Carrots are an unpretentious vegetable that does not require special care.
As a rule, summer residents sow seeds, weed, and harvest in the fall. But how to preserve the harvest until summer?
It is worth looking into this issue in more detail, highlighting the most popular and proven methods.
Wet sand
Wet sand can be called the most popular method. It is chosen by summer residents because of its simplicity. It is enough to perform several actions.
1. Select vegetables for storage. If there are any damages or signs of diseases, such vegetables are not suitable for storage.
By placing them in the same compartment with healthy vegetables, you can lose a significant portion during storage.
2. Moist sand should be poured into low wooden boxes. It should be noted that the sand should be moist, but not wet. If there is too much moisture, dangerous rotting processes may begin.
3. The sand layer should be about 5 centimeters. The layer can be adjusted if the carrots vary significantly in size.
4. Carrots are placed in the box at a distance from each other. Vegetables should not be allowed to touch each other.
5. Next you can lay the subsequent layers.
The sand protects the fruit from moisture loss, which is why they can be stored for a long time. When removing carrots for consumption, you should be careful.
There are often situations when summer residents start digging into the layers, violating storage technology, and then wonder why the carrots have started to rot.
Sawdust
Sawdust can be called a good solution, but there are some peculiarities. It is important to choose high-quality sawdust. Situations are often used when sawdust is infected with dangerous fungal diseases. One of the disadvantages of sawdust is that it is attractive to rodents. However, if there are no rodents on the site, then there should be no problem.
Using sawdust is quite easy. You need to take wooden boxes, pour a small layer of sawdust and lay out carrots at a distance.
After laying, there is no need to compact the existing mass. Ideally, use only one layer, so the carrots will be preserved better.
Polyethylene
This method of storage may surprise many, because it seems illogical and too dangerous. It is important to understand a simple fact: plastic bags protect carrots, but moisture can accumulate inside. Occasionally, it is necessary to replace the bags, eliminating condensation that collects on the walls. Bags are convenient for storing carrots in the refrigerator.
If we talk about storage in the cellar, then here you can use regular food film. It is necessary to wrap each root vegetable with it. The shelf life with this method is about 4 months.
Clay
Clay is a great method that many people don't use. The essence of the method:
• in a separate container, dilute the clay with water. It should be the consistency of liquid sour cream;
• after this, you need to carefully lay out the carrots;
• when the layer dries, you can do the second and third.
Clay copes well with the task of long-term storage, but it is not so easy to extract carrots from clay and cook them later. This method makes sense to use if you managed to collect a significant amount of the harvest.
