Growing quince in the Middle Lane - planting and care, what to cook
Contents ✓
HOW TO GROW IVA NOT IN THE SOUTH
Do not rush to turn the page when you learn that it is a quince. It is better to read on the Internet about its benefits. And the author of the letter tells in detail how to grow it not in the southernmost regions. As for the quince dishes, they will do honor to every hostess!
FRUIT VENICE
Since childhood, I love peaches, apricots, quince, grapes. I grew up in the south of the Odessa region, where all these crops are grown in abundance, especially apricots and grapes. I remember how I first discovered quince in the fifties. Once, at the end of November, residents of the city of Vilkovo brought an unusually fragrant fruit that looked like apples to our village by boats. And they exchanged such beauty for potatoes: a bucket of quince for a bucket of potatoes!
My grandfather Savely also bought several buckets of quince so that grandmother Ganna could cook a delicious uzvar from it (a fruit soup in which
cereals or small dumplings are added). Uzvar, of course, turned out delicious, but to us, teenagers, the quince itself seemed even tastier. And although it was dryish and tart, its aroma and extraordinary taste attracted us so much that soon there was not even a smell left from the stocks of quince. Indeed, in December, there were no trace of peaches or apricots, grapes were also harvested and processed into wine, and apples were not grown in our village. Here we are, children, and pounced on a new fruit for us. Grandfather Savely had to buy quince again, and grandmother Hanna kept it under lock and key.
Grandfather Savely said that quince is a moisture-loving tree. In Vilkovo there is no land for growing potatoes, there are not even the streets familiar to us; instead, there are channels through which people communicate with each other using boats. And along the banks of the canals, quince grows everywhere, so the inhabitants of this extraordinary city are forced to exchange quince for potatoes. In our village, quince is not grown because it needs to be watered, and there is always not enough water for irrigation. Although the village is located on the bank of the estuary, drinking water has to be brought by horse from freshwater wells located far beyond the village, and in rural wells the water is bitter and salty.
See also: Japanese quince (photo) - planting and care
QUIVES FRUIT PER HALF KILO
After serving in the army, I lived in Tashkent for some time. When the dacha appeared, I first of all planted peaches, apricots and quince there (one thin, unvaccinated tree as thick as a pencil, which I bought at the market). All the trees were watered abundantly, especially the quince, and soon they began to bear fruit. Peaches yielded an abundant harvest every year, including nectarines, of which I had several varieties of different ripening times (yellow, orange and red).
D By the way, the authors of some letters in "Dacha" consider nectarines not as one of the types of peaches, but as some kind of independent exotic fruit or a hybrid of apricot and plum, which is a gross mistake! This is even perceived rather strangely by ear: as if to say that there are plums, but there is a re-clod. Such illiterate authors add confusion to the heads of inexperienced gardeners.
So, my peaches gave bountiful harvests, and one tree (not one of the nectarines, I don't remember the name of the variety) gave fruits of simply enormous sizes: only five of them could fit in a ten-liter bucket!
Quince also grew rapidly. Already in the third year, the tree began to bear fruit, and after eight years it reached a height of 7 m, a crown width of 10 m, a trunk thickness of 25 cm. Every year it bore fruit abundantly: it gathered a hundred or more kilograms of crops. Fruit weight reached 400 g.
Quince gratefully responds to fertilization. My neighbor in Sergei's dacha also had a quince, which he fertilized with chicken droppings, so its fruits reached simply fantastic sizes. They resembled children's balls suspended from branches, and each weighed up to one and a half kilograms! Sergey had to put supports under the branches with fruits so that they would not break off under the weight of the bountiful harvest.
Every year we harvested 40 three-liter cans of compote from quince fruits. They simply filled the jar to the very top with pieces of quince, filled it with 20% sugar syrup and sterilized for 40 minutes. Then they rolled up a metal lid, turned the cans over, wrapped them up and left until they cool completely. In addition, they cooked two varieties of quince jam, ten liter jars each (I will tell about this at the end of the letter). The harvest of our quince was enough for us, and our relatives and friends.
When our family settled in Belgorod more than 20 years ago, I planted various trees at my dacha, including peaches, apricots and grapes. Quince seedlings could not be found. And then in 2013 I brought from my native village 4 processes of 20 cm in height. First, I put them in a school, because I did not know if they would take root in a more severe climate. For two years, the seedlings have grown up to a meter each. I planted two at my place, one gave it to my neighbor, and the fourth, along with the apricot seedling, presented it to my Muscovite friends, who had long dreamed of growing this crop in their dacha.
All the trees — mine, my neighbor’s, and friends’s in Moscow — have successfully started and started growing. However, the next winter the apricot at the dacha near Moscow did not survive and froze out, and the quince tree turned out to be frost-resistant and continued to grow. Last year, its height reached two meters, and it even bloomed, but there was no fruit. Perhaps this year it will delight with the first fruits.
See also: Variety (Ayurveda)
FROST? FOR AIVA nonsense!
It should be noted that in comparison with peaches and apricots, quince does not have such a variety of varieties. For example, peaches are super-early (ripen at the same time as cherries), early (ripen together with garden strawberries), summer (ripen in July-August), autumn (ripen in September) and late (ripen in October-November). Apricots are also super early (ripen with cherries), early (ripen in June with strawberries) and late (ripen in July - early August).
The late varieties of apricot mainly include its uncultivated species - the pole, which is ubiquitous in Ukraine, Moldova and southern Russia.
