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Every vegetable marketer knows the true truth of farming: to grow carrots and beets - it's still half the battle, the main thing is that they remain as long as possible. Without this, a difficult and troubled land business loses all its meaning, because usually summer residents do not plant two beds, but much more for the purpose of winter supplies.
To ensure that the roots are well preserved and still have their taste and vitamins, it is necessary to excavate them in time.
When can you collect carrots and beets? It depends on a combination of many factors:
- growing region (north or south);
- weather conditions (rain or dry and warm autumn);
- Specific variety (wound - or late-ripening vegetables);
- degree of maturation.
It should be borne in mind that the harvest time for these roots is different: the beet is removed earlier, and after a couple of weeks - the carrot. In any case, it is important to give the fruits a good ripen, otherwise the under-grown vegetables will quickly be tied up and rotted in the basement.
To understand whether the beets or carrots are ripe, you need to dig a single fruit with a pitchfork: if it has small white rootlets, the vegetable is fully ripe and ready for harvesting.
There is one more nuance: in the case when the autumn is dry and warm, harvesting is better for the time being postponed, because in the garden vegetables will be better than in the cellar. But if long rain is forecasted, it is better to remove root crops from the kitchen garden before their onset. Otherwise, both carrots and beets will be saturated with moisture, which will significantly reduce the shelf life and even taste.
Beet cleaning
A characteristic feature of the growth of beets is that the upper part of the fetus protrudes above the surface of the soil. This entails earlier harvesting compared to carrots, because if the beetroot is frozen, there is a risk of freezing of root crops. For consumption, these vegetables are still useful, but they will not be stored.
After harvesting the beets must be cleaned from the tops with a knife or scissors, without damaging the fruits, and dried.
Carrot cleaning
In contrast to beet carrots are well tolerated by the first frost, so its collection is better to postpone until their onset. The main thing is not to forget to "put" the tops on the ground.
Experienced gardener argue that the carrots, which have passed the first frosts on the beds, are kept better, because the fruits are laid in the cellar already cooled.
But still dig up the roots is necessary until the onset of permanent frosts, because the carrot will not sustain a stably low temperature. The plant can be unscrewed manually, leaving a small tail, and dry the vegetables.
