When you first hear this funny name of a plant - “ Squirting cucumber", a special cucumber immediately appears, behaving inappropriately.
In fact, this is popular name a plant that is truly unusual - from appearance, and not surprisingly for a plant, behavior. Correctly this plant is called Echinocystis or Echinocystis lobata, or Echinocystis lobata, Echinocystis echinata, it comes from North America.
The word Echinocystis consists of two parts, translated from Latin “echinos” means hedgehog, and “cystis” means bubble. It turns out - a prickly bubble. If you use your imagination, you can imagine a prickly cucumber, but I’ll explain why it got the name mad. 
When the Echinocystis fruit ripens, a lot of mucus accumulates in its fruits, pressing on the skin; as a result of this pressure, an explosion occurs, in which the seeds themselves shoot outward, over a fairly large distance.
Crazy cucumbers are ripening on our summer cottage in August, their fruits actually shoot themselves, and children really love to have fun this way. Jumping on the cucumber with all his strength, he shoots his “pumpkin” seed at a fairly decent distance. We are already accustomed to such surprises, but for unprepared people, this causes great surprise.
Therefore, such a funny name for this plant is not without meaning.
The Crazy Cucumber begins to bloom only in July, and ends in early September.
At our dacha there are a lot of these extraordinary vines growing, they reproduce themselves, as they are very prolific. All fences, hedges, places near ditches are covered with thickets of these amazing plants. The seeds of the Crazy Cucumber are very similar to pumpkin seeds, because the plant itself belongs to the pumpkin family.
Initially, this plant was considered an invasive weed, capable of crowding out other plants, clogging them with its powerful green mass.
Over time, summer residents liked the plant as ornamental plant and has become quite widely used everywhere.
Echinocystis feels great in moist places, near rivers, and entwines low trees and bushes. The honey aroma of Echinocystis attracts many insects, but it can be pollinated not only by insects, but also by the wind. Judging by the structure of the plant, you can see that the male flowers are at a higher distance than the female ones, and with a slight breeze the pollen from them flies down to female flowers.
Some summer residents still struggle with this vine, considering it a weed.
We are not fighting the Mad Cucumber, although we could replace it with various loaches, Maiden grapes or some others noble plants. Others climbing plants We also have a lot on our site, but Echinocystis always has its place.
In my opinion, this plant is very cute - the leaves of the Mad Cucumber are beautiful, jagged and even somewhat similar to maple leaves, the petioles of the leaves are fleshy, rough, covered with thin bristles, and the cucumbers themselves are round in shape, covered with soft and delicate spines. On one bush you can simultaneously see flowers, and just emerging tiny cucumber-berries, and already slightly grown cucumber-nuts and adult cucumber-pumpkins. Adult cucumbers are ovoid in shape. It all looks so cute and is so uplifting, even when you just look at them.
The small flowers of crazy cucumber have a honey-like scent that attracts bees. Beekeepers value this plant very much, as it is an excellent honey collection. 
The crazy cucumber really loves sunny places, hills, on our site he chose a place near compost heap on one side there is a fence and on the other side, along which it winds upward and sometimes reaches up to six meters in height.
Echinocystis is an annual herbaceous vine belonging to the pumpkin family. She can create a beautiful hedge, since it increases with escape velocity. The plant clings to supports - fences and hedges with its tendrils. Her incredible ability to rapid growth contributes to the creation of picturesque hedges for a very short term.
How to plant Echinocystis
:I no longer use Echinocystis additionally to decorate my plot, since over many years it has grown greatly along the fence and reproduces by self-sowing. But when my friends who want to plant Echinocystis on their plot ask for seeds, I always gladly share with them. And there are quite a few people who want it.
The seeds ripen between August and October. I collect them in autumn period. The seeds are very similar to pumpkin seeds. The shoots of Echinocystis are similar to the shoots of pumpkin or zucchini. Shoots appear in late April - early May and begin to grow very quickly. Be sure to plant the plant near a support so that it can hold on to it. Having planted Echinocystis once, you will no longer need to replant it for the future; every year more and more new plants will appear from the ripened seeds, but it will be quite difficult to get rid of them. They have incredible vitality.
