Not accidentally the gooseberry is called lovingly northern grapes. It is highly appreciated for nutritive properties and scientists claim that regular consumption of berries prevents some cancer diseases. Meanwhile, it isn't difficult to grow up a gooseberry even to the beginning gardener.
Nutritive and health giving qualities of a gooseberry
Fruits of a gooseberry are dietary and contain about 40 kcal in 100 grams where 9 g are carbohydrates, 0.7 g are proteins, 0.2 g - fats. Product value - a big set of vitamins, sugars, mineral salts, pectin. The gooseberry is useful at heart diseases, atherosclerosis, jumps of arterial blood pressure.
Berries raise hemoglobin that is important at treatment of anemia. Possess laxative, bile-expelling, diuretic, sosudoukreplyayushchy action. In traditional medicine the fruits of a gooseberry are applied at metabolic disorders, obesity, at gastric gripes, a diarrhea and tuberculosis of lungs.
The recipe for treatment. To pound one tablespoon of berries of a gooseberry in a glass, to fill in with boiled water, in the warm place to insist 45-50 minutes and to accept broth on a quarter of a glass 3-4 times a day.
Where and how to plant a gooseberry sapling
For cultivation choose the lit with the sun, moderately damp soils. The bush won't develop and fructify on boggy places. As well as any plant, a gooseberry demands the fertile soils which are well structured. Though gardeners try to obtain kind harvests and on heavy clay lands.
Saplings or layers biennial on age, with the developed roots and an elevated part are preferable to landing. Technology of landing of saplings is similar to landing of currant. The gooseberry can be planted obliquely and to bury at 5-10 cm from a root neck. This reception stimulates formation of a root system from kidneys on a stalk. But on heavy soils the strong deepening isn't desirable and plants because of a lack of air at roots can not take root.
Between bushes maintain distance of 1.5-2 m. After landing the sapling is cut off, watered and mulched for moisture preservation.
On one landing hole introduce fertilizers:
- compost-1-2 buckets, or humus - 1 bucket, or peat - 1-2 buckets;
- superphosphate - 150 g;
- ashes - 0.5 l of bank, on sour soils add dolomite powder 2-3 tablespoons;
- potassium chloride - 150 g or potassium sulfate 2 tablespoons.
The hole for landing is dug by about 40х40 cm in size. Soil mix with all fertilizers is mixed, filled up in a hole.
When it is better to plant a gooseberry: in the fall or in the spring
The best time for landing of saplings of a gooseberry - fall. This work is carried usually out in 2-3 weeks before a frost. In the spring the gooseberry early starts in growth, and saplings with open roots are required to be planted before blooming of kidneys. Plants from nurseries in containers with the closed root system land at any time, from spring to fall.
Care for a gooseberry
Loosening of a pristvolny circle, removal of weed plants, fertilizing, watering, cutting, protection against diseases and wreckers - here the main list of works on care for a gooseberry. The berry-picker loves humus and experienced gardeners late mulch a radical zone a layer not less than 8-10 cm in the fall. In the spring with melt water of a plant receive food and actively start in growth. The gooseberry for a harvest in a large number needs potassium and if there are excess ashes, by all means dust all branches and a pristvolny circle at roots more often. It will bring benefit: the harvest will be higher, berries are more sweet and plants will hurt less.
The gooseberry is carried to plants long-livers. At due leaving the bush can live, fructify on one place of 15-18 years.
Feature of harvesting of fruits of a gooseberry
At first remove berries for processing on jams and jam. Their collecting is begun when fruits cease to increase in a size. Other berries remove at complete biological ripeness when on them coloring, typical for this grade, appears.
Application of a gooseberry in cookery
Tasty fruits of a gooseberry are eaten fresh or cook from them various dishes. For house processing use fruits of a different ripeness level. Immature, mature, but still firm - for compotes. Semiripe - for jam, mature - for a dessert. The fresh-gathered gooseberry is sorted, divide berries in size and ripeness. Sick, rotten fruits are thrown out. Fruit stems and dry sepals cut off.
Berries use in preparation of sweet canned food: jam, jam, fruit jelly, juice, compote. Kryzhovnikovy juice has unattractive color and therefore for improvement of appearance add several spoons of cherry, strawberry, blackcurrant juice to it.
From a gooseberry cook sauces, pickle, give to fish, seafood, chicken, meat, add to vegetable salads and dishes, cook casseroles.
There is one original and clear recipe.
The gooseberry baked with rice. 500 g of a gooseberry, 150 g of rice, 2 glasses of milk, 40 g of a desi, 80 g of sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of fruit fruit jelly, 3 tablespoons of chopped nuts, 0.5 glasses of kefir (sour cream).
Step-by-step recipe:
1. In boiled milk put the washed-up rice and cook to semi-readiness on small fire.
2. To rice add butter, sugar, yolks from eggs and, to the last turn, the beaten egg whites.
3. Boil a gooseberry in a small amount of water with addition of a spoon of sugar before softening of berries.
4. Make sauce for watering of casserole: to mix fruit jelly and kefir.
5. In a form (frying pan) oiled, alternating layers, to lay out the gooseberry and rice mixed with other products.
6. Strew with chopped nuts and fill in with fruit jelly and kefir sauce.
7. Put for 20 minutes in a hot oven for roasting.
Rice can partially replace with cottage cheese or to replace completely with vermicelli.