Seed or vegetable salad

Family - Compositae. The ancestor of salads is considered a compass lettuce, its range is in Western and Southern Europe, the Near East, North Africa, Siberia and Transcaucasia. In culture it is widely distributed in almost all countries of the world.

In indoor conditions, it is best to plant a leaf salad( Moscow greenhouse variety, Kurchavolistny, Yellow).Its properties are precocity and cold resistance. After germination, it is suitable for food in 40-50 days.

First, the leaf lettuce develops a rosette of the root leaves, then a stalk is produced, 60 to 80 cm high, carrying a large number of small flower buds( baskets).Flowers are small, yellow, fruit seed with flying.

♦ Accommodation. Salads light-loving and cold-resistant plants. Seeds germinate already at 5 ° C heat. The optimum temperature for plant growth and development is + 15 - + 20 ° C.They can not tolerate shading. In accordance with these requirements, boxes with sown salad seeds are installed on the windowsills of the north and north-west windows, where the temperature does not exceed +15 - +20 ° C, with good air access.

♦ Care. All kinds of salads can be grown year-round in an apartment. For this, seeds should be sown every 10-15 days in small boxes or pots, 10-12 cm deep.

The best soil mixture is "Biogrunt".If it is absent, you can use a well-prepared humus with peat and sand in the ratio( 2: 1: 1).Seeds are sown to a depth of 0.5 cm.

Salad is very demanding for water, frequent waterings in small doses are necessary to avoid stagnation of water.

Due to short growing season fertilizers are not applied.

With proper care, the harvest from the window sill can be collected after 25-35 days after emergence. It is mandatory to thin out the seedlings. Leave the plants at a distance of 10 - 12 cm from each other.

♦ Pests and diseases - leaf blocks, aphids. In case of waterlogging, the leaves are shed.

♦ Reproduction - only seeds.

Application

Salad is valuable for human nutrition, as it contains many vitamins: C, B1, B2, E, K, PP, A. It also contains sugar, proteins, organic acids( malic, citric, oxalic, and amber) mineralsand microelements( copper, iodine, manganese, molybdenum).

The use of fresh salad allows you to fully use the valuable substances in it.

Salad

Cut 100 g of lettuce leaves, pour the sauce prepared as follows: 1 egg yolk hard boiled egg grind with 1 teaspoon of sugar and a small amount of salt, then mix with 200 g of sour cream. Top with finely chopped egg white.