Although the plant is called a cucumber, although it is crazy, its name is associated with edible vegetable. Unfortunately, this is not true; you cannot eat the fruits of the Crazy Cucumber plant.
Some time ago, I was very surprised to learn that the crazy cucumber is not just a cute, ornamental plant, but also that it is medicinal.
Crazy cucumber - as a medicine:
IN folk medicine mad cucumber is used as a medicine, its roots contain analgesics, so mad cucumber root tea helps with headaches.
The tea really helps, but for my taste it is a little bitter. I add a couple of spoons of honey to a cup of tea from the roots of this plant. Then the taste becomes soft, the bitterness is practically not felt, and the aroma becomes delicious.
Harvesting mad cucumber roots:
Basically, when harvesting a plant for medicinal purposes, the roots of the mad cucumber are dried in a ventilated area. The roots need to be collected in the fall, cleaned and washed from the soil, dried in the sun or in electric dryer for vegetables and fruits.
When taking this medicine You should definitely consult your doctor.
Anguria
......or also Antillean cucumber, kiwano, horned melon. Vegetable and ornamental annual liana with long stems up to 4 m, with original leaves, similar to watermelon. The flowering is lush; in place of the flowers, cylindrical fruits up to 8 cm long, covered with fleshy spines, are formed. Fruiting lasts until frost. It is better to grow on a trellis. Young fruits are eaten raw and pickled. At a later age, the skin becomes dense, and they become inedible; instead, they can long time stored as souvenirs. Grown like a cucumber, seedling method. Choose a sunny place, well protected from the wind. The soil must be fertile and well drained. The plant is very productive. For generous fruiting, as soon as the first ovary appears, the tops of the shoots are pinched. There is also Anguria Syrian (Syrian cucumber) - a smaller vine with smaller fruits.
Trichosanth
It is also called snake cucumber. annual liana with stems up to 5 m long, large leaves and fruits twisted into a spiral, up to 1-1.5 m long. The skin of ripe fruits is orange, the flesh is red. The plant clings to any surface with its tendrils, even smooth ones. Trichosanth is very beautiful during the flowering period; the flowers look like snowflakes, with thread-like endings. The young ovary, 10-15 cm long, is used for salads, stewed, boiled and canned. For better yield fruits must be removed regularly. Often grown with decorative purpose for landscaping gazebos, fences and verandas. Loves fertile soil and abundant hydration. Grown from seedlings, care like a cucumber. Loves light and regular watering. The plant is very rich in minerals and also has medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, astringent, diuretic and antipyretic.
Cucumber Momordica
Other names - yellow cucumber, Chinese bitter melon. Liana-like plant with dissected, orange flowers and fruits of an original shape, similar to an oblong pumpkin or cucumber with large “warts”. When ripe, the fruit acquires a bright orange color and cracks, exposing bright red growths with seeds. Often used to decorate gazebos and verandas. Support is needed. Unripe fruits are consumed after soaking for several hours in salt water to eliminate the bitter taste. Then they are stewed, marinated and salted. Momordica needs a lot of light and moisture. Grow from seedlings, care like a cucumber. Used for gastrointestinal diseases, reduces cholesterol and blood sugar levels, improves immunity, speeds up metabolism.
Tladianta doubtful
…. Either red or sweet cucumber. perennial liana, forming shoots 5 m long. All summer it blooms with bright red flowers, similar to tulips. The fruits are small, similar to cucumbers, and red when ripe. The pulp is sweet. Jams and preserves are prepared from ripened fruits. The plant requires hand pollination, so fruiting is small. Pollen can be used for pollination male flower from cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini. Underground shoots form large tubers. Often cultivated for ornamental purposes vertical gardening. The growing location should be sunny or slightly shaded. Propagated by seeds and division of tubers.
Cucumber Melotria
Annual liana up to 3 m high. Vegetable and ornamental culture. Caring for it is like caring for cucumbers. It needs support, quickly forms green screens, bears fruit until frost, and can be grown as a potted plant. Loves open and sunny places. Seeds are sown in the soil or in seedlings. The fruits are edible, up to 3 cm long, light green, with a marbled pattern, and taste like a cucumber. The most delicious young cucumbers. They can be eaten fresh, salted, or used to decorate dishes. WITH therapeutic purpose melotria is used to remove excess fluid from the body and normalize blood pressure. Melothria also forms edible tubers.
