The bleaching of vegetables is carried out in order to improve their taste. This only makes sense with some vegetables, including celery, endives, leeks and asparagus. This treatment involves discoloration of the above-ground parts of plants (leaves, petioles, shoots) by limiting the light that reaches them. Here, plants are sprinkled with soil or covered with covers, e.g. made of foil.
Ribbed celery bleaching
"By performing this procedure, you can significantly improve the taste of celery. As a result, the celery stalks will be softer in taste and lose bitterness.
Bleaching the celerystart 6 weeks before the harvest date (preferably when the celery grows to a height of about 30 cm). To do this, tie all the celery leaves into bunches, then wrap the petioles with cardboard, paper or black foil and tie with string. As the plants grow older, you can add a second collar to cover the stalks.
Note!Remember that only the celery stalks whiten. We do not whiten the leaves! "
Ribbed celery can also be bleached by sprinkling the plants with soil up to the leaf plates. Unfortunately, with this method, celery leaves smell of earth and therefore I do not recommend this method. It is also worth noting thatbleached celery , although tastier, contains less nutrients and vitamins. So it's up to you to choose whether you prefer a tastier or he althier celery.
Curd whitening
There are no similar doubts in the case of endive cultivation.In this case, bleaching is necessary. Green endive leaves have a very bitter taste and are basically unfit for consumption. After whitening, they turn yellow-white, lose their bitterness, become brittle and delicate in taste.
Start endive bleaching at the beginning of September(about 2 weeks before harvesting). Endive leaves should now be well developed. Choose a clear, dry day for the treatment. Collect the endive leaves in a bundle, and then tie them at the top (you can also wear an elastic band). The bound leaves should form a kind of rosette. They should be tied in such a way that the central leaves do not reach the rays of the sun. However, not too hard so that the leaves can still expand freely. The day of treatment should be dry, as wet leaves rot quickly after setting. For the same reason, water the endives with their leaves tied carefully so that no water gets inside the rosettes.
There is alsoanother way to whiten the endive Instead of tying the leaves into rosettes, you can simply cover the plants with upside down pots, cardboard boxes or black foil. This method seems to be simpler but requires the use of accessories to cover the plants. So choose the method that will be more convenient for you.
Note!Bleach the curls gradually, as needed. Bleached endive leaves are not suitable even for short-term storage and must be eaten immediately after harvest.
Therefore, the plants intended for storage are not white. Dig these endives just before the frost sets in, then pock them in the damp sand in a dark cellar. Pitted plants will slowly whiten and it will be possible to consume them gradually in the winter.Asparagus bleaching
As I mentioned before, you can also whiten asparagus. However, we do it on a different date - in early spring.Asparagus whitens by mounds , that is sprinkling the whitened parts of plants with soil.In spring, as soon as the bumps start to appear, pile mounds of earth over the rows of asparagus. Level the shafts with a rake and compact with a spatula. In the first year of asparagus harvesting, the embankments should be about 20 cm high from the soil surface and about 40 cm wide. In the following years of cultivation, the shafts should be higher (up to 35 cm) and wider (60 to 90 cm).
