Beet tops - benefits and uses

Beneficial features

Beets, from roots to tops, are 100% healthy root crops. Recall that beet tops contains a lot of useful vitamins and minerals.

According to experts, references to the remarkable properties of this vegetable are found in sources dated to the 4th century BC. And, interestingly, initially, it was the tops that were consumed as food, and the root vegetable was used exclusively in medicine.

For example, vitamin P, included in its composition, has properties that prevent the occurrence of sclerosis and hemorrhages. Vitamin U, which is rich in tops, is used to treat stomach diseases. In addition, it is believed that the action of this vitamin slows down the aging process.

Young leaves are a source of ascorbic acid, which helps to strengthen capillaries, as well as folic acid, which is involved in hematopoiesis, without which the correct functioning of the nervous system is also impossible.

With regular consumption of beet stalks containing iodine and cobalt, memory improves.

Phosphorus, potassium, manganese, calcium and iron salts help to normalize metabolism.

The action of another retainer - betaine, which is an antioxidant, is aimed at reducing excess weight and eliminating "bad" cholesterol.

Thus, beet tops are a source of a large amount of nutrients, trace elements necessary to maintain the body and prevent various diseases.

And the number of dishes in the preparation of which beet tops are used is so great that very soon you will have new favorite recipes.

In order to ensure the use of healthy greens for food as long as possible, and not only in the summer season, the tops are frozen, dried and canned. For these purposes, of course, young beets, which ripen by July, are more suitable.

What use can be found for tops left over from root crops of later crops laid for storage?

Application of tops in the garden

Many, at best, send beet tops to compost, others just throw it away, perhaps not knowing what valuable biological material it is.

Beet tops become useful organic matter in six months, while the compost will “ripen” for more than one season.

For example, the tops left after harvesting beets are covered with black currant bushes, in the spring they are dug up, thus accelerating the development of young shoots that give the main harvest. Other summer residents lay out the tops of the beds with strawberries and perennial flowers, receiving organic fertilizer for these crops by the spring.

In addition, this mulch serves as a kind of shelter for the winter.

You can increase the fertility of the soil, spread the tops in the beds and dig it up with the beginning of the new season.

Some gardeners leave the tops in the same beds where the roots grew. For the next season, taking into account the rules of crop rotation, other vegetables will be planted in these beds, which will receive a charge of new microelements.

Chard or beet tops

Externally, chard is very similar to beet tops. Meanwhile, this is not a newfangled name for tops, but really another vegetable, albeit a very close relative of ordinary beets.

Chard is a leafy beet. Only the aerial part of this culture is edible, and the roots are not suitable for food. Chard leaves are much larger, and the petioles are juicier.

At the same time, its foliage is softer than beet tops and tastes better.According to the reviews of leaf beet lovers, one tastes like young milk corn, others - spinach, cauliflower.

But in terms of the amount of vitamins and nutrients, beet tops are not inferior to chard.

Recently, interest in this culture has been growing even among gardeners in risky farming regions. After all, this plant can be grown where the growing season is short enough. Chard ripens within 65-70 days from the moment of germination. That is, during the season, you can grow and harvest more than one crop of this vegetable. At the same time, up to 1 kg of green mass is harvested from one plant. To provide yourself with healthy greens for the entire season, you need to harvest chard correctly. So, the leaves should be broken off at the base, on the outside of the outlet, then its central part, recovering, will give new, young ones.

There are many options for using chard. It is used in the preparation of various salads, cabbage rolls, replacing cabbage leaves with them, added to soups. The petioles of the plant are stewed, boiled, fried.

Still, fresh consumption will bring great benefits to the body. Moreover, the taste of frozen Swiss chard will only remotely resemble the summer taste of this green.

By the way, some summer residents manage to harvest chard in winter.

In the fall, the plant is dug up and planted in pots or boxes. The old leaves are removed, leaving a small rosette in the center. Under indoor conditions and with constant watering, young vitamin greens usually appear quite quickly.

If, suddenly, you do not like Swiss chard, its large and bright leaves will become a decoration of the site. In Europe, for example, it can often be seen in flower beds, among ornamental plants.

So, in any case, this culture is worthy to attract your attention.