In the spring, one of the first on the beds appears sorrel. This perennial, very resistant to frost and unpretentious in growing, provides us with early tender greens, rich in various vitamins (such as A, B and C), several types of acids and trace elements, among which a very large percentage falls on iron and potassium. Sorrel in the spring is able not only to fill the needs of the body, hungry over the winter for useful substances, but also to tone it.
Green borscht, cabbage soup, mashed vegetables, pie fillings - this is not a complete list of what is made from sorrel. It is not only tasty, but also healthy. There is practically no such gardener who does not have the coveted garden with the earliest greens.
Growing conditions
Even those who do not know how to plant a sorrel and how to care for it, having familiarized themselves with the basic rules, it will be very easy to grow it. You should know that you can grow sorrel in one place for no more than 4 years, and then you need to pick up a new one.
To collect a good harvest as early as possible, the beds are placed on fertile soil, watered in a timely manner and carefully weed. And you need to pay attention to such a weed as wheat grass, which interferes with the normal growth of sorrel, and immediately remove it.
Loamy, peaty and slightly acidic soils are excellent for growing this greenery. The beds can be located in partial shade - such conditions the sorrel tolerates normally, and even its greens remain longer juicy and tender.
When to sorrel
Those who want to constantly have fresh greens can sow sorrel three times a season - in early spring, summer (June, July) and late autumn, before the cold weather begins.
- Early spring sowing begins as soon as the soil is ready for cultivation. Harvest can be in the same season.
- Planting sorrel in the summer is favorable in June – July. It is very well fortified before the cold, and already in the early spring gives the first shoots.
- Before winter, seeds are planted in late October or early November, so that they do not have time to germinate before the cold weather. With such a planting in the spring, you can also get an early harvest.
Sorrel sowing
Before planting, sorrel seeds should be soaked in water. But you can not do this.
The bed needs to be carefully dug up, since the sorrel on it will grow 3-4 years. For better growth, top dressing is introduced, which includes humus (half a bucket), urea (1 teaspoon) and nitrophos (2 tbsp.).
- On a loosened bed, grooves are made 1 cm deep and seeds are covered in seeds. The distance between them should be 5-10 cm.
- Sprinkle the seeds on top with a thin layer of earth and gently press it with the back of your hand.
- Planting a sorrel ends with watering, and the earth is not moistened very much, and it is better to use rainwater for this.
- If the bed is covered with a film of polyethylene, seedlings can be expected after 4-5 days. On an open bed, the sorrel will sprout in 2 weeks.
- When shoots appear, they need to be thinned out, leaving a distance of at least 5 cm between the bushes.
Care Rules
Knowing how to plant a sorrel, looking after it is even easier. The main requirements are the timely cultivation of row-spacing, weeding and watering. If necessary, thin out overgrown plants, leaving a distance of 5 cm between them.
In order for the crop to be plentiful, each time after pruning the leaves, it is recommended to feed the sorrel with a liquid mixture of mineral fertilizers, in which nitrogen should prevail.
In autumn, the beds are fertilized with compost or humus at the rate of 2 buckets per 1 sq. Km. m, and in the second year of planting, they again do the same top dressing.
Harvesting
Having become familiar with how to plant a sorrel and how to care for it, it remains to learn how to harvest. It would seem that there is nothing complicated in this, but there are some subtleties, paying attention to which, you can ensure a good harvest all season.
You can collect sorrel leaves from May, during the summer and until autumn. Before you start plucking them, you need to weed the bed, and after harvesting, do the row-spacing loosening.
You should know that the best time to collect is when the sorrel has formed a rosette consisting of at least five leaves. They are very carefully cut at a height of 4 cm from the ground, so as not to damage the growth point (apical buds). 4 crops are usually harvested per season. On average, it can be about 2 kg per 1 sq. Km. m
As soon as the sorrel begins to form arrows, leaf harvesting stops and the arrows are mowed.
In winter, to have this source of vitamins and minerals on your table, sorrel can be frozen (and this is the easiest way to harvest) or canned. The recipes of these methods are simple, and you can always choose the one that suits you.
Now, knowing how to plant sorrel, and making sure that it is very easy to grow, probably even those who ignored this source of fresh greenery would want to plant it in their beds.
To grow sorrel is to get a crop of a plant rich in vitamins and minerals, which also has a pleasant taste.