What are black carrots: where does it grow and does it really exist?

Not long ago, a new crop began to appear in Russian gardens - black carrots or scorzonera. Not all gardeners are yet familiar with it.

Let's figure out what it is, what this carrot is used for and how to grow this scorzonera.

Description of black carrot scorzonera

In the photo you can see what black carrots look like. Let's take a closer look at its main characteristics.

Origin and development

The scientific name of black carrots is Spanish goat (Scorzonera hispanica). It is also often referred to as “black root” or “sweet root.” Biologically, it belongs to the Asteraceae family - that is, this crop is absolutely not close to our usual sowed carrots: their relationship is approximately the same as that of an ordinary mouse and a bat, that is, only at the class level.

Biologically, scorzonera is closer to chicory than to carrots.. The name stuck with us due to the fact that the growing technology is close to that of carrots, and the root itself externally resembles some varieties of carrots.

This perennial plant comes from Southern Europe and South-West Asia. Now it is grown in all European countries, in Russia it is found in the south of the European part, in the Caucasus and Western Siberia.

The plant has been grown as a vegetable crop since around the 16th century., although it was used in folk medicine even earlier: according to one hypothesis, the word “scorzonera” comes from the Spanish “escorzon” - snake venom, because it was believed that the juice of this root is an antidote for snake bites.

Chemical composition and beneficial properties

Scorzonera root is rich in vitamins (primarily C and group B), calcium and iron. It does not contain beneficial carotene, which is responsible for the orange color of ordinary carrots, but it contains many other unique substances:

1. Inulin – a polysaccharide that helps normalize cholesterol levels in the blood.
2. Asparagine – an amino acid involved in the body’s synthesis of proteins, and most importantly, it binds ammonia formed in metabolism.
3. Levulin, involved in regulating blood sugar levels.

Due to its rich chemical composition, black carrots are recommended as food for people with anemia and vitamin deficiency. In addition, it supports the immune system well, and therefore can be used to prevent influenza and ARVI. Despite the sweet taste, it does not increase glucose levels, and therefore is recommended to be included in the diet for people suffering from diabetes.

Important! Scorzonera has no contraindications, but individual intolerance and allergies are possible. Therefore, if you are trying it for the first time, start with a small piece.

Features of application

After peeling the black peel, the white pulp of the scorzonera can be eaten. raw or added to various salads. In addition, it is added to soups, lightly boiled or fried in vegetable oil - in this case it makes an excellent side dish for meat or fish.

It is believed that It is undesirable to stew scorzonera - this kills its characteristic taste. But some cooks also add stewed black carrots to their dishes.Scorzonera is also actively used in the preparation of soft drinks, jellies and marmalades - mainly the juice is used, which gives the finished product a characteristic purple hue.

Scorzonera used in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory and restorative agent.

Important! Young and not yet hardened leaves can be used for food, but picking them is still not recommended. Scorzonera does not have deciduous varieties, and cutting off the tops leads to the fact that the root will grow thinner and smaller. However, when breeding silkworms, black carrot leaves are used to fatten them.

Ripening period

The ripening time for scorzonera depends on the purpose for which it is grown. In the case where it is eaten, one season is enough. Root ripening time:

• about 100-120 days for winter cultivation;
• 120-130 – for spring sowing.

If black carrots are grown for seeds, then it is planted before winter or, if the climate allows, it is left to overwinter in the ground: the seeds appear in the second year of cultivation.

Important! Seeds from the second year of cultivation should be used for sowing. If scorzonera produces flower stalks in the first year, it is not recommended to sow them: the root will grow hard and bitter, and germination will be noticeably lower. Therefore, in the first year it is recommended to cut off the arrows.

Productivity

With proper cultivation you can get the yield is approximately 1.5 - 1.8 kg of roots per 1 sq. m beds.

Disease resistance

There are no specific pests that threaten scorzonera.. It can be damaged by aphids and other insects gnawing on leaves. Diseases may include downy mildew.

