Be sure to plant a healthy berry in the country - sunberry

Natives of rural areas of the generation of the 40-50s will surely remember their grandmother's "elderberry" pies. The black nightshade berry was eaten fresh anyway, although it could not boast of its taste. But it grew by itself, requiring neither care nor space on the site.

The berry is small but the benefits are great

Today, doctors agreed that this nondescript and not so tasty berry is quite useful. And her sister - bred a century ago by Luther Burbank from large-fruited American nightshade and our small, but high-yielding and cold-resistant - is completely recognized as a medicinal plant:

1. Sunberry - as this cultivated hybrid is called - is used to treat angina. The juice of the berries is diluted 1 part to 3 parts of water and gargle.
2. The juice of the leaves helps with a cold, uterine bleeding. And it also has hypnotic properties.
3. Fresh berries improve digestion, although they slightly weaken, they successfully expel parasites from the body.
4. For the healing of purulent wounds and ulcers, the berry is crushed and mixed with yogurt 50:50.
5. Also, folk medicine recommends using black nightshade berries for gout, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, rheumatism, psoriasis, to relieve headaches.
6. Some argue that the sunberry fruit has antihypertensive properties. But medicine has not confirmed this fact.
7. But the berries are part of a drug called "Blueberry Forte", which is successfully used in medicine to improve vision and in the fight against glaucoma.
8. The widely known drug LIV-52, which contains berries, helps with liver diseases.
9. Doctors say that the selenium contained in the sunberry fruits slows down the aging process, improves memory, coordination of movements, heals neuroses, and is used as a prophylactic agent against cancer.
10. The anthocyanins in black nightshade berries improve blood composition.
11. Sunberry pectins promote the elimination of toxins and toxins from the body.

In short, this plant is just a godsend for those who want to maintain their health and stay young longer!

General description of the culture

Sunberry is an annual plant. But it grows more than a meter in height. And the fruit is capable of producing from 10 to 20 kg per bush! The black berries of the hybrid are large, the size of a cherry.

The plant blooms throughout the summer, from June to the very frost. Therefore, you can pick berries almost daily. Flowers collected in bunches, reminiscent of potato, look very beautiful, next to green and already black berries.

As an adult, Sunberry easily tolerates drought, heat and frost. The next year, it is quite possible to get a lot of shoots in the old place that emerged from the self-seeding. It is enough for a gardener to simply choose the strongest and tallest sprouts and remove the excess ones.

Growing sunberry

The seeds of this plant are very similar to tomato seeds. They are quite small.

Seed treatment before planting

The disadvantage of Sunberry is such that seeds hatch with great difficulty. Therefore, at first they need to be held in a warm solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. Then, carefully with a blade, you need to make an incision in the place where a sprout usually appears in a seed.

Some gardeners suggest a different way. They advise not to cut the seed coat, but only to make notches on the seed with a needle. And then the seeds are put into a jar with coarse washed and calcined river sand. They should fill the container halfway.With vigorous shaking of the jar, the integrity of the seed shells is violated, and the kernels remain intact.

This should be done very carefully so as not to damage the core inside the seed!

The operated seed is placed on a damp cloth, covered with a film or glass and placed in a warm place so that it hatches. This process may be slightly delayed when comparing Sunberry with tomatoes and peppers.

Sunberry seeds are planted at the end of February so that the plant has time to give a good harvest.

Growing seedlings

Sunberry differs little in agricultural technology from tomatoes and peppers... You can even plant them in the same box with them. Neutral soil is required to obtain seedlings. Therefore, you do not need to add peat to the soil.

Expanded clay is poured at the bottom of the box to ensure drainage. On top of it, a layer of soil is poured - 10 centimeters. A hatched seed is placed in it to a depth of half a centimeter. The soil is moistened and covered with glass or polyethylene.

The mini-greenhouse must be regularly ventilated so that the ground does not become moldy. Seedlings will appear in three months. After the plants have thrown out the third true leaf, they are dived and placed in a well-lit, warm place.

Seedlings are not watered very often, but it is also impossible to let the ground become "stone".

Outdoor planting and sunberry care

Sunberry planting is done with tomatoes and peppers. Only the distance between the bushes should be at least 70 centimeters, as they grow very much.

During the summer, it is enough to feed the Sunberry with a mullein a couple of times and water in a day or two - and very soon the gardener will be rewarded for his efforts!

Blank recipes

Fresh sunberry fruits are not very tasty, but they are simply amazing in the form of jam. And the wine from it is delicious.

It is important to remember that to preserve the beneficial properties of the black nightshade fruit should be boiled for no more than 5 minutes! And to improve the taste, you need to put lemon in the jam.

Cooking nightshade "raisins"

The berries are dipped in boiling sugar syrup for 2 minutes. Then they are taken out with a slotted spoon and feasted on. You can put this "raisin" in pies, decorate cakes and pastries with them, ice cream and add to cereals (not dairy).

Healing Sunberry Jam Recipe

300 g of sugar is poured onto 1 kg of berries, put on fire and brought to a boil. There is also added a lemon cut or ground in a meat grinder. The jam is boiled for 5 minutes and poured into jars. Store in the refrigerator, as it will ferment at normal room temperature.

Eat 5 tablespoons daily, with tea or spread on a bun.

Video about Sunberry at their summer cottage