Details on how to store carrots in the cellar in the winter in sugar bags

Autumn is the time to harvest. A lot of time and effort was spent in order for a plate of freshly prepared carrot salad to be pleasing to the eye. However, it is not enough to harvest the crop, you need to be able to save it, because if improperly stored, the carrot quickly loses its color and flavor, becomes dry and tasteless.

The best way to store carrots is to store them in bags. Let's try to figure out what's what in this article.

Useful properties of carrots

Orange root vegetable brings a lot of health benefits, due to its composition.

  1. It contains beta-carotene, it is a form of vitamin A and is responsible for the sharpness of our eyesight.
  2. Provides our body with B vitamins, responsible for the activity of the nervous system. These vitamins have a calming, stabilizing effect, help reduce depression and form a good mood.
  3. It contains many essential micro and macro elements, the most important of which are calcium and magnesium. Calcium is responsible for normal muscle contraction, and magnesium for the stability of the nervous system.
  4. Regular consumption of carrots raises immunity and helps reduce the incidence of infections.
  5. Stimulates the production of gastric juice, saliva, intestinal juice and thereby improves digestion.
  6. When applied externally, mashed carrot masks even out the complexion and help reduce skin inflammation.
  7. Increases the production of breast milk in lactating women.
  8. Used to treat bronchitis, tracheitis and other inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

How to prepare a root crop for the tab in the fall?

Vegetable can be stored for a long time, however Before storing it, you need to follow a few simple rules:

  • Root crops must be unpeeled with stuck soil, but only if the soil is dry.
  • All root crops must be dense and healthy, free from damage, decay, and mildew, since during storage damage to one root can spread to neighboring ones.
  • If the harvest was carried out in rainy weather, then it is better to dry the carrots a little before laying, this will reduce the risk of mold during prolonged storage.
  • Do not pull with the tab of the roots. From the moment of harvest to placing it in storage should not take more than 24 hours.

Can bag packaging be used to save crops?

Reference. It is possible to store carrots in sugar bags, but it should be noted that during storage vegetables emit small amounts of carbon dioxide.

If you close the bags tightly and close the neighborhood, then carbon dioxide will spoil the vegetables and start the process of rotting.

Storing the tubers in sugar bags is not difficult. You should either make a few holes for the release of carbon dioxide, or put the bags vertically and loosely tie them. You can also pour roots with moisture-absorbing materials: chalk, wood ash, sawdust.

Pros:

  1. Compactness.
  2. Simple harvesting technology.
  3. Fewer sprouted root crops compared to other harvesting techniques.

Minuses:

  1. Bags should be untied from time to time to let the carrots dry out as moisture accumulates in them.
  2. The roots are closely related to each other, which contributes to the rapid spread of rot.

Storage preparation

What you need to have:

  • Drying place for root crops. It should be well ventilated, preferably located outside, but not in direct sunlight and protected from rain.
  • Tara for bookmarking.
  • Saturated potassium permanganate solution, if a lot of damaged root crops.

Storage Preparation:

  1. Harvested vegetables must be sufficiently mature. Unripe carrots will be poorly stored, have an unpleasant taste and excessive hardness. Overripe carrots contain a lot of sugar and are "bait" for pests, therefore, will be strongly affected.

    If you can't remember exactly what was written on the bag of seeds about the ripening time of this species, then do not despair.

    On a note. Look at the tops. When the lower leaves of the tops turn yellow, then you need to collect carrots.
  2. Carefully pull the roots out of the ground. If you can not pull out, then dig, trying not to damage the tubers.

  3. If the weather is dry, then shake the tuber lightly enough to clear it from the ground. If the weather is wet, then smeared mud does not need to wipe something, you should wash the carrots with warm water.

  4. Crop tops. This is done in two stages. First, we cut the tops at a level of 1-2 cm from the root, then we cut the tops and the top of the root 1.5-2 cm.

  5. Dry for 1-2 weeks, spreading out in one layer, on the place prepared for drying in advance.

  6. Damaged pests or rot tubers should be treated with a saturated solution of potassium permanganate. To prepare the solution, we will need boiled, cooled water and potassium permanganate crystals. Pour the crystals into the water, stirring well, until the solution turns dark purple.

  7. Root crops are laid in the container for storage.

Algorithm of actions when placed for the winter in the basement or cellar

In order to keep the carrots in sugar bags (or, alternatively, polyethylene), you should act as follows:

  1. We take bags with a capacity from 5 to 30 kg.
  2. Fill them with dried carrots for 2/3.
  3. Tightly not fasten, set vertically.
  4. Choose a place to store. Ideally, this is a basement, but in plastic bags, carrots are quietly stored in the apartment.
  5. If there is high humidity in the storage area (basement, kitchen, hot and humid climate), then pour carrots with finely grated chalk, it adsorbs moisture.
    Attention! Overdoing with chalk is not worth it, you need to achieve the effect of "dusting".
  6. Reserve for the winter. Periodically check the contents of the package for the presence of condensate, if it is formed, then completely untie the package before it is dried, then again loosely tied.
  7. If you store carrots in the apartment, the shelf life is limited to 3 months. If you store carrots in the basement, the shelf life is increased to 6 months.
We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with other ways and places of vegetable storage:

  • Root storage in the cellar.
  • Storing carrots in the sand.
  • Storage of carrots and beets in the basement in packages.
  • Carrot storage in sawdust.
  • Storing carrots in a warm cellar.
  • Storing carrots in the moss.

Possible problems

During storage, such troubles are possible:

  • Mechanical damage to the lower layers of vegetables in the bag by the upper layers.
  • The rapid spread of infection within a single bag.
  • Condensate accumulation in the bottom of the bag and rotting of the lower layers of carrots.

To prevent problems, you can additionally cut several holes in the bag, for better evaporation of moisture.

Also some experienced gardeners recommend pouring carrots with wood ash or sawdust for disinfection and restrictions on the spread of rot, if you suddenly overlooked a damaged root vegetable.

So, carrots can be stored in different ways, so that it remains juicy, tasty, fresh, but storing in bags is the most affordable way that does not require special preparations. Everything you need for this can be found in any home and as a result carrot dishes will delight you for a long time.

Watch the video: How To Store Potatoes (December 2024).