Chayote
This is a Mexican cucumber. For decorative purposes, it is often grown near gazebos and verandas. Support is needed. The fruits taste similar to zucchini, but are softer and sweeter. They are consumed fresh, boiled, stewed with other vegetables, or pickled. The culture produces numerous edible tubers that taste like potatoes. From the stem after special processing. Weave various products, such as hats. Grow by seedlings. Loves the light abundant watering and fertilizing, the area must be protected from the wind.
Borage is an unusually pretty plant belonging to the borage family. People also call it a gimlet. Many amateurs cultivate Borago in their gardens in order to obtain early greenery. Smell and taste qualities of this herb are identical to cucumbers. This is where its name came from: borage. Borage is famous as excellent honey plant, it is practiced in folk medicine and culinary technologies. The beneficial properties and contraindications of borage will be discussed further.
Distribution area
Southern Europe is considered the birthplace of wild forms of borage. But in our time, specimens of this plant are discovered in the north of the African continent, in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, South America, Asia Minor and Western Asia. How cultivated plant it is cultivated throughout Europe and the USA. In Russia, wild forms of borage are found in certain areas of the European part, mainly in the south of the country, where it grows as a common weed.
Biological features
The borage, a photo of which is in the article, is cross-pollinating, quite cold-resistant, but in the hot summer season its leaves become coarser and a peduncle begins to form. Prefers neutral or slightly acidic soils of light mechanical composition. The length of the growing season is 70-80 days. Borage usually grows up to 60-80 cm, on thick stems that are hollow inside. The stem is well branched at the top. Those leaves that are formed in the lower tier are oval in appearance, long petiole and large in size. On the upper tier, smaller leaves are formed, oblong in shape, sessile, covered with hard white pubescence.
Borage inflorescences
The flowering stage extends from mid-summer to August inclusive. And fruiting occurs from July to September. The inflorescence is represented by a panicle, which contains single gimlet flowers on long stalks. The flowers are large, star-shaped, blue or blue, with anthers purple. Each single flower accumulates up to 5-12 mg of nectar. From the ovary of the flowers a fruit is formed - a dark brown nut.
Borage seeds
Borago seeds are quite large, easily crumbling nuts, and remain viable for 2-3 years. The fruit is up to 5 mm long, ribbed and unequal in shape.
Varietal composition
This crop does not have generally accepted domestic or foreign zoned varieties. Each locality uses its own varietal lines and populations.
Borage agricultural technology
Cultural forms of borage are sown in spring time or before winter, before frost arrives. In subsequent years, the grass can reproduce by self-sowing. When sowing, the following scheme is used: the width between the rows is 30 cm and the sowing step between plants in the row is 10 cm. The seeds are buried 2 cm into the soil. On the tenth day, shoots appear from the seeds.
Plant care
In the phase of the first true leaf, plants should be thinned out, leaving 9-10 cm between them. During the growing season, the row spacing should be loosened and weeded three times. And in dry summer water several times. Soil moisture must be constantly maintained at 80% HB. Borage responds very well to feeding with organic and mineral fertilizers. The first fertilizing should be done with urea during the period of plant thinning. To do this, dissolve 12 grams of urea in a bucket of water and feed the plant with this solution. The second feeding can be done 25 days after the first. Here it is appropriate to use a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:5 with water.
Cleaning
The collection of leaves begins when they are at a young age, even before the appearance of the peduncle. Leaves are not taken from plants left for seeds. When the seed pods turn brown, the stems are cut off at the bottom of the inflorescences. From one square meter you can get 20 grams of seeds and 600 grams of greens. Borage can be grown on a windowsill. The leaves are periodically cut off and dried in the shade.
