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How to store vegetables - harvesting and requirements
To enjoy the harvest of vegetables from your garden all winter, you must properly preserve it. From this article you will learn which vegetables can be stored in the basement and which ones to freeze. Are all varieties of vegetables suitable for long-term storage, how do the requirements of each root crop for humidity and temperature, and the shelf life of vegetables differ.
Content
- What vegetables can be stored?
- Varieties of vegetables for long-term storage
- Picking a crop video
- How to store potatoes video
- How to store carrots
- How to store beets
- How to store onions and garlic video
- Save cabbage
What vegetables can be stored?
Storage of vegetables in winter fresh is not possible for all species, for example, cucumbers and broccoli are stored for only two weeks at a temperature of 10C, at 12C, tomatoes and greens are stored for 2-3 days. In this case, vegetables are pickled or salted for the winter. Tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, bell peppers and zucchini can be frozen. What vegetables can be stored fresh: beets, onions, garlic, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, cabbage.
Varieties of vegetables for long-term storage
We will not leave without attention the choice of varieties of vegetables for long-term preservation, as a rule, these are late varieties.
Carrot: Grossa, Cardinal, Queen of the Autumn, Moscow Winter.
Beet: Bohemia, Bon, Cylinder, Bordeaux.
Potatoes: Lugovskoy, Uladara, Dolphin, Scrub.
Bow: Winter, Brunswick, Delight, Kopra.
Cabbage: Zimovka, Amager, Orbit, Moscow late.
Picking a crop
Of great importance is the degree of maturity of vegetables, vegetables should already be ripe, but not overripe. It is almost impossible to accurately determine the maturity of vegetables by eye, for this it is necessary to recall the approximate date of sowing. The period of the growing season of vegetables depends on the variety and, as already mentioned, on the planting date. Carefully dig up root vegetables; damaged vegetables are not suitable for storage.
Storage of vegetables for the winter with signs of disease (white plaque, rot, stains) will spoil the entire crop.
Vegetable storage is recommended in the basement; it should be dry and dark, with ventilation installed.
How to store potatoes
Harvested, ripe potatoes must be cleaned from the ground and dried. In good conditions, the loss of potatoes is minimal - 3-20%, for this you need the proper microclimate. Potatoes need a dark and dry room with good ventilation. The root crop is poured into wooden crates with a layer of about 1.5 m, the boxes for storing vegetables should not come into contact with concrete walls and the floor of the store.
If the basement where the potatoes are stored is freezing, the bottom of the box is covered with straw with a thickness of 30-40 cm, during the laying of the root crop it is advisable to insulate the side walls in the same way and cover the already filled box with straw.
The optimum storage temperature of potatoes is 4-6C, humidity is 85-90%. A decrease in temperature by 1-2C will lead to a darkening of the crop, the potato acquires a sweetish taste. To reduce the sugar content, the air temperature is increased to 10C for several weeks, under these conditions, sugar turns into starch.
How to store carrots
For the successful storage of carrots, it is important to choose the right time for collection - the fruit has ripened, but not aged. This phase of maturity begins when the greens of carrots acquire a brownish tint. Carrots are harvested from the beds during cool and cloudy weather without precipitation.
Storage of vegetables and fruits in one room is not desirable, fruits emit a lot of ethylene, which affects the quality of the root crop. In the cellars, carrots are stored in containers or on the floor laying in heaps of 20 kg., In any case, layers of wet sand are added during laying. Carrots are afraid of frosts, high humidity and a temperature of 0-2C are important. The average shelf life is 2-3 months. If vegetables are stored in appropriate conditions, the shelf life is extended to 5 months.
How to store beets
For long-term storage of beets, you will need a container with wet sand or sawdust, for this purpose plastic containers / buckets with a lid are suitable. Recommended humidity in the room where the container will stand - 95%, temperature 0-4C. Before laying, the roots of beets cannot be cut, the tops are removed. With this method of storage, the root crop does not lose its beneficial properties for 2-3 months. Beet frost is not as bad as potato; frozen beets do not change their quality for about 8 months.
How to store onions and garlic
Onions and garlic ripen around July, the first sign of root crops ripening is leaf wilting. A few days before harvesting, root crops are not watered; avoid picking onions during wet weather. The harvest is knitted in pigtails of 15-20 pcs.
Unlike other root crops, onions are well stored not only in the basements, but also in unheated parts of the house (entrance hall, porch, balcony). Follow some rules - air humidity is not more than 65% for onions and 40% for garlic, temperature 0-1C.
Save cabbage
Cabbage picking starts in dry, hot weather. The upper leaves are removed so that on the root part there are parts of leaves 3 cm long, so we minimize damage to the vegetable. Any almost imperceptible damage - scratches or dents, increases the susceptibility of cabbage to pathogenic organisms.
Cabbage is stored in boxes, vegetables are laid neatly, not in the mountains. When installing the boxes, the distance between the boxes and the walls of the room is taken into account, which will ensure good air circulation, maintain a single value of temperature and humidity. The optimal storage conditions for cabbage - humidity 90-95% and temperature 0C, the storage period is 6-8 months. Cabbage is very sensitive to ethylene, storage with fruits is not allowed. The vegetable darkens at a temperature below -1C and is susceptible to disease when the temperature rises above 3 C.