Characteristics, description of appearance, taste

Since black carrots are asteraceae and not umbelliferous, like sowing carrots, The easiest way to distinguish scorzonera is by the shape of the tops: it has a stem up to 75 cm high, branched and densely covered with leaves. The leaves themselves are green with a bluish tint, oblong, with a large number of veins.

The inflorescences of black carrots are few, solitary, and shaped like baskets. They grow at the end of arrows - flowering branches that usually grow in May-June. The flowers are light yellow, in an ovoid-pointed involucre.

Root – cylindrical, long. Its characteristic feature is a dark purple, almost black rind and light fleshy pulp, used for food.

Scorzonera seeds are large, oblong, vaguely reminiscent of sunflower.

Root has an original taste, reminiscent of a cross between asparagus and sweet radish. In 17th-century France, this plant was even called “the poor man’s asparagus.”

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For which regions is it best suited and what are the climate requirements?

Despite originating from the south, black carrots are not too demanding on climate, it is drought and frost resistant. In deep snow, it can withstand wintering with frosts down to -30°C. Therefore, it can be grown in any region where the duration of the warm period from soil warming up to +4...+5°C and until frost is more than 130 days.

The main advantages and disadvantages of the type

Benefits of Black Carrots before other root vegetables:

1. Original taste, rich in minerals.
2. Scorzonera is indispensable for diabetics due to the plant levulin it contains.
3. Possibility of eating not only roots, but also leaves.
4. Unpretentiousness. Scorzonera is not too demanding on soil composition and frequent watering, although it does require some care.
5. Pest resistance.

But there are also certain disadvantages:

1. Low yield. From the same area of ​​ordinary carrots you can harvest 4-8 times more than black carrots.
2. Low keeping quality. Unlike seeded carrots, black carrots are absolutely intolerant to damage. A root touched by a shovel must be immediately used for food, otherwise it will spoil in 3-4 days.

Difference from other varieties

It is difficult to compare black and regular carrots: These are plants of completely different families. Scorzonera differs in both taste and appearance.

How and where it is used

Applications of scorzonera is divided into two large groups:

• as a food plant;
• as a natural cure for diabetes.

The roots are used raw to treat diabetes.: You can chew them, or you can, for example, finely chop or grate them and add sunflower or olive oil to make a salad.

As for cooking, then black carrots are used:

1. For seasoning soups. In this case, it is cleaned, cut into cubes and added shortly before readiness.
2. As a side dish for meat or fish. Usually, for this, the roots are lightly boiled and added to the main dish.
3. As an ingredient in drinks. Scorzonera juice gives them an original flavor and shade.
4. In raw form - for salads.

Tender young leaves can also be used in salads.

Features of planting and growing

The agricultural technology of scorzonera is generally close to that used for carrots, but has its own nuances.

Preparing for landing

The peculiarity of black carrots is low seed preservation. They quickly lose their germination capacity, and in the second year no more than a third germinate. Therefore, before sowing, it is better to soak the seeds and move only those that have hatched into the ground.

You can sow scorzonera directly into the garden bed - it does not need seedlings. Before sowing, the bed must be prepared in advance: black carrots love loose soil, so you need to dig as deep as possible.

If possible, you should either dig up two bayonets - in this case, the top layer of soil is temporarily put aside and filled up on top of the dug up lower layer, or you should fill up high beds.

Organic matter is added to the soil in advance:

• for spring sowing - from autumn;
• when sowing before winter - still under the predecessor plant.

Soil requirements

Black carrots grow well in any type of soil, but prefers loose loam, pre-fertilized with a large amount of humus. Scorzonera does not like fresh manure - when it is added, it “dumbs” and begins to branch heavily, losing its taste and quality.

Also soil acidity should be checked: Black carrots do not tolerate acidity well, so liming should be done if necessary.

