How to preserve carrots until spring: a variety of ways

Ways to store carrots until spring

Many owners of summer cottages are just starting to harvest carrots. Summer, June, sowing must be removed before frost. To preserve the harvest, you need to take into account some important points.

It is better to dig up root crops in dry weather. The important thing is that you need to cut off the tops immediately, otherwise they will take moisture away from the root crop. Then dry or wash, it all depends on how the vegetable is stored.

Many gardeners believe that carrots should be planted in early spring, then they will have time to ripen in time. The host of the Do-It-Yourself Garden website tells how you can plant carrots in the summer and grow a magnificent harvest.

Summer sowing of orange vegetables has its advantages:

• The soil is well heated, so the seeds begin to germinate faster.
• The daylight hours are long, which is good for the taste of the vegetable and filling it with vitamins.
• The carrot fly and psyllid cease activity by mid-June, so they will not spoil the plantings.
• The harvest from late sowing is better stored.
• The root crops will be of medium size, without a “beard”.
• The following varieties are suitable for summer sowing: Queen of Autumn and Perfect.

But there are also disadvantages:

• In the first days after sowing, it is necessary to water twice a day so that the soil is shed 2 centimeters deep.
• When the shoots appear, until they get stronger, you need to water them every day, preferably by sprinkling.
• If there are frequent rains and wind, then the bed should be covered with non-woven material.

Preparation

It is recommended to immediately remove the dug carrots from the tops, leaving 1-2 centimeter tails. Then wash in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then dry, then put in plastic bags and tie. In the bags, the fruits will release carbon dioxide, which will help keep the carrots at their best until spring.

If a green top is visible on a root crop, then these root crops should be used immediately and not stored for the winter. When kept in any conditions, these carrots will soon become bitter and tasteless.

It is better to grate fine ones with a green top, then dry them in air or in an electric dryer. Grated and dried carrots can be stored in cotton bags. You don’t have to dry it, just grate it, put it in portions in plastic bags and store it in the freezer.

Features of saving in an earthen pit

How to store carrots in a hole outside in winter? No less good is the method when storage is organized in a hole dug on the site . In this case, it is important to follow not only the technology for organizing the storage location, but also for digging up the crop and preparing root crops for planting. These rules are simple, but they help preserve the crop for a long time with good quality indicators:

• before digging out of the soil products that will be stored, there is no need to water ;
• should be dug using a pitchfork , carefully and carefully;
• There is no need to shake the soil from root vegetables - either by shaking the pitchfork or by hitting the vegetables against each other. With such mechanical impact, root crops receive microtraumas, which impairs their preservation and leads to premature rotting;
• lay out the carrots to dry - as you usually do with potatoes;
• after drying, carefully remove excess soil ;
• trim the tops - it will be better if they are cut to the very top of the root crop. The maximum that can remain from the tops on a root crop is greenery no more than 2-3 cm high.
• sort root crops.
  Separating for storage underground smooth vegetables that do not have damage, signs of rotting and deviations from the norm in the form of excessively thin or twisted root vegetables.

After this, it is necessary to select for laying in the pit - for this purpose, small specimens .

After this, a place for laying is prepared. You should choose a place that is not subject to flooding by meltwater in the spring.

Stage-by-stage organization

How to store carrots in the ground in winter? Once the vegetables for storage have been selected, you can begin storing them. For this:

• dig a hole . Its depth in latitudes where winters are quite mild and there is no deep freezing of the soil may not exceed 30-35 cm . Where winters are more severe, that is, in central Russia, it is necessary to equip a hole at least 50-60 cm . The width in both cases is approximately 50 cm;
• coarse sand to a thickness of 2-5 cm is poured into the bottom of the pit - this protects it from contact with the soil and ensures air exchange;
• then a layer of carrots is laid, which is covered with sand - and so on until 10-15 cm remains to the edge of the pit;
• Having covered the last layer with sand, they are covered with earth so that the top layer protrudes above the edge of the hole by about 8-10 cm. If the winters are severe enough , then the top layer of earth can be increased to 50 cm;
• After this, they begin to insulate , which consists of leaves that have fallen from fruit trees, peat, sawdust, as well as spruce branches - to protect against pests . Additionally, you can install repellers and feeders with poison so that rodents do not have the opportunity to get to the storage area.

