How to store carrots: 5 proven and 4 exotic ways

You can save a carrot juicy and fresh in several ways.

Carrot is a rather “capricious” root vegetable when it comes to storage in the winter. Fortunately, resourceful gardeners have come up with ways to store carrots at home: in an apartment, cellar, shed, and even in the garden beds! Yes, so that she does not lose its juiciness. Let's take a closer look at these methods.

Preparing carrots for wintering

The safety of a vegetable primarily depends on its proper preparation. Therefore, do not neglect these simple steps:

A photo	Instruction
	Rule 1. Timely and proper harvesting. The time of ripening of carrots depends on the variety and, as a rule, is written on a bag of seeds. instagram viewer Why is it important? If you pull out the roots early, they will not have time to accumulate enough sugar, and this will have a bad effect on the taste. And, on the contrary, if you overdo the carrot in the beds, it will be an excess of amino acids and sugars, which will make it a tasty morsel for mice, rats and carrot flies. If you are confused and cannot determine exactly when to harvest, be guided by the color of the tops: as soon as the lower leaves began to turn yellow, the carrot is ready for harvest.
Rule 2. On the eve of digging carrots are not watered. This allows it to remain juicy during long-term storage.
	Rule 3. Pruning tops. Immediately after digging from the carrot, they cut the tops of the tops, otherwise when drying it will pull some of the moisture out of the roots. In addition, if you correctly trim the tops, the carrots will not germinate and wither in the winter, but will retain their healthy and taste qualities for a long time. Pruning is carried out in two stages: first, it is cut off to pour slightly higher than the head of the root crop, and then the head itself, together with the point of growth (this is about 0.5–1 cm). It is important that the cut is even and smooth.
Rule 4 Airing under a canopy or drying in the sun for 2-3 hours. Then it is desirable that the carrots lie for another 7–10 days at a temperature of 10–14 ºC - a kind of “quarantine”. During this period, cut-off sites and minor mechanical injuries heal, spoiled and diseased roots are identified.
	Rule 5. Remove substandard material Before decomposing the carrots in the prepared storage, reassemble it with your own hands, removing all the spoiled root vegetables.

How to keep carrots in winter

Consider the proven methods of storing carrots used by experienced gardeners and hostesses.

Method number 1: storage of carrots in the sand

Root vegetables should not touch each other - this is important!

All you need to store root crops in this way is a box, water and, in fact, sand. It is better if it is not river, and loamy. The secret of the sand is that it minimizes the evaporation of moisture from carrots, provides a stable temperature and does not allow the putrid diseases.

All this together significantly extends the shelf life of the vegetable:

1. The sand must be wet. To do this, for each bucket of bulk material, use 1 liter of water in order to moisten it.
2. Now put a 4–5 cm layer of sand into the box prepared in advance. After that, spread the roots so that they do not touch each other and fill the top with the next layer of wet sand.
3. Then re-lay the carrot and thus alternate until the container is filled to the top.
4. It is better to make such “sand” boxes with carrots a place in a cool subfield, cellar or garage hole.

Method number 2: an alternative to sand - sawdust

The fact is that in coniferous sawdust contains volatile production, not giving root crops to germinate and protect them from disease-causing bacteria, fungi. The optimum moisture content of shredded wood for our business is 10–12%.

How to store carrots with wood shavings? The principle is similar to sanding:

• vegetables are packed in an existing box in layers - first, a 4–5 cm “pillow” of sawdust;
• further roots without touching each other;
• Then again a layer of sawdust and so on to the very top;
• it is desirable to cover the box with a lid and leave it in a cool place.

By the way, with the help of sand and sawdust, you can save beets and carrots right in the garden! Having prepared the roots for wintering as I described at the very beginning, put them on the bed and sprinkle them with wet sand (again, 1 liter of water for one bucket of sand).

Then cover with polyethylene, sprinkle with a layer of 3-5 cm on top and cover it with roofing paper. So your vegetables reliably lie through the winter, preserving the appearance and taste.

No piece of dense polyethylene, which usually take for greenhouses? No problem! You can buy and cut large plastic bags for garbage in the nearest hardware store. Price - within 100 rubles.

