Leaf mustard
Family - cruciferous. Motherland - China, India. As a vegetable culture is widespread in India, Indonesia, Japan, China and some other countries in East and South-East Asia.
Mustard leaf is an annual cold-resistant early-ripening plant. Within a month, she develops a large rosette of large leaves, original in color. The flowers are small, yellow, collected in a spicate inflorescence, a fruit-jaw.
In the room, mustard is not common. But this plant is worthy of being an ornament of rooms and at the same time is a good replenishment of vitamins in the winter-spring period. In food use a rosette of leaves, grown after 25-35 days after sowing the seeds.
The best varieties of mustard: Lettuce 54, Japanese and Chinese varieties.
♦ Accommodation. Pots with seeded seeds are exposed in a warm, dark room. When emergence of plants are transferred to a bright, cool room( +10 - + 15 ° C)
♦ Care. To obtain the leaves of mustard in the winter-spring period, we recommend that the seeds be sown every 20 to 25 days, starting from the end of September. Sow the seeds in wide plastic or clay pots, with good drainage, to a depth of 1.5-2 cm. After the emergence of shoots, thin out, leaving 2-3 plants in pots. The best substrate for leafy mustard is the universal "Biogrunt" or it can be sown in ordinary, fertile, garden lands. Watering abundant. Feeding is not carried out. Harvesting in the room is carried out in this way: pull the whole plant out of the substrate or cut only individual leaves, keeping the growth point. In this case, after 10-12 days new leaves grow.
♦ Pests and diseases. With insufficient care on plants, leaf blocks and aphids settle. When there is a lack or excess of moisture - different types of spotting.
♦ Reproduction - by seeds.
Application
Leaves are used as a salad, as a side dish to meat and fish dishes. The leaves contain mustard essential oil, protein and mineral substances, vitamin C.
Salad from the leaves of mustard
200 g of mustard leaves finely chopped, scalded with boiling water to remove bitterness, then season with mayonnaise or salad dressing( boil water with vinegar and spices, salt. Ingredients - 2/3 water, 5/3 vinegar, black pepper, bay leaf, 1 onion, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, you can add a little sugar).
Sandwiches
Thinly sliced bread to fry, spread butter, put a lot of mustard, boiled eggs, pieces of cucumber, tomatoes, sprig of dill, parsley. On a sandwich on a sheet of mustard, you can put a meat salad, a slice of sausage.
Close to the mustard leaf is the Sareptian mustard, which is widely used in medicine, especially in the treatment of colds, joint pains, lowering blood pressure, as well as in the confectionery, canning and perfume industries.