2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
A vegetable culture such as salad appeared on the menu even among the ancient Romans, Egyptians and Chinese. They knew about the benefits of lettuce leaves, which are high in calories, micronutrients and vitamins. If you follow your diet and adhere to a healthy lifestyle, then green salad should definitely be one of the components of your diet. Some types of salad are even aphrodisiacs
Lettuce is an early ripening cold-resistant annual plant, varied in shape and color of leaves. Fast-growing leaves and fresh heads of cabbage are used for food. Since this crop is early ripening, the harvest is obtained continuously from the end of May to September, by planting at different times.
There are three types of lettuce: leaf, cabbage and half-cabbage.
Agricultural technology and soil requirement
You can grow cabbage lettuce both outdoors and in greenhouses. For a rich harvest of this green crop, sow seeds in highly fertile soils, for which it is very picky. If you are placing the salad outdoors, then fertilized soil with drainage, which contains organic and mineral additives, is ideal. The best reaction of the soil solution is neutral or slightly acidic. Choose a sunny area of your vegetable garden for planting lettuce and maintain constant humidity. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 4 - 5 degrees, the first shoots can withstand frosts up to minus 2 degrees, and adult plants - up to minus 6 degrees.
Prepare the soil for the salad in the fall, applying the necessary fertilizers. If the soil is infertile, add 1 bucket of manure or compost per 1 m under the shovel.
Lettuce seeds can be sown before winter, as it is a cold-resistant plant. Sowing dates are from late October to early November. When planting in spring, early-ripening varieties are sown from mid-April to May, while 20 g of urea per 1 m must first be added under a rake. Mid-season and late varieties can be planted until mid-June. To get a harvest of green lettuce leaves, you need to make the first three plantings with an interval of 10-15 days, all summer plantings should be done with an interval of 7 days. On the beds, lettuce seeds are sown in rows at a distance of 15 - 20 cm in small grooves, the depth of seed placement is 0.7 - 1 cm. If the plantings are thickened, then the lettuce is thinned out, for head varieties the distance between plants is 10 - 15 cm.
The salad can be sown on seedlings in boxes, after a few days shoots appear. Seedlings dive when there are two full leaves. In the amount of four leaves, lettuce is planted in open ground in a permanent place. After planting seedlings, regularly loosen, weed and water the soil. With a lack of moisture, the salad will not tie the heads, the leaves will become rough and bitter, the plant will throw out the flower stem early.
All kinds of cabbage, radish, radish are excellent neighbors in the salad bed. The salad is excellent at scaring off earthen fleas, which harm these crops. To prevent the salad from damaging the aphids, it must be sown next to the onions. Spinach, peas, tomato, cucumber, beans, strawberries will also be useful cohabitation for salad.
Head varieties are harvested selectively, depending on the degree of ripeness of consumer-fit heads.
Head lettuce varieties
Iceberg lettuce
In appearance, iceberg lettuce is similar to white cabbage, and tastes like lettuce. The dense, round head has pale green crispy leaves. Due to its beneficial properties, it is successfully used in cooking. This salad is best consumed raw, it goes with any food. With frequent use of such a salad, the composition of the blood improves, and a large amount of folic acid in the composition of the salad regulates the metabolism and the work of the nervous system. Iceberg salad is often included in recipes for various diets, it is used as a side dish.
Frize salad
Frize salad comes from the French word "endive frisee", which means "curly". The appearance of the salad corresponds to its name and belongs to the types of cabbage salad. Lettuce leaves vary in color, pale green outside at the root and yellowish white inside. The salad gives a slight bitterness to the dish and serves as an excellent addition to fish and meat dishes. Frize goes well with seafood, cheese, bacon, citrus fruits, garlic, arugula, thyme.
Romano salad
Romano (romanno) or romaine is the oldest of all types of salads, in ancient times its juice was used in medicine. This salad is a source of vitamins A and C and contains high levels of iron and calcium. This type of head lettuce has loose, juicy green leaves. The salad has a nutty taste and has a beneficial effect on the human body, normalizes the cardiovascular system, reduces salt deposition, and regulates water metabolism.
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