Fresh vegetables all year round - how to store beets in the cellar in winter: creating ideal conditions and avoiding spoilage of the product

Beets are one of the most valuable and healthy vegetables with a unique composition of minerals and vitamins. It is always more pleasant to eat vegetables grown on your own plot. Gardeners always know what and how the plant was fed, how the root crops were collected from the garden, what variety tastierwhich one is stored longer in the cellar in winter.

Let's see how to do it right grow, collect and preserve the beet harvest at home for the whole winter.

Varieties suitable for long-term storage

Breeders select beet varieties that differ in both taste and shelf life. As a rule, these are late-ripening varieties that produce crops in late summer - early autumn:

• Egyptian flat;
• Bona;
• Cylinder;
• Renova;
• Detroit.

One of the main characteristics of such varieties is excellent shelf life.

Reference. Keeping quality is the ability of vegetables to retain all their qualities for a certain time. This is a sign of a specific variety. It is associated with the peculiarities of the structure and composition of the fruit.

There are 3 types of vegetables: with long, medium and short shelf life. Beets belong to the first type.

How to properly grow and prepare crops for long-term storage

Beetroot loves chernozem, loamy, sandy loam soils. soil, rich in organic matter. The beds begin to be prepared in the fall.Choose a place where carrots, beets and other root vegetables did not grow in the previous season. Sowing begins in the spring, when the ground temperature at a depth of 10-15 cm has reached +10°C.

Important! Leave a distance between seeds of 4-5 cm, between rows - 20-25 cm. Sowing depth - 2.5-3 cm. To feed the seedlings, use mullein or bird droppings diluted with water 1:10.

Beds with young seedlings are thinned out 2 times:

1. Primary thinning – when the first true leaves appear. The distance between the “tails” is 9-10 cm.
2. Secondary - with a tops height of 7-8 cm. The distance between the bushes is 10-15 cm.

Beets are susceptible to fungal diseases, which significantly reduce the shelf life of the vegetable. The root beetle is harmful to young seedlings. Downy mildew, phomosis, cercospora - for root crops. Infection with fungal diseases can be avoided.

It is enough to follow a few rules:

1. Do not plant beets where beets and other root vegetables grew.
2. Do not plant in acidic heavy soils.
3. Choose varieties that are genetically resistant to these diseases.

Harvest from the garden in the fall, after the leaves begin to lose color and fall to the ground. This is done before the first frost, in dry, cool weather, in late August - early September.

The soil is shaken off or the root crop is wiped with a dry cloth. After this, the beets are laid out in an even layer to dry. In dry weather - outside, in rainy weather - in a well-ventilated area.

After drying, remove the tops. This cannot be done by twisting. The tops should be trimmed, keeping a small tip, so as not to damage the root itself.

Attention! Proper cultivation and harvesting harvest – the key to successful storage for 7-8 months.

Preparing the cellar for winter storage of vegetables

The shelf life of the harvest depends not only on the quality of the harvested vegetables, but also on the properly prepared premises.

Rules for setting up a cellar:

1. Lack of sunlight. There should be no windows in the room.
2. Stable temperature conditions. One wall of the cellar must be in contact with the outer wall of the building.
3. Reliable waterproofing. Inaccessibility of the basement to groundwater.
4. Constant air circulation.
5. Maintaining humidity levels.

It is ventilation that ensures air circulation and maintains humidity levels at the required level. To organize constant air circulation in a closed room, you need to equip it with air ducts. The simplest solution is to cut ventilation ducts in the basement walls.

Install an asbestos, metal or plastic pipe with a diameter of 10-15 cm so that it protrudes from the wall outside the cellar by 5-10 cm. This is a natural type ventilation system. Warm air from the basement rises to the ceiling, and cold air from the street takes its place. The difference in temperature inside the building and outside leads to constant air exchange.

Attention! The farther apart the ventilation ducts are located, the more intense the air circulation in the basement.

With humidity up to 85% and air temperature from +4 to +10°C, the cellar is the optimal place for storing root vegetables, including beets. Before sending the harvest to the basement, check that there is no mold or mildew, that the humidity and temperature are normal, and that there are no traces of rodent activity.If necessary, treat the room, provide ventilation, place shelves for storing beets at a level of 10-15 cm from the floor.

How to store beets in the cellar in winter

Beets are a vegetable that we eat all year round. There are several options for storing it in winter. It stores well in the freezer, as blanks in sterile jars in the basement.

Let's look at the most popular ways to store beets in the cellar.

In sand or sawdust

Root vegetables are laid out in layers in boxes without storage holes. Each layer is sprinkled with sand or sawdust, which absorbs excess moisture for the beets. The wet filler is changed once a month for a new dry one.

Storage in bulk on pallets or in pyramids on shelves

To do this, cover the surface with burlap or a layer of straw and lay the beets on it. Thanks to natural airflow, condensation does not accumulate on root crops. Air circulation in the room prevents them from deteriorating.

In boxes and bags

For better preservation of root crops, leaves of wormwood, rowan, tansy, and fern are placed in bags and boxes. These plants release phytoncides, natural antiseptics, into the air, which prevents pathogens from multiplying.

With this storage method, beets are generously sprinkled with table salt. Being a natural absorbent, it has the same effect as plant leaves.

Important!2-3 layers of vegetables are placed in the boxes, no more.

In plastic bags

This storage method allows you to free up space on the shelves and floor for storing other winter supplies.

A plastic bag with root vegetables is hung from the ceiling of the cellar on a hook or nail. Holes are made at the bottom of the bag to allow condensation to drain.It is not recommended to tie the bag tightly.

In clay glaze

This is an ancient way to store crops. It is not very popular because it is labor intensive.

Prepare a clay solution with a consistency similar to village sour cream. Place the root vegetables in this mixture, mix gently, remove and let them dry. Re-dip the “clay balls” into the solution, dry and store.

This method will protect the beets from the spread of diseases and premature rotting.

Good neighborhood

Many summer residents recommend storing beets by scattering them on potatoes. This is truly the simplest and most correct way to store root vegetables. Beets love high humidity. Potatoes, on the other hand, store better in the dry climate of the basement. During storage, beets absorb all the moisture that has evaporated from the potatoes.

Onions and garlic are also excellent neighbors for vegetables. They, like the leaves of rowan and fern, saturate the air with phytoncides, preserving the harvest from disease.

How to save a “sick” crop

Beets often get sick and begin to rot even if all storage rules are followed. To prevent this from happening, crops sent for storage must be periodically inspected.

If during inspection you find that black hard spots have appeared on the beets, this is a sign of diseases such as phomosis and fusarium. They make the vegetable unsuitable for consumption. Remove these root crops from general storage to prevent the rest of the crop from becoming infected.

Shelf life of beets in the cellar

Beets begin to be harvested in September. Sometimes, taking into account the vagaries of the weather, these deadlines are shifted.Root crops collected in dry weather, before the first frost, without signs of rotting or fungal diseases, if the recommendations and storage rules are followed, are stored in the cellar for 7-9 months.

Little tricks for storing a big harvest

A few more tips:

1. Before pouring sand into the boxes with beets, bake it in the sun. Excess moisture will evaporate from it.
2. Root vegetables can be rolled in wood ash before storing. This will protect them from pests.
3. Large beets spoil faster than small ones. When placing in boxes or bags, place small root vegetables at the very bottom and large ones on top of them.

Conclusion

If you have equipped the cellar, provided the necessary ventilation, humidity and temperature conditions, selected a convenient storage method, and regularly checked the harvest, then the beets will be preserved and will not lose their beneficial properties all winter and spring. The roots will remain juicy, bright and firm until harvested again next year.