Storage Of The Harvested Crop

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

In October, a good part of vegetables harvested by gardeners for long-term storage is moved from open ground beds to protected storage facilities: basements, attics and other devices for preserving the harvest. How can you provide root crops, bulbs and other fruits of your strenuous work with better conditions so that they winter well?

What to carry to the attic?

Most often, owners of personal plots and farms use attics and basements to store pumpkin, onion, and root crops, dispensing with storage methods such as boot-making, trenching and glaciers. These are comfortable and relatively warmed rooms, in which the temperature usually does not drop below 0 ° C, so that vegetables do not freeze during the cold winter months.

It is best to put onions and garlic in attics. Here they will be provided with long-term and high-quality storage. When severe frosts are coming, and the roof no longer protects the crop from freezing, the bulbs can be saved with a cover of straw mats. However, if, nevertheless, it was not possible to avoid icing, it is recommended not to disturb the crop damaged in this way until it is completely thawed, and not to resort to various heating means in order to accelerate thawing. When this process occurs naturally, they can be stored further. In multi-storey buildings, indoor conditions, onions are stored in boxes, well-ventilated baskets. You can keep the crop on a glazed and insulated balcony.

When the basement is in short supply, think about heaps

Cellars are best suited for storing root crops, pumpkin seeds, and numerous types of cabbage. In such rooms it is required to maintain humidity at the level of 75-95%, and the temperature - within 0… + 3 ° С.

When building winter storage facilities for vegetables, you need to take into account that it is better to arrange a window on the north side. This will ensure minimal temperature fluctuations during the winter months, while the bright January sun in the windows facing South and East can greatly heat the air and stored vegetables, causing them to deteriorate.

When in basements there is not enough space and boxes for storing crops, it can be stored in piles. A sand shaft is made with a height of approximately 30 cm to 1 m. Here you can add:

• green - leafy celery, leeks, lettuce, chicory;

• root vegetables - parsley, root celery, beets, carrots;

• varieties of cabbage - cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts.

Vegetables are placed in a pile with their heads outward. Each new row is sprinkled with wet sand, with a layer of about 2 cm. Then the entire resulting slide is hidden under another layer of sand. The shoulder should be trapezoidal. If at the base its width is 1 m, then at the top it is about 80 cm.

Storage in greenhouses and barrels

Cauliflower, dug from the garden along with a lump of earth, can be stored not only in piles, but also in greenhouses that are empty at this time. Here you can also keep Brussels sprouts, leafy celery, root vegetables for food and for forcing vitamin greens in winter.

Vegetables are packed tightly in a greenhouse. Then this new storage needs to be insulated. For this purpose, first, a number of boards are laid on its frame, after which the greenhouse is covered with straw mats on all sides, with a thick layer of plant residues from the garden: potato tops, sunflower stalks, you can use reeds.

When the outside temperature rises above zero, the greenhouse should be opened for ventilation. Inside it is necessary to maintain the values of + 3 … + 4 ° С.

Instead of a greenhouse, storage in the ground can be easily set up with a barrel. For this, the vessel is dug into the ground up to half its height. Here you can lay various root vegetables, fresh cabbage. The hole must be plugged with a bag of straw. The protruding sides are insulated with straw, and for fidelity they are also trampled down with earth.