still, and when we come to the store, under the “celery” price tag, instead of a bunch of greens, we find something that looks like beets, and under the “fennel” price tag, we see something that looks like a whitish onion.

ONE IN THREE KINDS

Celery is native to the Mediterranean, where it is found wild. The inhabitants of Ancient Hellas considered the specific smell and peculiar taste of celery to be exquisite and believed that it arouses sensuality and lust. The powerful favorite of the loving French king Louis XV, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, the Marquis de Pompadour, claimed that chocolate and a salad of grated celery, apples and walnuts helped her maintain good shape during intimate communication with the crown bearer.

During the Renaissance, descriptions of the somewhat exaggerated medicinal properties of celery held a prominent place in all medical treatises. At the same time, in Italy, through a long selection, petiole and root vegetable celery were bred. Within a short time, these vegetable crops became popular throughout Europe, and their taste was invariably mentioned in cookbooks.

In Russia, celery is rarely found in the wild off the coast of the Black and Azov Seas, and in the 16th-17th centuries it began to be grown in pharmaceutical gardens, first as a medicinal plant, and then as a fragrant seasoning that significantly improves the smell and taste of food that was usually cooked , from not the freshest products.

Currently, there are three types of celery: root, petiole and leaf. In Russia, the most widespread is leafy celery, less often root celery, and only in recent years petiolate has begun to appear.

Root tubers and celery leaves contain sugars, pectin substances, amino acids, organic acids, flavonoids, vitamins A, groups B, C, P, PP, E and a balanced complex of macro- and microelements.

All parts of this plant contain a complex essential oil with a strong specific odor, but in the leaf it is ten times more than in the root or petiole. Celery essential oil increases appetite, stimulates the secretion of gastric juice and improves digestion, promotes gas and bowel movement.

Biologically active substances contained in all parts of celery in greater or lesser amounts have a beneficial effect on the metabolism in the body, improve water-salt balance, normalize the function of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, increase physical and mental performance, and improve well-being.

Contrary to popular recommendations, do not bother yourself with the unpromising work of extracting juice from celery. Firstly, there is very little of it, and secondly, you should drink it only freshly prepared, and thirdly, this is a laborious and expensive occupation, and the medicinal properties of the juice are very moderate.It's better to learn the good habit of adding root, stalked, or leaf celery more often to a wide variety of dishes.

Since the 19th century, celery fruits (seeds) have also been used in traditional cuisines of Germany, Italy, Russia - for flavoring marinades, vegetable dishes, salad dressings, soups, tomato sauces. Already in our time, celery salt has become very popular, which is a mixture of ground seeds or dried and crushed celery roots and salt. It is an excellent seasoning for vegetables, fish and meat dishes. In France, they drink tomato juice with her.

Celery seed infusion is recommended to drink as a prophylactic agent to prevent exacerbation of urolithiasis. To prepare the infusion, a teaspoon of dry seeds is poured into a teapot, poured into a glass of boiling water, kept for 15 minutes, filtered and a warm, aromatic and pleasant-tasting infusion is drunk after a meal.

Bred by Italian gardeners in the 17th century and, as the name implies, it is grown for the sake of rounded root crops, reaching a diameter of 10-20 cm and representing a thickening of the root.

Most often, root celery is used by culinary specialists from European countries. In Russia, unfortunately, it is grown and consumed unfairly little, while it can and should take the same place in the diet as carrots.

Celery root crops are on sale all year round. This vegetable is especially useful in the period from November to April, when most of the fresh green plants containing biologically active substances necessary for the human body are practically absent. A distinctive, not yet fully appreciated feature of this culture is that when stored in it, the characteristic tart aroma, spicy bitter-sweet taste and all biologically active substances are well preserved.

Root celery can be recommended as a dietary product for hypacid gastritis and gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer against the background of normal and decreased secretion, as well as for violation of water-salt metabolism and for the prevention of hypovitaminosis. It is recommended to be included in the diet for overweight people caused by metabolic disorders and with edema resulting from deterioration in the function of the cardiovascular system.

When buying, choose the least knobby root vegetables that have a smooth skin, which allows you to peel them with the least amount of waste. The green tops that adorn some root vegetables can be used to decorate ready-made dishes or added to soups - they have a specific smell and can serve as a seasoning.

Store root vegetables in the refrigerator, previously tightly wrapped with cling film. It is advisable to use them for food within a week.

Peeling celery begins by trimming the top and bottom, then cut it into four pieces and peel each piece separately, as needed. When cleaning, be sure to remove the spongy, tasteless parts. Root vegetables should not be overcooked as they quickly become soft. They are added to soups last, shortly before the end of cooking.

Grown to obtain long, juicy and dense petioles with a delicate pleasant aroma. In contrast to the petioles of leaf and root-fruited celery, they do not have voids inside.