Method number 3: clay "shell"

Photo instructions for storing carrots in clay

You will need:

• a box or ordinary cardboard boxes;
• clay;
• water;
• polyethylene film.

There are two options for treating root crops with clay before hibernation, choose the one that seems most convenient:

A photo	Description
	Method 1. Pouring clay layers. Take half a bucket of clay and pour enough water to make it swollen. Wait a day, and then thoroughly mix the swollen clay and add water again. In this state, under a layer of water of 2-3 cm, the clay should last for at least three days, until it adopts a creamy consistency. When the clay talker is ready, cover the bottom of the box with plastic wrap, lay out a layer of carrots so that the roots do not touch each other and fill this case with clay. When the first clay layer dries, it will be possible to re-lay the carrots and pour in the mash too. And so on to the top of the box.
	Method 2 Dipping carrots in clay. In this case, each unwashed carrot is dipped first into the garlic mixture, then into a clay mash. Then lay out to dry in a well-ventilated place (under a canopy, on the veranda, etc.). Once the roots are completely dry, they are put in boxes or cardboard boxes.

Method number 4: polyethylene - a universal thing!

How to save carrots for the winter with polyethylene? Perhaps this is the most simple means. You will need only plastic bags with a capacity of 5 to 30 kg and a cool room.

Selected root crops simply fold into bags, which are then kept open in a refrigerator, garage, subfield, or shed. Carrots will not wilt, because the moisture inside such a package itself is at an optimal level of 96–98%.

Inside polyethylene, optimum moisture is stored for storing carrots.

Remember, during storage vegetables emit carbon dioxide. If plastic bags are opened, then the gas inside will be a small amount, sufficient to prevent disease.

But if the bags are stored in an airtight condition, the carbon dioxide content will greatly exceed the oxygen concentration, and the carrot will deteriorate. Therefore, it is better to tie the bags, but be sure to make holes in them for air circulation.

Ventilation holes are needed to avoid condensation.

During storage of carrots in bags, condensation may form on the inside. This suggests high humidity inside the storage. You can solve the problem by scattering fluffy lime next to the packets, which will absorb excess moisture.

Lime will absorb excess moisture

Method number 5: enamelware

Storing carrots for the winter with enameled pots or buckets is suitable for those living in apartments:

1. After harvesting carrots thoroughly washed.
2. With her trimmed tops and foretails.
3. Then the roots are dried in the sun and tightly placed in a large enameled vessel in an upright position.
4. A clean napkin is placed on top, and the whole thing is covered with a lid.

It is right to keep carrots in the cellar, but in the absence of one, a refrigerator or a glazed balcony will do.

In an enamel pan, carrots will retain all their qualities for a long time.

Unusual ways to store carrots

Here are some more original options:

A photo	Description
	Method 1. Food stretch wrap. Each carrot should be completely wrapped with a wrap so that they do not touch each other. And clean in the cold!
	Method 2 Infusion of onion peel or pine needles. 100 g of any of these dry ingredients is filled with 1 liter of water and infused for five days. The resulting infusion sprinkle root vegetables. You can also immerse them there for 10 minutes, and then dry and put in a subfield.
	Method 3 Paraffin - powerful protection! Clean and dry carrots dipped in hot paraffin, adding a little beeswax (it is necessary for the elasticity of the "shell"). In this form, the vegetables are stored in the cellar in the winter for more than four months, remaining surprisingly fresh and juicy.
	Method 4. Powder chalk. 10 kg of carrots will need about 200 g of chalk. But today a 30% chalk suspension is sold, in which you can dip the roots and dry them. In any case, a layer of chalk will create a weak alkaline environment, which will prevent the vegetable from rotting.

Conclusion

I explained in detail how to store carrots in the winter so that it remains fresh, healthy and juicy. You can choose any of the five proven methods, as well as try out any of the unusual options.

But do not forget, the ideal humidity of the air during storage of vegetables is 90–95%, and the favorable temperature is 0... +1 ºС. Be sure to watch the video in this article to better understand this issue! And ask questions in the comments.