From apples cook set of dishes and preparations, do stuffing for pies and both adult, and small children eat fresh. Wishing to keep harvest till the spring, gardeners look for effective storage techniques of apples. What options exist?
Apples – the sweet, juicy fruits having high nutritious properties and low caloric content – only 47 Kcal on 100 g of product. Organic acids, cellulose, iodine, potassium, iron, phosphorus and also number of useful vitamins and natural acids are part of fruits. Apples – not only beautiful fighters against excessive weight, due to the useful qualities, they bring harmful slags out of organism.
What needs to be known
The Lezhkost of apples directly depends on the chosen grades. It is known that the certain grade is suitable for each region. In the southern strip "The Crimean aurora", Johnathan, and midland is popular "Uelsi", Melba, Pepin, etc. is rich with "Antonovka".
Do not wait when the first apples fall. Those that have fallen – already overripe. If you look on situation, then estimate exterior of fruits, taste. Choose dry, windless day and start harvesting. It is more convenient to begin with the lower branches, gradually passing to top. Do not delay with cleaning – the overripe fruits spoil very quickly and are suitable only for autumn preparations – jam or compotes.
- That apples were stored longer, break them together with fruit stem;
- Do not wash and do not wipe fruits – it is possible to damage protective film on peel;
- With dents, traces of damages or spoiled by insects, fruits are not suitable for storage.
Ways
If to leave the sorted apples in buckets or bags, long they will not stay. One begun to rot fruit – certain death of all others. Prepare wooden or plastic boxes with openings. Wrap each apple in the newspaper and put on box bottom. It is important that fruits did not concern each other. Having covered the first layer with paper, make some more apple rows. Do not go too far – if there will be too much rows, the first layer can be damaged and decay.
One more way: cut fruit stem at apples and put fruits in plastic bag (no more than 4 kg). Tie package, and do holes for intake of air. Packages store at 0 temperature in cellar. Part of fruit stem is cut off in order that it accidentally has not damaged thin skin of neighbour's apples. It is possible to powder apples with sawdust, damp sand, onions peel, to impose with moss or fragmented peat. For this purpose it is necessary to cover box bottom with the chosen material, for example, sawdust. Try to stack fruits tails up, and top layer of sawdust make not less than 8 cm.
If you have no cellar, it is possible to dig out hole in kitchen garden, to submerge there box with the packed apples on packages, to cover top and to dig. Such option suits more southerners as the soil not strongly freezes through. In more severe climate it is possible also shovel about the earth to break.
Some gardeners subject harvest to radiation by ultraviolet rays. Having established lamp at distance not less than 1.5 meters, it is enough to take fruits under the influence of ultraviolet of 15-20 minutes, having inverted once for uniformity.
Do not use straw for storage – apples absorb unpleasant smell. If have dug fruits to the earth, then it is possible to tie string to packages. As soon as it wants to regale – pull package for string and it will jump out on surface.