In the spring, after opening the storage, you will have excellent quality root vegetables .

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Proven storage techniques

There are other methods for storing carrots for the winter, so that you can have strong, sweet root vegetables for the table until spring.

In sand

According to many gardeners, the most successful method of storage in sand is:

• Place paper on the bottom of the box without holes.
• Then add a layer of sand. Place a layer of vegetables on it.
• Next, add a layer of sand again. Then again a row of carrots.

If stored in a dry basement, you can use slightly damp sand. For better storage of carrots, it is advisable to mix sand with chalk or use chalk without sand, generously dusting the root vegetables with it.

The “queen” of autumn will last until spring if you use this method:

• After drying, cut off the growing point by 1 centimeter.
• Place the vegetables in the sun for two hours to allow the cut growing point to heal.
• Place the carrots in a dark place to dry for a week.
• The next stage is disinfection. Here the question arises: to wash vegetables or not? No, if the carrots are well dried, then there is no need to wash them.
• Next, disinfection is carried out. Dilute potassium permanganate until purple.
• Place the vegetables in the solution for an hour, then dry.
• Place in boxes or buckets with dry sand.

Sawdust

Coniferous sawdust containing phytoncides suppresses the appearance of fungi and bacteria. Carrots in sawdust are laid out in the same way as in sand - in layers.

In packages

There is another proven method. To apply it, you need to store the carrots washed. If the root vegetables are too dirty, then you need to wash them twice. First in plain water, and then in a soda solution (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).

Then the root vegetables need to be dried, the top and tail cut off by 0.5-0.7 cm. In this form, leave the carrots to lie for a while so that the cut area dries out. Then put it in plastic bags, trying to free the bag from air. Beets can also be stored in the same way. Then it’s good to keep the bags in the cellar until spring.

Onion peel

Place the vegetables in bags, sprinkle with onion peels, then shake thoroughly so that the peels cover each carrot. Onion peels act as an antiseptic. Thanks to this property, carrots in bags will be protected from rotting and harmful microorganisms.

Clay

To prevent carrots from becoming flabby, you can put a clay “shirt” on them. Dilute the clay with water to form a clay slurry. Then dip each carrot in the pulp and dry. A lot of work, but the effect is worth it! Dried carrots can even be stored on the balcony or in the basement.

bed

Leave some of the carrots in the garden, cut off the tops, not even leaving the tails. Cover the bed with sand, then put a film, then cover it with peat or humus. There is a chance to have fresh carrots before the new harvest.

Cellar

Having a cellar allows you to preserve vegetables well until the next harvest. An important condition is that the best temperature for storing this vegetable is from 0 to +4 degrees. If the temperature in the cellar is higher, the vegetables will begin to wither and sprout. If the temperature is lower, the root crops will freeze and rot. Humidity matters too. For carrots, the best humidity is 60%.

Features of root crops important for winter storage

Carrots are part of the group of root vegetables with thin integumentary peridermal tissue (peel). Another feature of the culture is its weak water-retaining property. As a result, carrots quickly fade. For long-term storage, it is important to create conditions that will slow down the evaporation of moisture.

Carrots are not characterized by a state of deep dormancy - root crops can begin to germinate immediately after harvesting. To ensure fresh preservation of fruits, it is necessary that the temperature in the storage area be low. With high humidity in the basement or pit, root crops grow, forming a large volume of vegetative mass.

Unripe or poorly formed fruits begin to deteriorate due to the following structural features:

1. Excessively thin integumentary tissues (2-3 versus 5-7 in ripe ones).
2. Lower level of suburnization of integumentary tissues.
3. Reduced supply of nutrients in the composition.