The site must be selected based on the following conditions:

• plenty of sun - scorzonera does not like shade;
• elevation - it is better to exclude paths for melt and rainwater to drain and stagnate;
• low groundwater level - if the groundwater level is high, the roots of black carrots may begin to rot.

Predecessors

Scorzonera should not be planted after carrots, celery, spinach, cabbage and tomatoes - these plants have a similar type of root system, so the soil will be poor.

Not bad predecessors: potatoes, onions, garlic, all legumes.Scorzonera grows well in areas where green manure was previously grown.

Dates, scheme and rules of planting

There are two ways to sow black carrot seeds:

1. In the spring. Sowing is carried out in March - early April, then by autumn the roots will be thick and fleshy.
2. In autumn to winter - at any time until the soil temperature drops below +5°C.

Seeds are sown in rows according to this pattern:

• row spacing – 30 cm;
• embedment depth – 2-3 cm;
• the distance between the seeds is 2-3 cm.

When planting before winter, the bed should be mulched with humus. or bottom peat - this will help the seeds to overwinter.

Seeds germinate within two weeks, with insufficient soil moisture - up to three weeks.

Read also:

What is a black watermelon: description and features

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Features of cultivation

In general, the plant does not require special care.. The only thing the gardener needs to pay attention to is to carefully remove all flower stalks in the first year: the seeds will still be of poor quality, and because of them the root will become tough and tasteless.

Nuances of care

Growing scorzonera is similar to growing carrots., but there are some minor differences.

Watering mode

Before emergence, the bed is evenly moistened. The soil should not be allowed to become too dry or over-watered. After each watering, the top layer of the bed should be carefully loosened so as not to damage the seeds and sprouts.

After the seedlings have appeared, watering is continued until approximately September., at least 4-5 times a month depending on the weather. After watering or heavy rain, the beds are loosened so that the roots are even.

Thinning and weed control

Thinning is carried out at the stage of appearance of 2-3 leaves. There should be at least 7-8 cm between plants. Leaves from thinned plants can be used for salad. The removed seedlings cannot be transferred: their roots will be damaged in any case and will grow of poor quality.

Weeds are carefully pulled out, especially before emergence: due to long germination, weeds have time to appear earlier. In the future, weeding is carried out as the weeds grow.

Top dressing

Fertilizing is usually not required during cultivation. Before spring sowing in the fall, manure or compost is applied to the garden bed at the rate of a bucket per square meter. It will also be useful to add wood ash at the rate of at least a glass for the same area.

If the soil is poor, you can add it to the soil before sowing. nitroammofosk (80 g per 1 sq. m.), or diammophoska (50 g for the same area). Also during the season, you can add the same substances in the form of a solution twice a month until the end of August at the rate of 25 g per 1 square meter. m.

Disease and pest control

Black carrots have few specific diseases:

1. Powdery mildew - brown spots on the leaves, plants turn yellow and die. The control method is spraying with a soap-sulfate solution (200 g of laundry soap and 20 g of copper sulfate per bucket of water). If this does not help, use synthetic drugs (for example, “Pure Flower”). The use of biological products, such as Fitosporin, also helps.
2. Brown spot is a fungal disease in which light spots with plaque (fungal spores) appear. The control method is the use of fungicides, from a solution of copper sulfate and Bordeaux mixture to specialized synthetic ones.
3. Gray rot is also a fungal disease that manifests itself in the form of light brown, gradually growing spots on the leaves.It occurs quickly and can destroy a plant in a matter of days. Control measures are the destruction of affected plants, the rest are sprayed with fungicides (Fundazol, Topsin-M and similar).

To avoid disease, it is important to avoid waterlogging of the soil., grow black carrots in sunny areas with neutral soil, observe crop rotation.

