Caraway

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Cumin (lat. Carum) - a genus of biennial or perennial plants of the family Umbrella, or Celery. The most common representative of the species is Common caraway (lat. Carum carvi), other names are wild anise, field anise, cmin, cmen, timon. In large volumes, caraway is cultivated in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, France, Germany, Canada and Bulgaria.

Characteristics of culture

Caraway is a herbaceous plant with a height of 20-80 cm with a fleshy fusiform root. The stem is rounded or angular, smooth, hollow, geniculate-curved. By the end of the growing season, the stem acquires a brown color and subsequently dries out. The stem forms shoots of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth order, each of which ends in an umbrella inflorescence.

Leaves glabrous, petiolate, double or triple-feathery. The leaf blade is oblong, the terminal lobes are lanceolate. Depending on the location, the leaves can differ from each other in shape and size, for example, the lower leaves have slightly serrated edges; leaf blades of subsequent leaves are more dissected.

The flowers are numerous, small, five-petalled, usually white or lilac-pink. The fruit is a crocodile (ovoid two-seed). The fruit is divided into mericarps (otherwise semi-fruits), the division occurs closer to ripening. The fruits are very aromatic, with a bitter-spicy and pungent taste. Caraway blooms in June-July, fruits ripen in July-August.

Growing conditions

Caraway is a rather demanding plant, in order to get good yields, it is important to comply with all growing conditions. Soils for cultivation are preferable fertile, loose, neutral, moderately moist. Saline, acidic, highly waterlogged and marshy soils are unsuitable.

Lack of moisture negatively affects the aboveground parts of plants: leaves and shoots coarse, flowering accelerates. There are no special requirements for the location of caraway, although it is advisable to grow it in sunny or semi-shaded areas. It is not forbidden to sow cumin in the aisles of the main crops, but in this case, the aromaticity of the seeds decreases.

Sowing

Caraway is sown in early spring in an ordinary way. The distance between the rows should be about 25-30 cm. The seeding depth is 1.5 cm. The seeding rate is 0.6-0.7 g per square meter. With the appearance of two true leaves on the seedlings, thinning is carried out, leaving an interval of 20-30 cm between the plants. As a rule, seedlings appear after 14-20 days, which largely depends on weather conditions and care. In the first year, plants develop very slowly, so various grasses can be sown in the aisles.

Care

Caring for caraway seeds comes down to watering, loosening and weeding. The culture is favorable to fertilizing, in the middle of summer the plants are fed with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. For the winter, caraway does not need shelter, and this rule also applies to cold regions with harsh winters. In the second year, the plants develop faster, they have a flowering stem, which branches out strongly as it grows.

Caraway multiplies by self-sowing, therefore, it is impossible to be late with the collection of seeds, otherwise they will quickly crumble. The collection of seeds is carried out after they acquire a brown color. The seeds are ripened in dry rooms, then washed, dried and placed in a glass container with a tight lid.

Application

Caraway is especially widely used in cooking, and few people know that it also has powerful healing properties. Cumin is useful in a healthy and dietary diet. The spectrum of diseases that cumin can cope with is enormous. It allows you to calm down the fermentation processes in the gastrointestinal tract, increases the amount of gastric juice, helps to cope with colic and flatulence. The seeds of the culture have a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, carminative, antiseptic and antibacterial effect.