IMPORTANT! If the structure is disrupted, the root crop loses resistance to various diseases. To prevent this from happening, you need to carefully dig up the carrots, trim the tops, and protect the crop from the sun and drafts.

The thin peel cannot withstand even minimal frosts. After thawing, damaged skin loses juice, becomes slimy and is an easy target for pathogenic microorganisms. During storage, it is important that the temperature does not drop below 0 (more information about the storage temperature of root vegetables can be found here).

On our website you can find other interesting information about the orange vegetable:

• How to dry in the oven while preserving vitamins?
• Is it possible to freeze grated meat for the winter?

Advantages of storing in moss

Many gardeners have found a great way: putting root vegetables in a bed - in moss. Crops harvested at the age of 100-110 days are placed in sphagnum moss. The use of moss has its advantages:

• Moss is a kind of preservative that retains the required amount of carbon dioxide inside the container, which is useful for good storage;
• This preservative is very light, so its weight does not weigh down boxes or buckets of carrots;
• It is hygroscopic, so you don’t have to worry about air moisture exchange; in a dry state it can absorb moisture;
• It is useful to cover root crops with moss to prevent them from rotting;
• It has the amount of iodine that gives moss excellent bactericidal properties.
• The disadvantage of using this plant product is that sphagnum moss grows only in a certain area.

Sphagnum moss is a perennial plant that grows around swamps. When harvesting wet moss, you first need to dry it, then put it in plastic bags. Harvested sfangum moss can last for 3 months in a cool place.

How to lay in moss

First of all, you need to trim the tops of the carrots, then the growth point to 1 cm. Then the root vegetables need to be dried in the open air. Keep unwashed and dried carrots in a cool room for a day. Next, place the prepared root vegetables in layers, alternating with moss, in wooden or plastic boxes. There is no need to pack it too closely.

The boxes with the harvest must be placed in a prepared room, that is, disinfected from mold and fungi. To do this, the basement walls must be treated with a 2% bleach solution (1 kg per 150 sq. m), and whitened 2 weeks before harvest. For whitewashing, you need to dilute 2 kg of slaked lime and 300 g of copper sulfate in 10 liters of water. For 1 sq. meter of wall will need 0.5 liters of solution.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

There are different alternative methods of saving:

• in plastic bags,
• clay mash,
• peat,
• pine sawdust.

The sand method has its advantages compared to them. That is why it remains one of the most popular among gardeners.

The advantages are:

1. 
   A stable temperature is maintained throughout the entire period.

2. Carrots receive the necessary moisture and do not lose their elasticity.
3. Free gas exchange between vegetables and air occurs through sand.
4. The possibility of fungus penetrating into the filler is excluded.
5. Sand is an accessible and inexpensive material that can be reused.

The “sandy” storage method has fewer disadvantages. They are mainly related to the labor intensity of the process.

Firstly, the carrots should not be laid in bulk, but in neat layers. This is painstaking work that requires patience and time. Secondly, when getting vegetables in winter, you have to peel them.

Thirdly, it is necessary to clearly calculate the humidity of the sand . The last point is very important, since if it is violated, the root crops either wither or rot.

How to store crops in the refrigerator

If there is no basement, then the harvest can be stored in the refrigerator. It cannot be stored there for a long time, since there is no appropriate humidity. And for several months it is quite possible to put it in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator.

First, the vegetables must be washed without damaging the top layer of the root vegetable. A damaged root vegetable will not be stored for long and will begin to rot. And a rotten vegetable will begin to infect its neighbors.

From personal experience. Wash the vegetables, disinfect them in a manganese solution, then dry them. It is very important that the root vegetables are completely dry. After drying, place the dried carrots, 5-6 pieces each, into small linen bags and tie them on top. Place the bags in boxes; it is better if the carrots stand up rather than lie down. In this way, safety until spring will be ensured.

