Beetroot is one of the most popular vegetables in Russian cuisine.
Gardeners grow unpretentious vegetables in large quantities, stocking them all winter.
Fortunately, storage of beets is not particularly difficult, and the root crop can winter in the country, and in the cellar, in a city apartment.
How to prepare beets for storage
Beet harvesting begins in mid-September. It is best to harvest root crops in dry, cool weather, digging them out of the ground with a shovel, and even better with a pitchfork. The bottom line is not to injure the delicate skin. After removing vegetables from the ground, gently shake the vegetables (do not tap and do not clean the ground with a knife!) And leave for four hours in the fresh air. If it drizzles, the beets are dried in a dry room, sprinkling on the surface with one layer.
Before laying beets in storage, it must be properly processed. To do this, the remaining land must be carefully cleaned. If the skin is damaged, do not send this instance for storage, it is better to eat immediately.
The tops should be cut off, leaving thick stems about a centimeter high. It’s important to cut the tops, rather than unscrew it with your hands. It remains to trim the long root (if the length is more than 7 centimeters) and select suitable specimens. You can not wash beets before laying. For storage, it is best to take medium-sized root crops without signs of decay.
Ideal storage conditions for beets
There are many ways to store beets, so you can easily choose the most convenient. The root crop can be sent for the winter in the fresh air and indoors. In the first case, beets are stored directly in a trench or pit dug in the garden. In the second - they put it in the cellar or basement, store it in a box on the balcony, in the entrance hall, in the cold pantry or simply put it in the refrigerator.
How to store beets in winter? The main condition is to provide the sweet root with optimal environmental conditions. Beets need darkness, coolness, high humidity and an influx of fresh air. In this case, the room temperature should not fall below zero and rise above 2-3 degrees. Ideal humidity is 90 percent.
How to store beets in the country
If the beets grew in the garden or in the country, it is easiest to leave it for the winter there. You can calcine the sand (in the oven or in the sun) to sanitize it. After the sand has cooled, the beets are laid out on the surface of the substrate so that the vegetables do not come into contact with each other, and are covered with a layer of sand for two centimeters.
There is also a simpler option: put the dried root vegetables in plastic bags up to 40 kg in volume and keep them open in the canopy or on a covered veranda. You cannot tie bags so that the beets breathe.
In warmer climates, an on-board method of storing the crop is used, stacking beets in a heap on the ground or in an dug hole and covering with straw.
How to store beets in the cellar
If the farm has a cellar, this is an excellent option for long-term winter storage of beetroot harvest. The easiest and most convenient way - store root vegetables, sprinkling them on top of potatoes laid for the winter. The fact is that potato tubers require dry storage conditions, and beets - wet. The potato will give moisture to the beets, and an optimal balance will be obtained.
Another variant - store the crop in a layer of table salt. Root crops are plentifully sprinkled with it, interfering with the reproduction of microbes, and thus stored until the next summer. An excellent substitute for salt can be ash, wood shavings, peat, sawdust.
How to store beets in a city apartment
In the fall, when vegetable prices are low, you can stock up on beets for those citizens who have neither a summer house, nor a cellar, nor a cellar. How to store beets at home? It is easiest to place root vegetables on a glazed balcony if the temperature there does not drop below zero. Beets can be stacked in boxes of sand, folding vegetables so that they do not touch on each side.
If the temperature on the balcony is low, you can make insulated boxes: sheathe them from the inside with polystyrene foam and additionally heat them with a low-watt bulb, placing it inside the drawers.
How to store beets at home, if the apartment does not have a balcony? You can fill the boxes with sawdust or sand and lay in them specially prepared root crops. To do this, beets can be coated with a clay solution and dried. In such a "fur coat" vegetables do not spoil for a long time in the room.
If there is not a lot of beets, you can wrap each copy in foil or parchment and store in the refrigerator.
Useful Tips
If beets of different sizes and overwinter in bulk, then large root crops that are poorly stored must be decomposed on top. It is better not to store too large specimens: they are tasteless, with hard fibers. There is no point in storing a very small beet, either, as it quickly withers and dries out.
Periodically (every 2-3 weeks) beets must be sorted out for damage. One rotten beetroot can ruin the entire bookmark.
Before laying beets in a cellar or basement, you need to treat the room with bleach or formalin for disinfection.
There are alternative ways to store a small beet crop. How to store beets in the winter in this way? To clean it, grate it, put it in bags for freezing and put in the freezer.
