Those of us who are the happy owners of the land are often in search of interesting and useful plants that can be settled on our land. We will tell just about one of these. It is unpretentious and beautiful, but the main thing is, of course, its useful qualities. The name of this plant is jusai. What it is, where it grows, how it is used in cooking, and also about how to grow jusai in its summer cottage, we’ll talk today.
Wild bow
Most cultivated plants appeared not without human involvement. But jusai is a complete exception, because it grows and is used in its natural, pristine form. The plant is resistant to cold, not demanding on soil and special care, and pests and diseases bypass Jusai. What it is? People call it differently: wild onions, Chinese, fragrant or branched onions, sometimes called field or mountain garlic, or simply onion garlic. It is widespread in all corners of the planet, and sometimes grows right under your feet, in fields, meadows or rocky areas.
Often, jusai is planted in the form of an ornamental plant, it looks neat, and thin sprightly leaves have a rich, pleasant color. The plant practically does not require care. It is worth only occasionally watering and pruning several times a year, so that the jusai acquires fresh, young foliage. But not only jusai is attractive in its appearance, the useful properties of wild onions are not inferior to its domesticated brethren.
Description
The herbaceous perennial Allium odorum or jusai belongs to the Onion family. By its appearance, its leaves resemble garlic and can reach a length of up to half a meter. Their colors range from light to dark green, and the leaves themselves have a slight waxy coating. The root system is a false bulb. Every year the plant forms more and more young bulbs, growing into large families. Flowering occurs at the end of July. Jusai throws flower-bearing stems, which are crowned with spherical umbrellas from small white flowers with a delicate pleasant aroma.
What is useful
What useful qualities does jusai have, what is it, and how is it used? Only the terrestrial part of the plant is used in food - grass and arrows with inflorescences. They resemble garlic in taste and aroma. But onions have a mild taste and are practically not used in food, although sometimes healing tinctures are prepared from them. Wild onion is rich in large amounts of vitamin C, therefore it is very useful for colds or weak immunity. It has vitamins B1, B2, B5 and B6, K, E and beta-carotene. Allspice is rich in potassium, calcium, iron and sodium, contains sugar and essential oils.
This product is useful for people with cardiovascular problems, with reduced immunity, colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, gastritis, with high fatigue and nervous disorders, it is used to prevent helminths. The plant has a hemostatic property, acts as a diuretic and choleretic agent. It will be beneficial for almost all of us to include jusai onion in our diet. The photo perfectly conveys the beauty of this representative of the green world. This will decorate any garden or lawn, and it can also be used in the preparation of almost any dish.
Cooking use
What dishes can I add flavored jusai, what is it? To begin with, this is a wild, but still a bow. Because basically it is used in the same way as the usual green leek. It can be added to salads and first courses, to prepare side dishes, added to meat and fish dishes. Spring onions appear one of the first in spring. He, like wild garlic, will help replenish vitamins after a harsh winter. The Chinese onion is good in fillings for pies, sauces, it can be pickled, added to vegetables during conservation, or you can simply freeze it for the winter. Wild onion inflorescences are used for tinctures, liqueurs and in the preparation of homemade wine.
Cultivation and care
This plant is a perennial, therefore, having planted it once, you will get a strong, beautiful and healthy jusai for several years. Growing and caring for it is minimized. He is not picky about light or soil, not afraid of frost. But you should know that jusai does not like the land on which cabbage or potatoes were grown before him. Change the landing site, thereby updating the onion planting, you need no earlier than 5 years. In general, caring for it is even simpler than, for example, ordinary garlic or onions. It should be planted once in the spring, periodically watered and cut the leaves. It is also not necessary to warm jusai for the winter. There is another nice feature of this greenery - it is bypassed by fungi and other diseases, and even the onion fly does not like it.
From the moment of the first sprout in spring and until late autumn, wild onions will produce crops - fresh and fragrant foliage. It should be cut periodically, and sometimes thin out the bed, then the plant will delight you with juicy young herbs all year round. During the season, 3-4 trimmings are carried out, the last in August, before the onset of cold weather, fragrant onions must have time to gain strength. It will also be useful after each such procedure to slightly feed the soil and, of course, provide abundant watering. In the first year of Jusai’s life, you don’t need to trim on your site, let it grow properly and gain strength.
Breeding
To plant such a plant on your site is very simple, you will need seeds or bulbs. Both that and another can be bought or collected if you managed to meet a wild jusai. How to grow it in these two ways will be described in more detail.
Seeds
You need to sow seeds in the spring, when the earth has warmed enough. In each region, it is different, but in general, landing occurs in March or April. Before starting work, it is better to soak the seeds for a day or at least for the night. Swollen achenes are removed from the water, slightly dried and begin to sow.
The optimum depth for germination is 1-2 cm, usually jusai is planted in rows, leaving a distance of 30-40 cm between them. To do this, you need to make a groove in the ground and sow seeds, but not too thick. You can do the landing and nesting method. At a distance of several centimeters from each other, make small indentations with your finger in the ground and lower into each few seeds, cover with earth.
Bulbs
Jusai perfectly reproduces onions, it has a strong root system. You will need to dig up a bush of fragrant onions and separate the onions, while trying to select the most powerful, well developed. Prepare the garden: you need to loosen the ground, then make shallow holes and plant bushes. At the same time, try not to unnecessarily deepen the plant, the ground level should be the same as last time. Press the ground slightly around the planted plants. Such a landing is good to carry out both in spring and summer, but in autumn it is better not to transplant jusai. Onions may not have time to take root and strengthen well, and therefore a cold winter will be detrimental to him.
Jusai will begin to bloom in two years and give an excellent harvest. This amazing plant will delight not only lush greenery, but will also be a great decoration for your favorite dishes.