And if you don’t have a large refrigerator at home, how to store vegetables? As you know, carrots love special storage conditions - a constant temperature of 1-5 degrees, high humidity - up to 70%, limited air access.

Such conditions can be created on the balcony by installing a box with thick walls there. To preserve a small amount of the harvest, you need to wrap each dry carrot in several layers of newspaper and put it in a box.

A small amount of root vegetables, even without a refrigerator, can be stored in a three-liter glass jar. Place dry carrots in a jar, do not close the lid, and place in a cool, dark place. So it will lie for two months, remaining fresh and juicy.

Recommendations and common mistakes

If the basic rules and conditions are observed, carrots can be stored underground without problems throughout the winter and will not spoil. Several common mistakes lead to rotting:

• storage of initially low-quality diseased specimens;
• close arrangement of root vegetables in a box;
• excessive humidity or too dry air in the underground;
• changes in room temperature.

It is recommended to store root vegetables of the hardiest varieties for winter storage. Carrots with a short shelf life should be consumed immediately or canned.

Attention! Only fully ripened fruits can be placed underground for the winter. Unripe vegetables will quickly deteriorate, dry out or begin to rot.

If there is no cellar and basement. What to do?

In city apartments you can also find a place to store crops. A small amount of the harvest can be placed in vacuum plastic bags, then put in the refrigerator. But carrots cannot be stored this way for a long time.

It is best to enclose each carrot in a clay shell, then dry thoroughly. Then put the dried product into bags and transfer it to the coldest place in the apartment.

Clay will preserve the root culture from moisture evaporation and disease. In addition, oxygen and carbon dioxide will easily pass through the clay.

The root crop can be placed in paper boxes and each layer can be topped with garden horseradish. Horseradish will release essential oils that will prevent the development of fungal diseases. Close the boxes tightly, then place them in a cool place at home.

Paraffin

Carrots can also be stored in nets if you first dip them in paraffin.

• You need to add a little beeswax to the paraffin to get an elastic shell.
• Heat the paraffin, dip each carrot in it one by one, then dry it and put it in nets.
• With this method, the crop will be stored for 4-5 months in a city apartment.

Chalk

The chalky suspension will prevent the root culture from rotting. Mix chalk with water to make a paste. Dip the carrots into it and dry it with a sponge. A layer of chalk will prevent fresh root vegetables from rotting.

Advantages and disadvantages

Although this storage method is not the longest, it is quite convenient and hygienic. And plastic bags have firmly entered our everyday life and are accessible and cheap.

Carrots do not become dirty during this storage, but their condition will have to be monitored more often than when stored by other methods, because polyethylene itself does not allow air to pass through, so you should be careful when packing to make the holes for ventilation large enough.

What varieties of carrots are best stored?

Let's consider varieties of carrots that are better suited to long-term storage.

1

Nantes 4

Early variety - carrots can be harvested 50-60 days after planting. Unpretentious, has juicy pulp.

2

Gueranda

A tough carrot variety that stores well and spoils slowly. However, it has rather coarse flesh.

3

Moscow winter

Crispy and tough carrots, the length most often does not exceed 15 cm, are perfectly stored.

4

Forto

Carrots are very healthy and juicy, suitable for making juices. The variety is mid-early - harvested 80-90 days after planting.

5

Queen of Autumn

Another mid-season variety with tender and juicy pulp. Medium-sized carrots, suitable for long-term storage.

Frequently asked questions about storage and their answers

Even experienced gardeners are often faced with questions about how and where to properly store carrots so that they do not spoil until the next season. Let's look at the most popular questions on this topic.

If I dig up carrots half a month later, will they be more mature and stronger and will last longer? No, the optimal time for digging carrots is 100-120 days after planting. Is it necessary to sort carrots in winter and spring, or is it better to leave them in a calm state? It is optimal to sort through and sort out bad carrots once every 1-1.5 months.