There are varieties of petiole celery with light "white" and pale green petioles. Varieties with green petioles are specially bleached, for which they are spud or wrapped in a light-proof material two to three weeks before harvesting (usually at the beginning of September).

Delicate petioles are eaten raw and boiled. In salads, they go well with apples or seafood. Use them to make vegetable stews or sauces.

Petiole celery is a useful dietary product that is desirable for overweight people, with impaired renal function, chronic constipation, flatulence, depression, and weakening of sexual desire.

Forms a leaf rosette, in which there can be up to 100 leaves with thin hollow petioles.

The leaves are juicy, tender, have a rich, pleasant aroma and sweet-bitter taste. They go well with vegetables, meat, fish and give dishes an exquisite astringency, and in dried form they serve as an excellent seasoning for vegetable soups, sauces, cutlets and stews.

In early spring, leaf celery helps our body replenish the lack of vitamins and minerals and prevent the development of increased permeability of the vascular walls and fragility of blood vessels.

In a pot on a windowsill, leafy celery can be grown all year round: it is enough to plant roots in the ground that have just been cut off from a fresh bunch of greenery.

"VOLOSHSKY UKROP" - DELICIOUS AND HEALING

The homeland of common fennel is considered the Mediterranean countries, in particular Italy, where since ancient times it was grown as a medicinal plant, and then as a vegetable crop. The Italian origin of fennel is also evidenced by its still-preserved old Russian name "Volosh dill", which comes from the Old Russian "volokhi" - the common name of the Romanesque peoples. In Russia, fennel has been cultivated since the 17th century as a medicinal plant.

There are two varieties of this plant - ordinary fennel, or pharmacy, voloshsky dill; and Italian (Florentine), or vegetable, fennel, sweet anise.

It is grown in Russia, France, Italy, Israel, Iran and Japan for the sake of its seeds, which are still used as a medicine.

In all medical treatises from the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance, inclusive, fennel acted as a universal remedy capable of counteracting any poison, curing eye diseases, relieving edema, diseases of the liver, kidneys, bladder, urolithiasis. It was argued that he is able to give an abundance of milk to the nurse, youth to the elders and, of course, "encourages to strive for love."

In times closer to us, the essential oil of fennel fruits was included in the famous "drops of the Danish king", used against coughs and was nothing more than a solution of essential oil in water with the addition of licorice and ammonia. Fennel fruits called "meeting seeds" were used as chewing gum for our great-grandparents and great-grandmothers to hide bad breath. And in Indian restaurants, plain or sugar-free seeds are still served in the afternoon as a dessert or breath freshener.

In modern therapy, infusion of fennel seeds is used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, accompanied by intestinal spasms, flatulence, dyspepsia, pain in the intestines of a spastic nature. This remedy is also prescribed to improve appetite, increase the secretion of gastric and pancreatic juices and bile secretion. The infusion can be used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract, accompanied by dry cough, to thin phlegm and expectorate.

For colds and flu, accompanied by a painful dry cough, it is advised to pour a teaspoon of fennel seeds into a teapot, add a pinch of ground ginger and pour a glass of boiling water. After 5 minutes, pour into a mug, add a spoonful of honey and drink immediately.

The biologically active substances contained in the seeds have an antispasmodic effect and a coronary dilating effect, and soothe the central nervous system. Therefore, the infusion of seeds is recommended for use in mild forms of coronary insufficiency and the initial stages of hypertension.To prepare the infusion, it is enough to buy fennel seeds at the pharmacy, pour a tablespoon of them into a porcelain mug, pour 200 ml of boiling water, close the lid and leave for 15-20 minutes. Then strain and drink the infusion warm. The same infusion can be used by nursing mothers to increase lactation.

From the essential oil of fennel fruits, the famous dill water is prepared, which is given to infants with flatulence. The value of this remedy lies not only in the fact that with its help they successfully cope with painful bloating in infants, but also in the fact that it is a good and harmless sedative for babies.

Fennel fruits are used in the production of liqueurs, confectionery, mainly cookies, pies and puddings. They give a special flavor to sauerkraut and pickled tomatoes, pickled vegetables (especially cucumbers and apples) and cold snacks. They are used to flavor tea and compotes. Fennel seeds are lightly toasted to enhance the flavor before using them as a spice. Powdered, they enhance the taste of fish soups, sauces, breads, sausages, and roasts.

Fennel is found in the Chinese Five Spice Blend and the French Provencal Herbs Blend, both sold ready-made.

Five Spices is a fragrant seasoning that is a mixture of cassia (Chinese cinnamon), star anise (star anise), fennel, Sichuan pepper and cloves. With the growing popularity of Chinese cuisine, this seasoning has become quite famous in the world's culinary arts.