Chemical composition
The beneficial properties of borage are due to the rich content of useful chemical organic and inorganic components that can have a healing effect on people's health. Available in vegetative mass and seeds:
- essential oils;
- mucous compounds;
- substances from the tannin group;
- silicon;
- compounds from the group of saponins;
- resin compounds;
- vitamin C;
- zinc;
- potassium;
- carotene;
- Apple acid;
- calcium;
- choline;
- iron;
- lemon acid and other equally valuable substances.
Reserves found in flowers essential oil. The oil produced from the seeds is also very valuable. It consists of 20-27% gamma-linolenic acid, used in pharmacology. In addition, the oil contains alpha-linolenic acid, the presence of which reaches 10%. In its composition and properties it is very similar to primrose oil. The presence of essential oil in borage varies between 0.01-0.13%. Moreover, over time, the plant accumulates this product, so there is more oil in old leaves than in young ones. This oil contains 23 volatile compounds, of which aldehydes, as well as neadcane, tetracosane and heptacosane, are especially valuable.
Useful qualities
The beneficial properties of borage (borage, a photo of which you can see in the article) have been studied since ancient times. Great importance have essential fatty acids found in the plant. They are needed to the human body to maintain vitality and health skin.
If these substances are lacking in the body, mood may suddenly drop, immunity may weaken, inflammation of organs and weakening of the heart may develop. Essential fatty acids are responsible for the condition of nails and hair. They are especially necessary for children.
Potassium found in the plant facilitates the removal of water from the body, and with it toxic compounds. Freshly squeezed borage juice can consist of a third of potassium, but dried leaves contain only 3 percent. Choline has a beneficial effect on the glands that produce sweat, which helps regulate the body's thermoregulation. Therefore, the plant is used for coughs, colds and fever. Nicotinic acid has a calming effect on the body, removes anxiety and nervousness.
Residents of Western countries habitually eat young borage leaves, adding them to various dishes. Fresh flowers placed in glasses with drinks or wine, and the candied inflorescences are eaten for dessert. The formed leaves can be stewed and used in marinades and pickles. Borage inflorescences are used industrially in the production of confectionery products and cognac.
When should borage be used?
Modern healers recommend using borage as an anti-inflammatory, expectorant, laxative and enveloping agent to cure fever, gastrointestinal inflammation, colds, and constipation. As a diuretic medicine, borage is used to treat edema, kidney diseases, Bladder and urinary ducts. To do this, its infusions are taken orally. Compresses using borage leaves have an antirheumatic and analgesic effect in the treatment of joint and muscle pain, as well as gout. Borage seeds boiled in grape wine are prescribed to increase mothers' lactation.
Borago, or borage (photo, beneficial features- in the article), also has a calming effect and is widely used in homeopathy to treat depression, neurasthenia and sleep disorders. Decoctions of its leaves are used to treat skin rashes, eczema and other skin diseases. Mineral salts of borage improve metabolism, so it is included in multi-component diets.
Alternative medicine advises turning to borage for the following diseases:
- asthenia;
- rheumatic diseases;
- joint pain;
- insomnia;
- gout;
- inflammation of the bladder and kidneys;
- colitis;
- gastritis;
- fever;
- constipation;
- neurasthenia;
- swelling;
- colds;
- cardiac neuroses;
- skin diseases.
But before you decide to take medications made from borage, you should consult your doctor, as self-medication can only worsen the situation. Therapy traditional methods is effective only in combination with the main drug treatment and under the supervision of a specialist.
Contraindications
Cucumber has few contraindications. Its main problem is the insignificant presence of the alkaloid pyrrolizidine, known for its ability to cause liver cancer. Therefore, borage should not be consumed for food or for treatment for more than 30 days in a row. It is also prohibited to take borage together with a group of drugs related to anticoagulants. U separate category In persons, borage can cause convulsions, pain in the head, nausea or bloating. Usually all these ailments have a mild manifestation. The hairs present on the stem and leaves are very hard and can irritate sensitive skin. Therefore, it is better to wear gloves during the collection process.
The use of borage by pregnant or nursing mothers is highly undesirable. Despite the fact that since ancient times it has always been used as a means of improving lactation, this ban is due to the lack of scientific information about the effect of this plant on the body of women at this time.