As for pests, then aphids, mole crickets and slugs are dangerous for this crop. Measures to combat them:

1. Sprinkling the soil with slaked lime or superphosphate in a 1-2 mm layer between plants helps prevent slugs.
2. You can try to drive away the mole cricket using an infusion of onion peels. It will require 900 g of husk per bucket of warm water, it needs to steep for 5 days. The finished infusion is diluted in a ratio of 1:5 and applied to the soil three times a week.
3. The easiest way to remove aphids is by hand using a damp sponge. If it doesn’t help, you can use insecticides - “Aktara”, “Bioverm” and similar ones.

In the garden and vegetable garden, under no circumstances should you drive away toads - they eat slugs. But colonies of black garden ants, on the contrary, must be carefully destroyed - they breed aphids.

Harvest and storage

Harvesting black carrots is generally similar to harvesting regular carrots, the only difference is in the timing.

How and when to collect

Scorzonera is considered mature when it reaches the age of 120-130 days.. The exact date is not important here: it cannot become overripe, so harvesting is carried out even after this date at a time that is convenient for the gardener. If desired, scorzonera can be left in the soil almost until it snows. Moreover, they also remove it in the spring - but then this must be done as soon as the snow melts, otherwise it will begin to grow again.

The following cleaning techniques are used::

1. The root is carefully dug up and removed along with a lump of soil.It is better to use a pitchfork rather than a shovel.
2. Black carrots are left in the garden for several hours, or even 1-2 days, so that they dry out slightly and the excess soil falls off. If there is a threat of rain, the crop is dried under a canopy.
3. After this, the rosette of leaves from plants used for food is carefully unscrewed, and they are stored. Plants that are planned to be planted for seeds in the spring are stored along with the tops. However, it is better not to remove such specimens and leave them in the ground for the winter.

When removing scorzonera, remember that it is more brittlethan regular carrots, so you shouldn’t pull them out by the tops.

Storage features and keeping quality of the variety

Store scorzonera in the same way as other carrots. – in damp sand in a cool, dark place. Do not allow the roots to dry out or wilt, otherwise they will not survive and will die.

Also It is unacceptable to store damaged roots: They will rot in a few days.

What difficulties may there be when growing

A gardener who has dealt with carrots can handle scorzonera.

Possible growing difficulties may be:

1. Low seed germination. Already in the second year they are almost unsuitable for sowing. Therefore, only fresh ones should be planted.
2. Excessive soil moisture. Drainage should be done - or take into account the mistake and sow the seeds in a different place next year.

Otherwise, this culture is unpretentious and in summer it requires almost no special care.

Advice from experienced gardeners

Gardeners growing scorzonera share their recommendations:

1. Although it is easiest to sow the seeds directly into the ground, black carrots can also be grown as seedlings. This seriously saves time and allows you to get the harvest earlier.But in this case, the transplant is done carefully and only by rolling it along with a lump of soil.
2. The tastiest roots come from plants sown in spring and not overwintered. Therefore, although black carrots can be left until winter, it is better to remove them before frost.
3. Scorzonera can also be grown as an ornamental plant. Its flowers, although small, have a bright vanilla aroma.

Reviews of black carrot scorzonera

Let's look at how gardeners respond to scorzonera.

Daria, Izhevsk: “I planted it exclusively against mice - I heard that it scares them away. Since then it has been growing by self-sowing. Sometimes I dig up one or two roots, but I don’t specifically remove them - no one in the family liked the taste.”.

Boris, Salavat: “We planted a bag for testing - so while we were driving home from the dacha, along the way we ate the entire harvested crop raw. Very unusual taste, somewhat reminiscent of oysters".

Vitaly, Perm: “I sowed it on loam. Everything grew together, but in the fall I couldn’t remove it - all the roots were broken, half of them remained in the ground. Since then I've been afraid to get involved. And so it’s an interesting vegetable, it tastes like a hazelnut.”.

Conclusion

Black carrot scorzonera is an interesting, although not yet widespread, crop. It is no more difficult to grow than ordinary carrots, but it has much more beneficial properties. The only serious disadvantage of scorzonera is its low yield. We definitely recommend experimenting and planting this unusual carrot!