Category: Wine Cellars

White Chia vs. Black Chia Seed

Chia seeds have been recognized as a superb food because they are packed with beneficial things like vitamins, minerals and amino acids. While a lot of men and women know of the health benefits of chia seeds, there’s some confusion about white and black seeds. Simply put, there isn’t any difference, besides color, between white and black chia seeds.

The Chia Plant

Chia seeds are picked from Salvia hispanica plantsthat are from the mint family (Lamiaceae). This is an annual herb that’s a portion of the Salvia genus, including antioxidant plants. Chia plants normally grow to about 3 feet tall and comprise opposite, serrated leaves that are 1 1/2 to 3 inches long and 1 to 2 inches across. Clusters of blue to purple to white flowers look on spikes in late summer.

The Seeds

Chia seeds are used as food supply for thousands of years. They were once considered a perfect food supply and were cultivated by the Aztecs to be consumed as a grain, ground to flour and pressed to create petroleum. Chis seeds are small and oval, may be found in dark, creamy white or gray, and usually have darker markings or specks. These may be available separately or as a combination of all four types. When growing chia plants from seeds, the method is the same regardless of what color you are planting.

Chia Culture

Chia plants prefer a light purple to medium loamy soil that’s well drained. This plant may grow in acid, neutral and alkaline soils, but doesn’t do well in shaded locations, so select a warm, sunny place for growing your seeds. Chia plants thrive in warmer temperatures, so if you are growing this plant outdoors, it does best in the warmer climates of U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 to 12.

Planting the Seeds

In temperate regions, planting can be done outdoors in the fall. Inside, or in areas that experience cold weather in the autumn and winter, seeds may be planted indoors in flats or containers in the spring. Sprinkle the seeds over the surface of a light, porous soil, like garden loam and compost mixed in equal parts. Rake the seeds gently into the ground and cover them with a thin layer of soil that’s no thicker than twice the diameter of the seed. Lightly press the surface to ensure the seed contacts the surrounding ground. After sowing, water the soil lightly. Move your seeds to a place where they get lots of light, and keep the soil evenly moist until the seeds germinate. When the seedlings emerge, you can cut back watering to only giving moisture once the soil is dry to the touch.

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How to Plant Companion Vegetables with Broccoli

The list of problems known to assault broccoli plants is sufficient to give even experienced gardeners pause. Cabbage worms and cabbage moths are particular enemies of broccoli, while thrips, aphids and cutworms are notorious equal-opportunity destroyers. Rather than splitting from the chemical sprays, think about giving broccoli plants companions that result in disease- and pest-resistance, while also attracting beneficial insects as well as improving flavor. In Mediterranean areas, broccoli seedlings go into the ground in early spring and in late summer, if desired.

Set broccoli seedlings to your garden bed 24 inches apart from one another in rows which are 36 to 48 inches apart. Applying this maximum spacing permits you to interplant companions both involving individual broccoli plants and between rows of broccoli.

Seed nasturtium flowers at the bottom of the broccoli plants in each row. The low-growing, vining plants work as a living mulch for broccoli and its companions. Moreover, the plants are considered a “super companion” since they assist plants in many ways, such as flavor development and as a broad-spectrum pest pest repellent. In addition, it functions as a “trap crop” for insects like aphids, meaning that these pests feed to the nasturtiums while ignoring your valuable edibles. Harvest the flowers and leaves of nasturtiums to add to salads.

Plant onions involving the broccoli plants. Onions have narrow foliage and fit conveniently between spreading plants like broccoli. Onions improve the taste of broccoli while also masking the scent of neighboring plants against predatory pests.

Grow herbs and vegetables in alternate rows involving the broccoli rows. Fantastic vegetable companies include beets, bush beans, celery, potatoes and lettuce. Herb choices include thyme, basil, dill, rosemary and sage, which not only are culinary herbs but are also thought to repel pests like thrips, cabbage worms and cabbage moths. Dill also attracts beneficial insects.

Establish pots of peppermint, catnip or hyssop on paths close to the broccoli bed. Although these perennial mint-family herbs are too invasive to include in an annual vegetable garden, they are invaluable allies for both repelling broccoli insect insects and encouraging beneficial insects.

Fill spaces between plants or rows with Mexican marigolds, which are credited with controlling a number of problems, such as weeds, insect pests and even rabbits.

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