Here also the long-awaited autumn time has come. Gardeners-gardeners have seriously thought of how to manage without loss and to keep carrots harvest for the long autumn and winter period. The question is quite relevant if all preparations are redone long ago, and carrots, as before, all shelves in the fridge are filled.
What should be known
Carrots – the useful, vitamin-rich vegetable which is hotly loved by adults and children. Any dish does not do without addition of the browned carrot with onions or garlic. The trouble is that carrots – quickly spoiling vegetable and to preserve it for long time quite difficult. Not everyone knows that storage conditions in many respects depend on the correct harvesting.
Before planting carrots, write out date of crops in notebook and calculate approximate date of excavation of the ripened root crops. On reverse side of seed bags it is in detail written when to put and when to reap crop – numbers change depending on the chosen grades. If you ignore instruction, then shortly risk to lose all harvest. The carrots which are dug out before term will not gain the necessary amount of vitamins and to sense from it will be a little. Overripe, will be tidbit for insects.
It is better to use the vegetables damaged by insects for preservation or in food at once. The yellow, hung tops of vegetable on bed – signal that carrots have completely ripened. Favorable day for digging – dry, windless weather.
Having picked vegetables, at once cut off tops of vegetable – otherwise, all vitamins will leave on feed of greens. It is better to cut off tops of vegetable in two calling – the first time slightly higher than back, having left several centimeters, and then at the roots, having left equal cut. After such thorough manipulations, vegetables will lie much longer.
The next stage – washing and drying. Do not touch root crops within week – let's all mechanical damages and scratches drag on and to dry out properly in the sun. Before cleaning, vegetables once again look round, and unsuitable jump out.
Storage, ways
That carrots were stored long, fill on bottom of boxes damp sand, layer to 5 cm. It is better to choose sand loamy, it will interfere with disease of vegetables and will create necessary ventilation of air. Stack carrots so that there was small distance between root crops, powder from above with sand. Such way is ideal for cellars and subfloors. The necessary consistence, on one bucket of sand will require water liter. Use not only damp, but also dry sand.
If there is no wish to potter with sand, it can be replaced with sawdust.
One more option – plastic bags. It is undesirable to tie them as inside moisture can be formed. Bags can be the different size – from 5 to 30 kg. In open form they keep optimum temperature of 96-98 degrees, what is necessary for carrots. Packages can be replaced with normal, kitchen pans: just lay out vegetables, cover them with gauze or napkin, densely close.
For long storage use solution from clay. Fill up bucket with clay to half, fill in with water and leave for day. After clay bulks up, add to it still water, and wait for 3 days. Water will rise by several cm, and clay will turn into kasheobrazny medley. Lay plastic bags on container bottom, and lay out carrots. Fill in with ready solution. As soon as clay dries up, it is possible to repeat the procedure – spread carrots and fill in with clay as puff pie.
Sometimes carrots are stored in newspapers, enveloping each vegetable separately. If not really it is a lot of carrots, it is grated, displayed on bags and sent to the deep freeze.
The main thing that should be remembered – favorable temperature for carrots at any storage technique from 0 to-1 degrees.