Not everyone knows that parsnip is a vegetable, and not just a great Russian poet. This plant, despite its usefulness, was undeservedly forgotten.
The birthplace of parsnips is the Altai Territory and the south of the Urals. The heyday of the popularity of this vegetable came in the XII-XVII centuries. In Russia, it was used along with turnips as a winter staple. However, with the spread of potatoes, the popularity of parsnips gradually faded away. Today, very few gardeners grow this vegetable, despite the fact that it has an unusually pleasant spicy taste and is of great benefit to the body.
Useful properties
The healing properties of parsnips can be compared with ginseng. It contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals and at the same time is a low-calorie product. Therefore, parsnips can be safely called a dietary product.
Eating this vegetable helps to improve metabolism, normalize the functioning of the digestive system, as well as various glands. In addition, parsnip is a vegetable that can improve the functioning of the circulatory system. Due to its diuretic properties, it is effective for removing stones, sand and s alts from the kidneys. Effective parsnipsand with sleep disorders, reduced sexual activity.
You can endlessly enumerate what he alth problems parsnips can solve. Grass (or rather leaves), roots and seeds - all these parts of the plant are endowed with healing abilities.
Despite the huge number of useful properties, it should be remembered that there are contraindications that do not allow the use of this vegetable. Parsnip should not be used to treat children and the elderly. It should also be remembered that the wild plant is poisonous.
Even such a large list of useful properties and a small number of contraindications did not lead to the prevalence of parsnips among gardeners.
Cultivation practices
The low popularity of parsnips can be explained by the fact that it can be quite difficult to achieve success even at the seedling stage. The fact is that the seeds of this vegetable remain viable for only one year.
If we talk about which group the parsnip belongs to, this vegetable can be described as a biennial plant. This means that in the first year a root crop grows out of it, and only in the second year do seeds appear that can be collected and used for sowing.
To obtain high-quality planting material, several root crops should be left to winter. As soon as it gets warm, they will begin to grow and give a large bush. Therefore, for them, you should choose a place where they will not interfere. At the beginning of summer, umbrellas appear on the parsnips. It bloomssmall yellow flowers. The first seeds are formed in about a month. Since they ripen for a long time and extremely unevenly, it is best to collect them regularly. To do this, just shake the umbrellas.
By the way, fruits that have overwintered in the ground can also be used for food. This should be done before the leaves appear. This will help replenish the supply of vitamins in the spring.
There are a large number of varieties of parsnips, their fruits can be cone-shaped or rounded. The following varieties are distinguished by good keeping quality: Student, Best of all, Round early, White stork. Moreover, varieties that produce rounded fruits have a lower yield, but they ripen much faster.
Pasternak is a vegetable that has a very strong resistance to cold. Therefore, it can be sown in early spring, as soon as the soil warms up to seven degrees Celsius. The high content of essential oils in the seeds leads to the fact that their germination is very low. They germinate only after 10-20 days.
Pasternak loves sunny places. The first two months it grows slowly. Parsnip care consists in timely watering and weeding, regular loosening. In sunny weather, parsnip leaves release essential oils that can burn the skin. Therefore, care should be taken with gloves or in cloudy weather. Parsnip is resistant to diseases, however, during the flowering period, this crop is often attacked by various insects.
Root crops are harvested in late autumn. For storage, it is best to leave firm fruits that have a white-cream color. Store them inbasement, after drying and cutting off the tops. It is important to remember that it is best to eat medium-sized fruits, as the flesh of large ones can be lignified.
And finally, one more interesting fact - parsnips practically do not accumulate nitrates. But this is very relevant in the modern world!
It is a pity that such a valuable vegetable is undeservedly forgotten. There is something to think about and, before it's too late, to acquire and sow such a useful plant!
