Useful information

Anise ordinary. Nondescript, but successful

Although botanists have named this herbaceous annual plant anise vulgaris, its small fruits have an extraordinary scent. Indeed, they and the leaves of the plant contain a large amount of sweetish-tasting essential oil, which, according to folk legends, causes a restful sleep.

Egypt, Asia Minor and the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean are considered the birthplace of this plant. Detailed information about him is reported by the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. And Pliny wrote that the best anise comes from the island of Crete. The plant came to Central Europe from Italy in the 16th century.

In all European countries, anise was highly valued. It is known that the English king Edward the First in the 16th century established a tax duty on its import to England. But the common anise has taken root especially in Germany, where bread is still baked with its seeds.

Unfortunately, for a long time in Russia, only old varieties (Russian) or European varieties (Tarnsky, Turinsky, Malteysky) were grown in gardens. But recently an excellent mid-season anise variety has appeared - Blues.

Anise is an annual herb with a height of 40–50 cm. The stem of the plant is erect, branching in the upper part, densely pubescent. The lower leaves have long petioles, the upper ones are sessile. The flowers are small, white, collected in complex umbrellas. The plant blooms in June – July for 50–60 days. Flowers and fruits have a delicate aromatic scent and sweet-spicy taste.

Anise is a fairly cold-resistant culture. Its seeds begin to germinate at 5–7 ° C, the seedlings can withstand frosts down to -5 degrees. The growing season from germination to the receipt of greenery is 70–85 days, and until the receipt of seeds, 125–135 days. It is a good honey plant, constantly attracting a lot of bees to the garden.

Very hygrophilous. The greatest need for soil moisture is during seed germination and from stemming to flowering. At the same time, excessive soil moisture or frequent rains during flowering cause disease of the inflorescences and a decrease in yield. Therefore, in the phase of fruit ripening, it needs warm, dry weather.

Demanding on the light, therefore, areas well-lit by the sun are allocated for it. They must be sufficiently hydrated during the first growing season. Due to the long germination period, slow growth in the first half of the growing season, short stature and lodging, it is often oppressed by weeds, so it must be placed in clean areas.

Anise is a soil-demanding plant. He loves loose, fertile, loamy and sandy loam soils with a sufficient amount of humus and lime and a high phosphorus content. Cold, damp, as well as podzolic and low-fertile sandy soils for its cultivation are of little use. It is best grown after legumes and vegetables, under which organic fertilizers were applied.

Preparation of the soil for cultivation begins in the fall immediately after harvesting the predecessor. First, the soil is dug on a full bayonet of a shovel with a turnover of the layer so that the sprouted weeds and non-germinated seeds are at great depth and die. This is very important because weeds are the main enemy of undersized anise.

If organic matter was not introduced under the predecessor, then it is necessary to add 1 sq. meter of 0.5 buckets of semi-rotten compost. In the spring, light soil is loosened with a rake, heavy soil is dug up to a depth of no more than 15 cm, after adding 1 tablespoon of nitrophosphate. Before sowing, the soil is rolled up with a garden roller made of a round wooden block. You can also do with the back of a rake or shovel.

To increase the germination of seeds, it is necessary to pre-treat them. For this purpose, they are soaked in water for 2–3 hours at a temperature of 18–20 ° C, and then kept in a damp cloth at a temperature of 20–22 ° C for 3 days.

As soon as the seeds begin to peck, they are placed for 18–20 days in the lower part of the refrigerator, where they undergo partial vernalization. Then they are slightly dried, scattering in a thin layer and stirring occasionally. Thanks to this seed preparation, anise shoots appear not on the 18–20th day, but on the 10–12th day after sowing.

In the third decade of April, along with other crops resistant to low temperatures, anise seeds are sown in moist soil in rows with row spacing of 10-15 cm and a distance between plants in a row of 5-8 cm. They are sown in grooves 1.5-2 cm deep. After sowing and seeding, the soil must be lightly compacted with a board or rolled.

In order for the rows of weed control to appear faster when sowing anise, it is necessary to sow an early lighthouse culture - preferably lettuce or salad mustard, which are harvested after mass shoots of anise. To do this, take 1 part of salad or salad mustard seeds for 6–7 parts of anise seeds.

Plant care begins immediately after sowing the seeds. When a soil crust appears, the bed is loosened with small rakes. Before emergence, the crops are constantly watered so that the soil layer in which the seeds are located is moistened all the time. To destroy weeds, it is necessary to carefully burrow the bed with a light rake across the rows to and along the emergence of plants.

Immediately after the emergence of shoots, the aisles are weeded, and 10-15 days after the emergence of shoots, the plants are thinned out at a distance of 15 cm from each other. Thinning must be completed before the second true leaf is formed. In the phase of formation of a rosette of leaves, plants can be fed with nitrogen fertilizers.

Young greens A. are harvested as needed when the plants reach a height of 30–40 cm, ie. in the phase of the beginning of the formation of umbrellas. Greens are dried in a well-ventilated room or under a canopy without access to direct sunlight.

Seed ripening does not occur simultaneously. First, the seeds ripen, located on the central umbrellas, then gradually on the umbrellas of subsequent orders. All seeds on a plant ripen within 10-15 days, depending on weather conditions. Ripe fruits are partially crumbled, so it is advisable to remove them in several times, selectively collecting umbrellas with brown fruits.

Anise fruits are very sensitive to high humidity, at which their presentation deteriorates, the content of essential oil decreases. Therefore, the cut umbrellas are dried in the shade under a canopy on a tarp, then threshed, the seeds are cleaned and dried to a moisture content of no more than 12%. The seeds should have a greenish-gray color, a pleasant smell and a sweet-spicy taste.

See Anise salad dressing, Fruit salad with sour cream and anise, Stewed turnip with apples and anise, Fruit salad with anise

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