Garden alarm: plants, care & use

How and when can you plant the orache in your own garden? What should be considered when caring for, propagating and harvesting the plant and what can it be used for? And how can you remove the garden alarm? You can find out all this in our special article.

For a long time, the garden orache was considered a harmful weed that only makes gardening more difficult. Today, however, we know: the garden alarm is more useful than you think. The undemanding leafy vegetable scores particularly well in the garden with its uncomplicated cultivation, but also shines with its taste and nutritional quality.

Garden report: characteristics and origin

The garden report (Atriplex hortensis) is widespread in Germany and accordingly has many names: In addition to "Spanish salad" and "Spanish spinach", it is also known under the name "Orache" or simply as "Melde".

As a member of the foxtail family (Amaranthaceae), the garden orache is closely related to cultivated plants such as spinach (Spinacia oleracea), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris). The garden orache probably has its home in the Near East and the Orient, but quickly found it way to Europe, where they were valued by the ancient Romans and Greeks as a food and medicinal plant and 400 v. Chr. was first described. The Romans and Greeks also brought the orache to Central Europe and Germany, where it was on the menu well into the Middle Ages.

Only with the discovery and cultivation of real spinach was the garden orache slowly pushed out of the kitchen gardens. Today, the garden orache can still be found as a wild plant throughout Europe and in central Asia as far as China, but is often regarded as a weed. It has a high site tolerance and low nutrient requirements, which is why it occurs everywhere in natural areas as "weeds" or weeds.

In contrast to its relatives, garden orache does not form a basal leaf rosette. Instead, the plant grows continuously in height, reaching an impressive height of up to 2.5 meters over the course of its life. The arrow-shaped, triangular or oblong-ovate leaves of the garden orchard are arranged alternately on the stem and are about 5 to 25 centimeters long. They have smooth or slightly serrated edges. The inconspicuous red or green flowers of the garden ora grow together in inflorescences and are pollinated by the wind or insects.

Tip: The annual plant can quickly be compared to the closely related and very common white goosefoot (Chenopodium album) to be confused. However, this is characterized by a white coating on the leaves, while the garden orache develops green, sometimes red, yellow or even violet colors.

The best varieties of garden orache

Even though the orchard has not been cultivated commercially for a long time, a distinction can be made between different variants. The garden report is roughly divided into various selections, which differ in terms of their colors: The best known and also the most The most common variant is the garden orache, which is characterized by dark green, rather round and smooth-edged leaves excellent. The yellow garden orache impresses with light green, sometimes almost yellow leaves. Red forms of the garden orache only rarely occur in nature, but are extremely popular in horticulture because of their special appearance. Their color intensity is only enhanced by the violet garden orache.

In addition to this rough classification, which refers almost exclusively to the color intensity of the garden orache, the plant is also divided into different species and varieties. These not only stand out from each other in terms of appearance and size, but also in their properties as useful plants. We have summarized the best-known garden orphan varieties and their properties here for you:

• ˈRuby red garden oracheˈ: Local variety from Burgenland with bright red leaves; soft, slightly fleshy leaves; purple color is retained when cooked; also suitable as an ornamental plant.
• ˈYellow Mondseerˈ: Popular nougat with large, light green leaves; very vigorous variety that likes to sow; particularly suitable for cultivation as a useful plant.
• ˈBerndorfer Grüne Meldeˈ: Large, fleshy leaves with an excellent taste; New sowings germinate poorly, ideally multiply in self-sowing.
• ˈOpéraˈ: Pretty, green-violet leaves with a wonderful taste; can be harvested for a long time and is very productive.
• ˈBlack Forest Butterkrautˈ: Traditional variety from the Black Forest; rapid growth and quick maturity with a high yield of leaves.

Plant garden alarm: This is to be considered

Low demands and hardly any maintenance requirements: the garden orache is ideal as a border plant or as a stopgap in the vegetable bed and is therefore an enrichment for every garden. Especially their good suitability as part of a mixed culture ensures that the garden orphan finds a place in almost every bed. Suitable neighbors are, for example, potatoes and types of cabbage, but the garden orache also gets along well with legumes such as peas or beans. Garden orache is similar to spinach in cultivation, but is considered a little less complicated.

The right location for the garden alarm

Finding the right location for the garden alarm is not difficult: in general, the plant has only low demands on its location, it can be grown in almost any bed. Sunny, humus-rich and not too dry locations are preferred, but the garden orache can often thrive in semi-shade without any problems. Although the garden report can be cultivated in almost any location, you should always pay attention to a diverse crop rotation in the garden. The garden orache or its close relatives should be grown in the same place for a maximum of three years. A change is then necessary so that the floor remains vital in the long term and is not stressed on one side.

This is how you sow the orchard

Growing orache is almost as easy as choosing a suitable location: between From March to July the garden orache can be sown directly outdoors, pre-cultivation in pots is not possible necessary. To give each plant enough space to develop, a distance of 25 cm between plants is ideal. Since the garden report is a dark germs it should also be ensured that the seeds are sown at a depth of 2 cm - this is the only way to ensure reliable germination. As a rule, it is not necessary to fertilize the soil beforehand, since the garden orphan is a particularly undemanding plant. It is only recommended to treat the soil with a high-quality potting soil, for example the Plantura organic universal soil, upgrade. In this way, the yield and vitality of the plants can be increased.