Quince does not yet have such a large number of varieties. After flowering, its fruits are set and ripen within five to six months - too long for the Middle Strip. In Uzbekistan, for example, there is a pear-shaped quince variety - Khorezm, which ripens in September. But quince also blooms there, of course, earlier than in Belgorod.
Quince is a fairly plastic tree that lends itself well to propagation by seeds, cuttings, layers and shoots. Easily grafted onto a pear. It can be grown as a bush. The famous American breeder Luther Burbank bred pineapple-scented quince by simple selection, and I.V. Michurin is a hybrid of quince and apple trees. Unfortunately, there are no early and summer quince varieties that could be successfully promoted to more northern regions, as is the case with peaches and apricots.
Last year, when fruit trees were blooming in my garden, it rained continuously. In this regard, all cherries, apple trees, peaches, apricots, cherries and pears had no ovaries. What to do - I resigned myself to this and switched to growing vegetables. But at the end of July, accidentally finding myself in the far corner of the garden, I was surprised to see that a lot of fruits were set on my quince trees!
The leaves on them were lethargic, and this is understandable: from the very beginning of May I did not water them, and the quince loves water. From that moment on, the trees began to receive in abundance both water and various feeding: herbal infusions, crushed watermelon skins, peeling potatoes and other household waste. Quince trees 2 and 2,5 m high cheered up, the leaves straightened out and acquired a dark green color, and the branches began to grow.
In the presence of favorable conditions (moisture, food, heat), quince can grow until frost. Therefore, the tops of the branches do not always have time to lignify and die off in winter. But this is not dangerous. In the spring, they just need to be cut off, and the tree will continue to actively develop and bear fruit.
The fruits on my trees also began to actively increase in size and by the end of September they partially began
turn yellow, acquiring their inherent shape and weight (some up to 300 g). However, on September 24, I took the bulk of the fruits (three buckets) due to the fact that, according to the weather forecast, frosts were expected on the 25th. The forecast turned out to be correct. The frost was not sickly: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelons and even grape leaves froze and withered.
And what about quince? Both trees stood in their beautiful dark green decoration, and the remaining fruits gleamed merrily among the foliage! It turns out that in vain I hurried with the harvest: the fruits of the quince could continue to grow and gain weight for a whole month. There were no more frosts until November.
The fruits I collected were odorless because I picked them prematurely. They, of course, could ripen in the house, but I decided to process them: close four cans of quince compote, and make jam from the rest.
And here the fun began. When I filled the jars with pieces of unripe quince fruit and poured boiling sugar syrup, the kitchen was filled with an unusually wonderful aroma! It turns out that under the influence of heat, quince, even cut into pieces, tends to ripen and acquire its own unique taste and aroma! Isn't it a miracle?
Quince is low-calorie: 100 g contains only 48 kcal. Fruits are rich in fiber, vitamin C (100 g contains 25% of the daily value). In folk medicine, decoctions are prepared from quince seeds, they are used as a mild laxative or enveloping agent. The juice of ripe fruits has a tonic, diuretic effect.
WHAT CAN YOU PREPARE FROM QUIVA - RECIPES?
Candied jam
A layer of quince pieces is laid in an enamel bowl and covered with sugar (1: 1), then a layer of quince and sugar is again put - I have three such layers. After that, we wait for the quince to give juice. After three or four hours, bring the mass to a boil and add 1 kg of walnuts. Stir and leave for a day. During this time, the walnuts are soaked in syrup, and the quince pieces are dried out, as sugar actively draws juice from them. Quince pieces seem to dry up and become like candied fruits, completely preserving the taste and aroma of quince. After a day, we cook the jam and put it in sterilized jars.
Children like this jam very much, since the quince pieces resemble sticky fruit gummies.
Common jam
It differs from candied fruit only in that the quince pieces must be blanched in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before being covered with sugar.
In this case, they are saturated with water and, when covered with sugar, do not dry out, but remain soft and aromatic. Sugar, walnuts and cooking method are the same as in the first case.
Baked quince
This is an exceptionally gourmet dessert dish that should be served at the festive table. It is prepared simply.
Through the peduncle, the core is removed from the fruit, and walnuts are placed in the hole formed. Sprinkle each with honey (1 tsp) and put a piece of butter on top.
Place the resulting "cups" on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. The dish is served cold for tea.
Quince in pilaf
Ordinary pilaf will turn out to be unusually tasty if it is cooked with quince. The peculiarity of this dish is that quince is placed in zirvak (a decoction of meat with carrots and spices) before laying the rice.
In this case, the quince is not boiled out and is stored in the form of halves or quarters, into which it is cut in advance. Quince seeds are naturally pre-removed.
Reference by topic: Quince - care, planting and breeding, varieties and recipes from quince. Medical properties.
AIVA IZ SEEMECHKA IN THE MIDDLE STRIP - VIDEO
© Author: Ivan GRITSENKO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Hawthorn from seeds - my experience and feedback on the method
- Schisandra CHINESE (photo) cultivation, planting and care
- Cherry plum for the northern regions - hybrids, species and varieties
- Types of mountain ash - what are they
- Growing sorbaronia (photo) planting and care in the Moscow region
- Types and varieties of hawthorn (fruit and decorative) - photo + name + description
- Cherry varieties for the South and North from A to Z, agricultural technology and stale cherries
- Which cherries should I choose for planting in central Russia?
- Persimmon (photo) cultivation of a tree
- Growing and caring for orange trees at home and on site, in the open ground.
Subscribe to updates in our groups and share.
Let's be friends!