2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Milk thistle is used both in medicine and in cooking. And if for medicinal purposes it is not so difficult to buy this medicinal plant, then finding it in nature for the preparation of healthy salads and original snacks is already more problematic. And in order not to spend extra money, you can sow this healing herb once on your personal plot, and then collect a useful crop and propagate it yourself with your own planting material
How to recognize milk thistle
Milk thistle has other common names. She is also called a saint or milk thistle, thistle, Tartar, burdock, often confused with other similar plants. He has a very unsightly appearance, and he looks like a vicious weed. It is distinguished from other plants by the peculiar color of the leaves with a white marble pattern on the leaf plate. This feature prompted the observant people to call it milk thistle.
Milk thistle and burdock have very similar inflorescences, but the shape of the leaves is completely different. If in the first plant they are narrow, pinnately dissected, then in the second they have large wide burdocks. The inflorescences are also different. In the burdock, the flowers are covered with small soft sticky spines, and in the milk thistle, the flowers are collected in spherical baskets, wrapped in thorny leaves.
Milk thistle propagation
Sowing milk thistle can be started at several times. Under natural conditions, it reproduces by self-seeding. And the gardener can continue this tradition by carrying out winter crops. However, this method does not give a 100% guarantee that you will get friendly seedlings.
In addition, you should warn against letting the seeds fall out of the ripe bolls and letting them fly around the site. With such an oversight, a home medicinal bed risks becoming a source of weed spread where it does not belong. And healing medicinal raw materials will be wasted.
In late April - early May, in good weather, you can sow milk thistle in open ground. This is a cold-resistant plant, and minor cold snaps at such times are not terrible for him. In order for the seedlings to be uniform, it is recommended to rinse them with warm water before sowing, since the seeds contain essential oils.
Sowing is done in furrows at a distance of about 3 cm, sprinkling the seeds with earth. Then the plants dive so that they develop in more spacious conditions.
You can sow seeds for seedlings in spring, and then plant them in the second half of May in the garden. Grown in this way, the plants are more pampered than when sowing seeds directly into open ground. But this method also gives good results.
Milk thistle application
Milk thistle is used to treat liver diseases, gastrointestinal diseases and many other ailments. All parts of the plants are used. Both rhizomes and leaves are eaten. Greens are used to make salads. And for medicinal purposes, plant seeds are collected. The inflorescences are cut when the flowering period ends and the bud closes. At this time, they are cut with scissors and left to ripen. Then they take the seeds out of the dry boxes and thresh them.
Seeds for treatment are used in ground form. They are added to food or simply swallowed in powder form and washed down with water. The seeds can also be used to make oil. To do this, they need to be crushed and filled with vegetable oil. The medicine should be allowed to brew for a month. Then it is taken in a teaspoon before meals.
In addition, the seeds are used for germination and consumption of the sprouts. To do this, they are soaked and left for a day in a damp cloth. The nashed seeds are transferred to a container with soil and covered with a lid. In a warm place, the roots go into the ground and sprouts quickly appear from the seeds. When the seedlings reach a height of about 3 cm, they can be eaten 5-7 pieces per day.
Recommended:
Peony Milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered is one of the plants of the family called peony, in Latin the name of this plant will sound as follows: Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (P. albiflora Pall.). As for the name of the peony family itself, in Latin it will be like this:
Milk Thistle
Milk thistle is one of the plants of the family called Asteraceae or Compositae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Silybum marianum (L). As for the name of the milk thistle family itself, then in Latin it will be as follows:
Milk Thistle In Home Medicine
Wherever this prickly herb with a funny name is in a hurry, she is always ready to help. Milk thistle is renowned for its beneficial properties in maintaining liver health. But she still has a lot of merit
Milk For Feeding Cucumbers
Milk is not only a nutritious and extremely useful product for humans, it is also an excellent top dressing for cucumbers! Agree, these popular vegetables can be found in almost every vegetable garden, which means that any summer resident will not hurt to know about what kind of dressings sometimes very whimsical cucumbers will be delighted with. And now is the time to talk about milk, which will become not only an excellent top dressing, but also provide growing cucumbers with reliable protection from a number of pests
Milk To Help The Summer Resident
Milk is an incredibly healthy product that will come in handy not only in the kitchen, but also in the country. The benefits of milk for garden crops cannot be overestimated, because it not only nourishes them, but also protects them from attacks of various ailments and malicious pests. Why is it so useful, what kind of milk will be most suitable for use in the country and how to properly prepare top dressing or spray solution?