In order to ensure access to fresh vegetables from our plot or garden in winter, it is necessary to follow certain rules - not only about the method of storing vegetables, but also about the choice of varieties suitable for storage, how to grow them and the date of harvest. Here's how to store your onions and garlic, carrots, parsley, celery and many other vegetables throughout the winter.
Winter storage of vegetables
What vegetables can be stored over the winter
Forwinter storagesuitable beets, onions, garlic, horseradish, carrots, parsley, scorzonera, celery, leek and cabbage.Vegetables such as kohlrabi, cauliflower, radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers can also be stored, but only for a dozen or so days. The least shelf life is that of vegetables and leaf vegetables, which can be stored for no more than a few days.
Vegetable varieties for storage
Choosing a variety suitable for storage is not without significance, although nowadays in garden stores you can buy a very large rangevarieties vegetables that store wellWe give only examples of the best-keeping varieties.Of the Polish onion varieties, the late varieties are perfect for long-term storage: Sochaczewska (mild in taste) and Wolska (spicy) . Among the cabbages, we recommend crack-resistant: Aros F1 and Langedijker HOR. Among the carrot varieties, late varieties such as Java, Koral and Perfection have the best shelf life. In the case of beetroot, parsley and celery, most of the varieties grown in Poland have a similar shelf life.
When to harvest vegetables for storage
Another factor of considerable importance is the degree of maturity at the time of harvest. The bestare vegetablesgrown but not overripe. The harvest time is especially important for onions and garlic. Interestingly, in the case of root vegetables (beets, carrots, parsley), the correct sowing date is more important - sowing is delayed until the turn of May and June. We also use delayed sowing for Kamienna Głowa cabbage (sowing in early May). Sowing cabbage varieties that are more resistant to head breaking (from late March to mid-April).
Harvest vegetables for storagein rainless weather. The vegetables should be carefully inspected and only well-grown, he althy and undamaged ones that have not been frozen should be stored for storage.
Drying onions intended for storage
Winter storage conditions for vegetables
Duringstoring vegetables , the right temperature and humidity are decisive. The temperature should not drop below 0 ° C, nor should it increase too much, because the vegetables may then heat up and start re-development (growing into roots and leaves).
Storing onions and garlic
Taking into account the air humidity, stored vegetables are divided into those requiring high humidity during storage, and vegetables requiring low humidity. Onions and garlic require low air humidity. For this reason, they are stored in airy places, such as attics and gazebos on plots (only if we are sure that the vegetables stored in these places will not freeze). The temperature in storage rooms should be between 1 and 7 ° C. Store the onion and garlic hung in wreaths, stacked in boxes or laid in a thin layer on a straw mat.
Note! Onions should be dried before storing - leaves and outer scales must be completely dry.
Storing root vegetablesRoot vegetables such as carrots, parsley, celery and beetroot, as well as cruciferous vegetables require high air humidity during storage and temperature. 1 to 4 ° C. We can store them in unheated cellars. We put them loose or in boxes. Protect the root vegetables from drying out by covering them with moist sand or lining the crates with polyethylene film. On the other hand, we do not cover the cabbage with foil or sand.
Garlic tied in braids can be hung in the attic
Storing vegetables in a mound
If we cannot storevegetables in the basement, we can leave them on the plot or in the garden, arranged in mounds. For vegetables that store less well, such as carrots, parsley and celery, dig narrow and deep ditches (40 to 50 cm wide and 50 to 60 cm deep).Store beets and cabbage in slightly shallower ditches (20 to 30 cm deep). Pouring vegetables in ditches, we sprinkle them with thin layers of sandy soil. Cover them with a layer of soil (about 5 cm) on top and tamp them with a spade. At the time of frost, the covering layer should be thickened to several cm. Then, when frosts come and the ground on the surface of the mound is slightly cold, we make a winter cover - put a 20 to 30 cm layer of straw and then a dozen or so centimeters layer of soil.
Leaving the vegetables in the ground
Leeks and more frost-resistant varieties of parsley can be left in the ground for winter, in places where they grew. Cover the parsley with haulm or straw. We can also pit these plants. For this, we dig grooves in which we lay the vegetables. In the case of parsley, cover the roots with a 5 cm layer of soil. Before the onset of frosts, cover the pitted leeks and parsley roots with a 15 cm layer of leaves, haulm or straw.
Note!The mounds where we store vegetables are set up in different places every year to prevent the development of diseases on the stored vegetables. After the storage period, remove the leftover vegetables.