It is absolutely forbidden to use the herb for persons suffering from epileptic seizures, schizophrenic disorders, convulsions, or taking the medicine Phenothiazine. It is better to take decoctions and infusions of borage as part of herbal preparations and consult a doctor before doing so. Some believe that gamma-linolenic acid present in the plant may promote the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. However, this has not yet been proven by anyone.
Preparation of infusions and decoctions
Before preparing borage juice, you should first fresh leaves thoroughly wash the lower tier running water, scald with boiling water, and then pass through a meat grinder.
We squeeze the resulting mass through two layers of gauze and obtain borage cell juice. Dilute the squeezed juice with water in a 1:1 ratio and boil over low heat for 4 minutes. After this, all that remains is to cool and strain the broth, and it is ready for use. The decoction should be taken orally three times a day, immediately after meals, 2 tablespoons. In some cases, for skin diseases, it can be practiced for external use.
A healing infusion is also prepared from borage. For this purpose, take 2 tablespoons of dried and crushed leaves or 1 tablespoon of dried flowers and pour 200 ml of boiling water over them. The mixture steeped for two hours is filtered and 1 tbsp is administered orally three times a day. spoon, for diseases of muscles and joints, as well as for gout or rheumatism.
To cure gastritis and kidney inflammation, as well as normalize cardiac activity, you need to consume 100 grams of borage infusion three times a day, when preparing it 1 tbsp. a spoonful of flowers was poured with boiling water in an amount of 200 ml and infused for 6 hours.
Many summer residents on their garden plots borage is grown to use its leaves as early greens with cucumber flavor as a substitute for cucumbers in mushroom, meat and vegetable salads, okroshka (see photo), cold borscht, vinaigrettes, as a seasoning for fish, cereals and meat dishes. Drinks are prepared from the flowers of the plant with the addition of wine, fruit drinks, lingonberries, honey, berry and vegetable juices. Flowers are added to tea and kvass. The roots are used to add flavor to tinctures, beer, and to flavor wines. Cold apple jelly is prepared with it (see photo).
Description.
Borage (medicinal borage) - herbaceous biennial plant from 20 to 60 cm tall. Belongs to the borage family. The stem is thick, branched, hairy-bristly-pubescent. The leaves are coarsely hairy, fleshy, alternate, entire, finely toothed along the edge. The lower leaves are ovate, petiolate, large, upper leaves smaller, oval, sessile. Borage blooms from May until August. The borage plant (photo) is decorated with blue flowers, which are located at the ends of the stems and are united in a thyroid-paniculate spreading inflorescence. Fruits are elongated nuts Brown(see photo), which ripen in July - September.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Places of growth.
The homeland of borage is Asia Minor and the African coast Mediterranean Sea. In Russia, the plant can be found in fields and wastelands as a weed. It is also grown in gardens to later be used in salads (see photo) as an early green with a cucumber aroma. Borage grows in Central Asia, Crimea and the Caucasus.
Growing.
Borage is a weed, so when growing it you need to make sure that it does not interfere with neighboring cultivated plants.
Preparation.
The seeds, flowers and grass of the plant are subject to harvesting. Cucumber seeds can be collected indefinitely, the main thing is to have time to do this before they fall off. During drying, they need to be protected from mice. Flowers and young leaves of borage are dried and spread out in a dark, ventilated place. The roots of the plant are stored in the fall. When harvesting, grass is cut close to the ground when the plant is in flower. The collected raw materials are cleaned from lower leaves and then dried in the sun in a thin layer. It can also be dried in a ventilated area.
Borage leaves contain carotene, malic, ascorbic, citric and lactic acids, tannins and mucous substances, saponins, potassium, tannins. The flowers contain traces of essential oil and mucilage. The germs of the plant's seeds contain allantoin, and the herb contains bornesite alcohol. Linolenic acid was found in seed oil.
Healing properties.
Preparations prepared from medicinal plant borage herb has diuretic, sedative, laxative, diaphoretic, metabolic regulating and enveloping properties; the stems, flowers and leaves of the aerial part contain substances that have antirheumatic and anti-inflammatory effects. The seeds of the plant exhibit sedative and antirheumatic effects on the human body.
Application in medicine.