Tip: If you want to continuously harvest small amounts of orache throughout the summer, you should sow a little seed every three to four weeks to grow new plants.

Maintenance of the garden report

Overall, the garden orache is considered to be very easy to care for, but it also needs a little attention every now and then in order to develop optimally. Particular attention must be paid to the space requirements of the plant: since the mature orache is a stately size reached, the bed may need to be thinned out after emergence by removing young plants that are too close together will.
In addition, it is important to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of nutrients, because this is the only way the orache can bring a rich harvest. Although the nutrient requirements of the garden orache are rather low, the introduction of some organic fertilizer is highly recommended for exhausted and nutrient-poor soils. Caution is advised with mineral fertilizers: the garden orache often reacts very sensitively to a high supply of nitrogen with sudden susceptibility to diseases and pests. Organic fertilizers with a slow release of nitrogen are therefore better suited, as this minimizes the risk of over-fertilization. For example, here is the Plantura organic universal fertilizer recommended.

On hot, dry days, you should also ensure that the plants are adequately watered in order to maintain their vitality.
In addition, you should loosen up the soil between the oraches by regularly hoeing and freeing it from weeds - this can increase the yield of the orache again.

Tip: If you harvest your orache regularly, you will encourage new branches by cutting. In this way, the overall yield of the plant can be increased.

multiply garden orache

If you don't want to buy new seed every year, you can simply take advantage of the garden orache's self-reproduction: Let's do it If you grow individual plants until seed maturity, the seeds spread themselves in the bed, where they come again in spring germinate. The disadvantage of this method, however, is that you can neither determine the quantity nor the location of the plants in the next year. An alternative that allows more control over the propagation of orache is to collect the mature seed pods. Stored in a dry, cool and dark place, these can germinate for up to three years. So they can be sown again next year at will.

Removal of the garden alarm

Due to its rapid reproduction and its high undemanding nature, the garden orache can spread quickly in the garden. So it's no wonder that many people use the garden orache not only for a tasty beneficial insect, but for hold an unwelcome guest who joins their other plants for space, light and nutrients competes. If you have a problem with orphanage or if you want to prevent uncontrolled propagation, that's it Timing everything: Rip out the plants including their roots before they even ripen with the seeds begin. Once the seeds are ripe, it is difficult to stop the spread and the next year you have to deal with the removal of the orache again.

Combating orache with herbicides, on the other hand, is not recommended, as these can negatively affect not only the orache, but also other plants and pollute the environment.

Tip: If you want a garden report for your bed, but are afraid of uncontrolled spread, you should opt for the red garden report. It rarely breeds, so it's a good option if you don't want it to spread around the garden.

Garden orchard: harvest and use

Just two months after sowing, the time has come and the orache can finally be harvested. The plants, which are already about 30 to 40 cm high at this point, are cut off about 20 cm above the ground with a sharp knife. But don't worry: the radical cut does not harm the plants. Quite the opposite: Like spinach, orache then sprout again and can be cut again a few weeks later. Repeated harvesting often promotes the sprouting and branching of the orache, so that the yield increases even more. Incidentally, the optimal time for harvesting is before flowering - this is when the aroma and nutrient content in the leaves is at its highest. Harvesting is possible until the first frost.

The use of the parts of the plant in the kitchen depends heavily on the age of the plants: in the case of young plants, the entire above-ground green part of the plant is edible. In the case of older, larger garden oraches, however, parts of the stalks may already be lignified, so that the stalks can no longer be used to prepare food. In addition, older leaves from the lower part of the plant can also be less palatable. Nevertheless, you don't have to throw them away: They are wonderfully suitable as small animal feed. In contrast, the young leaves from the shoot tips are not only particularly tasty, but can also be eaten raw. Above all, they are therefore often used in salads or as a smoothie. Otherwise orchard is prepared like spinach, which is also the closest to it in terms of taste. In particular, it is popular as a classic steamed vegetable, but also as a quiche or in soups or sauces.

But the garden orache is not only known as a food: in naturopathy, too, various properties as a medicinal plant are ascribed to the garden orache. The plant is said to have an effect on urinary tract infections, stimulate the metabolism and relieve nervous exhaustion. Applied externally, it is said to reduce gout disorders. However, the orache is considered to be particularly healthy because of its high nutrient content: thanks to high levels of vitamin C, Magnesium, calcium and iron, the orache is considered to be significantly healthier than its relatives known to us, spinach and chard. In addition, it is better tolerated by people with kidney problems or rheumatism due to its comparatively low oxalic acid content.

Tip: If you cannot use your harvest immediately, you can freeze the orache (similar to spinach) without any problems.

For a long time, garden orache was just considered a nuisance weed before it was recognized that it is actually a valuable crop. Other supposed weeds can also be very useful. In our contribution we present you weeds you can eat, in front.