Shepherd's bag

Shepherd's purse (lat. Capsella bursa-pastoris) is a plant of the Cabbage family. Also known as the Handbag. Other names: heart grass, grytsyki, field buckwheat, cores, swan, bast grass, spoons, purse, sparrow's eye.

• An annual or biennial herb. Height does not exceed 60 cm.
• Erect, solitary, branched stem.
• White or pinkish flowers, up to 3.5 cm long, collected in a brush. They have short stamens, 2 semilunar honey glands are almost in contact with each other, have a long process that is directed towards the stamens. An excellent honey plant, blooms and bears fruit all summer.
• As a fruit, a compressed bicuspid pod, no more than 1 cm long. The seeds are small, flattened, oval, yellow or brownish in color.

All there are about 25 species. The most famous is the Shepherd's Bag (Bag) ordinary.

Also distinguished:

• Capsella hyrcana - Hyrcanian shepherd's purse.
• Capsella rubella Reut.
• Capsella grandyflora (Fauche & Chaub) Boiss.

The plant is distributed almost throughout the planet, except for the polar belts. In Russia, it is found everywhere, except for the Arctic regions. It can be found along roads, ditches, in fields, in steppes, in cultivated fields in the form of a weed. It can form continuous areas of several hectares.

The grass is harvested in the first months of summer, when it actively blooms, always in dry weather.It is more convenient to cut with a knife, but you can simply pull it out along with the root that is cut off. Only stems and leaves are considered suitable. Plants affected by the fungus should not be collected. Often these fungi are poisonous and can be seriously poisoned. Not suitable for use and fruit-bearing grass.

The collected shepherd's bag is dried, laying out in a small layer, in well-ventilated rooms or in the shade in the open air. If you use an electric dryer, the temperature is set to 45 C.

Store in dry boxes, after lining the bottom with paper. Shelf life 1 year.

• dry grass is bitter in taste and has a weak specific smell;
• stems break with a crunch;
• in one season gives from 2 to 70 thousand seeds;
• seeds are highly germinating, can germinate within 6 years;
• germinated in late autumn, the purse survives the winter favorably and blooms in the spring.

per 100 grams of product:

• vitamins of groups B, C, A, K and PP;
• trace elements: iron, potassium, manganese, zinc, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, selenium;
• hissopine rhamnoglucoside C28H32O14;
• acetylcholine, choline;
• saponins;
• bursic acid of unstudied composition;
• alkaloids;
• crystalline substance, most likely related to flavonoids;
• inositol, tyramine;
• tannins;
• handbag seeds contain fatty mustard (up to 28%) and some allyl mustard oils.

• hemostatic;
• anti-inflammatory;
• painkiller;
• antibacterial;
• contraceptive;
• astringent;
• antiemetic;
• diuretic;
• blood-purifying;
• sedative.

• hypercoagulation;
• thrombosis and thrombophlebitis;
• scanty menstruation;
• pregnancy;
• haemorrhoids;
• individual intolerance;
• with caution in hypotension;
• you can not use grass with plaque or fungus, because. they may be poisonous.

Handbag juice can be used for diarrhea, ulcers, bleeding and as a sedative, taking 40 drops or 1 tablespoon with water, 3 times a day. In this case, the juice itself is preliminarily diluted with water in the same proportions (1: 1). You can also wash the wounds with the juice of the handbag, it stops the blood and disinfects the wound.

Juice can be preserved for the winter with vodka (1:1). Take also 30-40 drops with water.

• dried grass is used as a spice for soups, meat dishes and winter salads;
• fresh herbs are added to salads, goes well with white and red cabbage;
• seeds of the handbag replace mustard and pepper.

We offer some simple recipes with a shepherd's bag.

In 0.5 l of meat broth, add potatoes (2 pcs), carrots and onions. Cook until almost done. Add 100 g of finely chopped handbag. Salt to taste and cook for no more than 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream and boiled egg.

Fry young stems and leaves simultaneously with meat until half cooked. Then add carrots and onions and continue frying until tender.

Young handbag greens are fried in vegetable oil with carrots and onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. While hot, pass through a meat grinder and simmer the resulting mixture for another 20 minutes. Suitable as a side dish for fish and meat dishes.

Lay layers in a jar of fresh handbag grass, dill, parsley, currant leaves and horseradish. Pour salt water with pepper.Use with fish and meat dishes as a side dish.

Mix finely chopped shepherd's purse and celery, add a little olive oil and mustard to taste. Spread pasta on bread or toast.

Pour 2 tsp. handbag leaves 1 cup boiling water, insist a little. Drink warm.

Watch the following video from the TV show "1000 and 1 Spice of Scheherazade". From it you will learn even more about the shepherd's purse plant.

• with diseases of the liver (stones in the gallbladder, hepatic colic) of the lungs (colds, tuberculosis), kidneys (acute and chronic inflammation, sand in the bladder, colic, urinary incontinence), stomach (ulcers, including malignant ones, vomiting) ;
• various benign and malignant neoplasms;
• in gynecology: uterine fibroids, painful and heavy periods, normalization of the menstrual cycle, endometriosis (as an analogue of expensive hormonal drugs), in menopause, bleeding;
• with neuropsychiatric diseases, as a sedative;
• bruises, wounds and abrasions;
• nosebleeds;
• tendovaginitis, oral infections.

In a thermos, pour dried grass with boiling water (2 tablespoons of water per 2 tablespoons). Leave for about 4 hours. Take 3-4 times a day for 0.5 cups.

Pour 1 tablespoon of herbs with a glass of boiling water. Let it brew for 2 hours. Take 1-2 tablespoons half an hour before meals 4 times a day. The infusion is recommended for severe bleeding and hot flashes.

For 1 cup of boiling water, 3 tablespoons of dried handbag. Insist under a closed lid for about 2 hours. Take 1/3 cup 3 times a day.Most often, uterine bleeding stops after a couple of days of taking the infusion, but to consolidate the effect, it is necessary to drink the infusion for another two days, 1 time in the morning and at night.

Fill a glass jar 2/3 full with fresh shepherd's purse. Pour the grass in a jar with vodka up to the neck. Insist 2 weeks. After that, the tincture can be drunk, but the whole infusion can be drained and the grass can be outlived only after a month. Take 25-30 drops, diluted in water, before meals 3 times a day. Long-term use is allowed.

Pour 50 g of dried handbag with boiling water (1 l). Infuse for about an hour, then strain. The infusion is drunk warm, 0.5 cups 3-4 times a day.

• For technical purposes, fatty oil is extracted from the seeds.
• Cake is used for mustard plasters, it can act as a substitute for mustard.
• Honey plant.
• Used as feed for rabbits.
• In China, it is grown as a vegetable.

The best time for sowing: early spring and June-July. You can also sow in August-September, but the grass will only sprout next year. Much less often sown in frozen soil before winter.

The soil is prepared in the same way as for cabbage. Shepherd's bag at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other is planted in rows every 20-25 cm. The seeds are lightly sprinkled with earth.

Grows well in partial shade and full sun. Does not require maintenance, but large weeds are recommended to weed out. Grows well in dry and poor soils.

You can learn even more interesting information about the shepherd's bag from the program "Ask Uncle Vova".