Traditional medicine recommends using this herb for heart neurosis, kidney inflammation, and gout. Her medications used for rheumatism of the joints and other pain in muscles and joints, for swelling, gout, for inflammation of the urinary tract and kidneys, for urinary and cholelithiasis, neuroses of the heart, increased nervous excitability, feverish conditions, cough, insomnia, fear, and externally for skin diseases.
Cucumber herb treatment.
Herbal infusion to reduce excitability nervous system and regulation of metabolism.
1 tbsp. l. dry and crushed leaves or 1 tsp. Pour a glass of boiling water over the flowers of the borage plant, and then leave it until it cools completely. 200 ml of infusion is consumed in small sips throughout the day.
Infusion of flowers and herbs.
Pour 2 tbsp into a thermos. l. crushed dried flowers and branches. Pour a glass of boiling water over the herbal mixture and let it steep for about 5 hours, and then filter through several layers of gauze. Drink 5 - 6 r. per day 2 tbsp. l. half an hour before meals. The course of treatment is 7-14 days.
An infusion of flowers for inflammation of the bladder, kidneys, gastritis with low acidity, and weakened cardiac activity.
Brew 5 grams of flowers with 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 6 hours and filter. Drink 4 r. 100 ml per day before meals.
Infusion of leaves for inflammation of the kidneys, colds, neuroses of the heart, bladder.
Pour 10 - 15 grams of borage leaves into a glass of chilled boiled water and leave for 2 hours and then filter. Drink 4 r. 100 ml per day before meals.
A decoction of the leaves for gastritis with low acidity, nervous disorders, joint pain due to colds, colitis.
20 grams of borage leaves pour 250 ml hot water and boil it over low heat for 10 minutes, and then filter. Drink 3 r. per day 1 tbsp. l. before meals. Use the same decoction to wash the skin if various rashes occur.
Infusion of leaves and flowers for inflammatory diseases of the bladder, kidneys, fever, heart neuroses, rheumatic pain in muscles and joints, colds, skin rashes, metabolic disorders.
Pour 5 grams of dried flowers and 10 grams of dried leaves into 200 ml of boiled water. Cover the container with a lid, let sit for an hour, and then filter. Drink 3 - 4 r. per day, 50 ml before meals.
Botanists call this plant borage, but popularly it is better known as borage. It was not given its name by chance, because it not only smells like cucumber, but also tastes like it.
It is believed that borage came to Europe from Syria at the beginning of the Middle Ages, which, according to botanists, is the birthplace of this plant. The Arabs once brought borage to Spain, where they began to grow it as an ornamental plant.
Even medieval healers discovered at Borago medicinal properties. It is not for nothing that the plant is called “the joy of the heart.” Doctors gave borage to patients who had heart problems. Moreover, it was believed that this plant could improve mood, overcome depression and even add courage to a person. Earlier, back in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, warriors ate borage before battle to strengthen their fortitude and add stamina and courage. And before entering the lists, medieval knights did not forget to drink a cup of tea made from borage. Apparently, that’s when the saying “A garden without borage is like a heart without courage” appeared.
Beneficial features
Borago - ornamental and melliferous plant
Beekeepers have long noticed that bees are very attracted to borage flowers, so much so that not a single bee is able to fly past. Therefore, borage is often grown next to apiaries as a good honey plant.
Borago is not only useful, but also beautiful plant. Its star-like beautiful bright blue flowers with a black center they go well with other plants. Therefore, borage is often planted simply to decorate the garden. Moreover, his proximity can be extremely useful. It has been observed that there are significantly fewer pests in strawberry beds if only a few borage bushes grow next to them.
It seems that borage, which is “ignored” by almost all pests, is able to repel them from plants located next to it. Moreover, plants get sick less if borage is planted in close proximity to them.
Healing properties of borage
Borage contains enough a large number of vitamins C and P, which are so necessary for the body. The leaves of borage contain a variety of mineral salts, fatty and resinous acids, which allows this plant to be used not only for culinary, but also for medicinal purposes.
In folk medicine, both freshly picked and pre-prepared borage leaves are used.