Herbs of Provence is a mixture of herbs consisting of rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, peppermint, garden savory, oregano (oregano) and marjoram. In addition to the listed components, bay leaves, seeds and dried fennel greens, as well as orange zest and dried lavender flowers are added to it.

The mixture has a unique aroma and many culinary and medicinal benefits. Recommended for flavoring and flavoring insipid dietary meals consumed on a salt-free diet. It is widely used as an additive to soups, sauces and salads. It is indispensable in the preparation of roast, minced meat, fillings and fish dishes, which gives a spicy, but very balanced taste and excellent aroma.

It differs from the ordinary one in a more powerful tall bush and fleshy petioles of the lower leaves, forming whitish, slightly flattened juicy heads of cabbage weighing from 150 to 300 g. B, C, D, PP, K, macro- and microelements, flavonoids and coumarins. It can be considered a dietary product that stimulates digestion and has a weak choleretic, diuretic and antispasmodic effect.

Vegetable fennel is an excellent dietary and delicacy product with a subtle peculiar aniseed smell and sweetish taste - it should be used more often by people with problems caused by poor digestion, chronic coronary insufficiency and hypertension. It can be used in various salads, fresh or boiled, as well as as an independent dish. Stewed or baked fennel is an exquisite garnish for meat or fish. Lemon juice, black pepper and olive oil work well with fennel, given its own sweet taste.

Vegetable fennel is on sale almost all year round, but it is especially useful for our body in winter. The best are the white heads of cabbage with small light green leaves. Tightly wrapped in cling film or wrapped in a damp cloth, they can be refrigerated for up to a week. Before use, the roots, feathery leaves with petioles are cut off from heads of cabbage, the outer layer of leaves is removed or a thin skin is removed. Cut them only lengthwise, usually into four parts, cut the green core if desired.

Recently, mini-fennel has appeared on sale; fresh heads of cabbage are used as a garnish whole or cut lengthwise into two parts.

Fennel leaves with a subtle aniseed scent can be used to decorate dishes, as well as a seasoning or side dish. They perfectly set off the taste of meat.

Note to the hostess

HEALING VEGETABLES ON YOUR TABLE

Leaves, petioles, celery roots, seeds and heads of fennel, which have a subtle smell and delicate taste, give a lot of room for culinary imagination and help make diet food more delicious for those people who, for one reason or another, doctors recommend avoiding the use of spices and hot seasonings ...

Root celery salad with apples and walnuts (Marquise de Pompadour's recipe)... Peel small celery and apples (remove core from apples). Grate them on a coarse grater and mix with walnuts. Add lemon juice and sugar to taste.

For 1 celery root vegetable - 2 apples, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of finely chopped and toasted walnuts.

Root celery and carrot salad... Peel celery and carrots, grate and mix. Add salt, sugar, crushed nuts and season with a mixture of sour cream and lemon juice. Decorate the finished salad with herbs.

For 200 g of root celery - 300 g of carrots, 100 g of sour cream, 100 g of walnuts, 4 teaspoons of lemon juice, sugar, salt, celery greens.

Leaf celery salad... Wash the celery greens, chop finely, add finely grated onion and finely chopped lemon without zest, mix everything and salt. Put in a salad bowl and season with sour cream.

For a bunch of leaf celery - 1 medium onion, 1 lemon, celery salt, sour cream.

Potato soup with root vegetable celery... Fry finely chopped onion, chopped celery and chopped champignons in oil, pour lemon juice at the end of frying, pour over the broth and add the diced potatoes. When the potatoes are boiled, sprinkle the soup with chopped celery. Serve lightly fried white bread with the soup.

For 250 g of root celery - 250 g of potatoes, 50 g of onions, 2 mushrooms, vegetable oil, salt, a few drops of lemon juice, leaf celery, 1.5 liters of weak meat or chicken broth.

Mashed potatoes with celery... Chop celery and potatoes, put in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then, reducing heat, cook for another 15-20 minutes. Drain, add milk, butter, salt and puree.

For 300 g of root celery - 500 g of potatoes, 50 ml of milk, 15 g of butter, salt.

Celery with mustard sauce... Make a sauce with mustard, oil, and lemon juice or vinegar. Pour oil with constant stirring into the mustard, add lemon juice or vinegar, salt, pepper, mix thoroughly again. Cut the celery root into thin slices and eat with pleasure, dipping in the sauce.

You will need: 2 teaspoons of mustard, 0.5 cups of vegetable oil, 1 cup of lemon juice or vinegar.

Note to the gardener

CELERY FORCING

In the fall, scoop up healthy-leaved celery roots and plant them in a box full of soil. Bury the rhizome almost completely - leave only the upper part above the soil (2 cm). Before the frost sets in, keep the celery on the balcony or in the loggia, and then bring the box indoors - in a cool and bright place. Water regularly and prune one lower, most developed leaf at a time during the winter. New leaves will sprout in 10 days.

Date of publication:Growing