2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Areas where beets would not grow can be found very infrequently, which means that almost any summer resident periodically has a rather impressive amount of beet tops. However, you should not rush to cut it off and throw it away as soon as possible, because the leafy parts of beets can boast of an even richer chemical composition than the well-known roots, so why not put them into action and take the maximum from them? What can beet tops come in for?
Cooking
Botvinha is the most popular, as well as incredibly tasty and very healthy dish made from beet tops, which everyone should try at least once, so you shouldn't deny yourself the pleasure of periodically preparing this peculiar first course. Salads with the addition of beet tops will be no less useful - along with botvinia and all kinds of beetroot varieties, they not only diversify the menu, but also become an excellent prophylactic agent against cancer, because beet tops boasts a pronounced antitumor effect. And you can also add it to cutlets, stews and even baked goods, so don't even hesitate - it will never lie idle and there will always be a use for it in cooking!
ethnoscience
With the help of beet tops, you can quickly get rid of a headache - if you put a carefully pounded beet leaf on your forehead, then literally in a quarter of an hour the pain will recede, and your condition will noticeably improve. And the crushed leaves are applied to the eyes for various eye ailments. If you brew a tablespoon of chopped beet tops in a glass of boiling water, then it will help not only cope with constipation, but also significantly improve the functioning of the intestines. The broth prepared in this way should be taken in a quarter of a glass from one to several times a day.
The healing properties of beet tops are not limited to this - among other things, it also boasts powerful wound-healing properties. The tops are especially useful for people whose skin has a tendency to cracking, and in this case there are two ways to use beet tops: either use the decoction prepared from it for compresses or washings, or apply crushed leaves to the skin in the form of bandages. And a decoction made from the tops can also help alleviate the condition for those who have joint pain - it makes highly effective foot baths.
Cattle feed
Beet tops are also actively used for livestock feed: this is due to the fact that carotene in it is a good two - two and a half times more than in hay, and if we compare the tops with straw of spring cereals, then the amount of carotene in it exceeds its volume in such straw eight or even ten times. Beet tops also contain a lot of the most useful microelements for the body, including betanin and protein that regulate fat metabolism.
Fresh beet tops are usually fed to cattle (cows are especially eager to feast on green beet leaves), and a little less often - to horses or pigs. However, they should be given beet tops in moderation, since it is rich in oxalic acid salts, which, if consumed excessively, can lead to various diseases. To minimize these risks, it is recommended to feed cattle with chalk and roughage along with beet tops. You can give animals and dried up to sixteen percent moisture beet pulp.
Fertilizers
It is quite permissible to use beet tops as a fertilizer, however, if you use it in the form of plant residues, various pests or diseases can hide in it and develop. Therefore, it is better not to put the beet tops directly into the beds, but send it to the compost heaps - there it will be able to cleanse itself of pathogenic microorganisms and how to rot, and after six to twelve months it will be possible to safely use valuable compost as top dressing.
As you can see, the scope of application of beet tops is very extensive, so there is no need to rush to get rid of it as soon as possible - it will definitely come in handy on the farm and will show itself only from the best side!
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