Borago is used:
in the treatment of various neuroses as a mild sedative;
for skin diseases;
for gastrointestinal diseases (as a mild laxative);
for kidney problems accompanied by edema (borage infusions are used as a diuretic).
Cucumber leaves are also used externally. A compress of borage leaves applied to an inflamed area or swollen joint helps relieve pain and reduce swelling quite well.
Growing borage
The herbaceous annual borago is a plant that is very picky and grows quickly. Thanks to its unpretentiousness, growing borage is extremely simple, because it reproduces well by self-sowing.
Therefore, it is important to sow borage correctly the very first time. Cucumber seeds should be planted to a depth of 1-2 centimeters. When sowing, be sure to consider how the plant is intended to be used. If you plan to collect young plants entirely, then it is better to sow borage according to a 10 x 10 cm pattern. After the collection of grown cucumber grass begins, the distance between plants gradually increases to 30-40 cm, which allows them to continue to grow successfully.
If you are going to get flowers from borage, and even more so let its seeds ripen, then you need to leave a distance of at least 70-75 cm between plants.
Although this plant is not too demanding on soil, it grows much better in fertile soil, in which all were included necessary fertilizers(primarily organic). Borago in the garden can also thrive in partial shade.
In the spring, cucumber seeds, which have fallen into the soil from last year's plants, are among the first to emerge, significantly ahead of other green ones. vegetable crops(except watercress). It is interesting that borage seeds from the first flowers, having fallen into the soil, are able to sprout in the second half of summer, which allows you to continuously harvest the tender leaves of borage. And even the first small frosts are non-lethal for cucumber grass. At this time, you can still collect its leaves, and the stems of the plant are suitable for consumption until serious frosts.
It is quite possible to grow cucumber grass as a indoor plant. Borago can grow in normal flower pot(of course the appropriate size) placed on sufficient time well lit sunlight windowsill.
Collecting borage seeds
As mentioned above, borage reproduces well by self-sowing. But this quality creates some problems if its seeds are to be collected. Since borage blooms for a very long time, its seeds do not ripen at the same time. It is almost impossible to collect black, not too large and completely invisible borage seeds after they have fallen to the ground.
You can try to lay a piece of thick paper or film under the borage bush (so that you can collect the crumbling seeds from them), but this option is only possible in the absence of rain. Therefore much easier collection Borage seeds are planted simply by shaking off the drooping shoots that have already dried flowers.
Borage in cooking
This is a plant that tastes and smells strongly reminiscent of fresh cucumber, most often used in a variety of salads. Young, not yet hardened cucumber leaves are best suited for them. After the beginning of flowering, when harsh hairs appear on the leaves of borage, the succulent stems of this plant, capable of reaching up to good conditions growing up to half a meter in length and up to 3-4 cm in diameter. Peeled and chopped borage stems can even completely replace real cucumbers in a salad.
There are also ways to prepare borage as a separate dish. In some culinary recipes borage is recommended to be used as a filling or garnish. In addition, this plant produces very tasty refreshing drinks. Borage leaves added to the drink can add flavor to it.
Even the blue flowers of borage are edible. They are best suited for decorating various salads. Sometimes these flowers are specially candied and eaten as a dessert.
Culinary recipes with borage
Salad "Spring"
Jerusalem artichoke 4 tubers
carrots 2 pcs. (medium size)
borage 10 young plants (with just blossomed cotyledon leaves)
vegetable oil
Grate carrots and Jerusalem artichokes, add finely chopped borage, vegetable oil and salt (to taste)
Cucumber salad. Wash the young leaves thoroughly and chop finely, then season to taste. vegetable oil, salt and vinegar are added to taste.
Stewed borage. Stew the leaves in salted water and serve with butter.
Borago flowers in sugar. IN pottery Place borage flowers in rows on a layer of granulated sugar, interspersing them with sugar. Most upper layer- sugar in a thick layer. Store in a cool place.
Drinks from borage
Tea. Pour two glasses of boiling water over 6-8 leaves. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
Drink "Summer"
borago 10 leaves
one lemon
2.5 cups boiling water
Pour boiling water over borage leaves and lemon (cut into slices), let cool, then strain.