Best Carrot Varieties for Storage: Carrot Preparation and Storage Methods
In winter, people need vitamins more than ever. Carrots are a supplier of a huge amount of the most useful substances that a person needs for life - these are vitamins A, C, K, beta-carotene, B vitamins and many other useful substances. The main thing in winter, of course, is vitamin A, which helps the skin to endure severe frosts, does not dry out and does not crack.
Content:
- The best mid-season carrots
- The best late-ripening varieties of carrots
- Preparing carrots for storage
- Ways to store carrots in winter
The best mid-season carrots
From mid-season varieties, the most delicious carrots grow, and the best varieties of carrots for storage are these:
- Nantes 4. This variety is grown everywhere in our country. Average yield. One of the best-tasting varieties, I will say more - the most delicious. This variety has orange-red flesh, cylindrical fruits. You can store them until January. You can use podzimny sowing.
- Vitamin 6. The variety is also very common. Grows mainly on soils with peat. Carrots are up to 20 cm long, fruits are cylindrical in shape. Not stored for too long. It contains an increased amount of carotene.
- Losinootrovskaya 13. This variety has been known for a long time and enjoys great love among summer residents. The fruits are cylindrical in shape. The carotene content in this variety is also quite high. The variety is priced so that it is suitable for baby or diet food, carrots from the garden will be useful in salads. The harvest of the variety is large, it is stored well enough.
- Moscow winter. A popular variety with a wonderful harvest. Long fruits with a blunt end and a small heart. The pulp is sweet and juicy. The variety can lie even until spring and not bloom.
- Incomparable. The variety gives a good harvest and is also rich in carotene. The fruits are similar in shape to a cone, the end is blunt. The pulp is orange, the middle is small. The variety does not bloom.
- NIIOH 336. A popular variety that gives a good yield. The fruits are tasty, cylinder-like, orange in color. Carotene is also sufficient. With the growth of fruits, there is no need to huddle, since they are completely in the ground.
- Rote-Riesen. Gives a very large harvest. The large, tasty conical fruits can be stored very well.
- Samson. It has tasty, even fruits, shaped like a cylinder, bright orange in color. Weighs about 200 grams. The variety gives a wonderful harvest. The species is healthy both raw and processed. Can be stored for a long time.
- Forto. The harvest is big. The fruits are cylindrical in shape, somewhat large, the taste is simply excellent. They are amenable to cultivation in all regions of Russia and give a consistently high yield.
The varieties described above taste delicious and keep fairly well.
The best late-ripening varieties of carrots
Late-ripening varieties have a less pronounced taste, but do not deteriorate or wither for a long time. The best late-ripening carrot varieties for storage are:
- Vita Longa. This variety has long fruits and keeps well until spring. No cracking when growing. The fruits are tasty, rich in carotene and sugar. The variety is perfect for squeezing juice from carrots.
- Yellowstone. In shape, the fruits resemble an even spindle with a pointed end.The color is yellow, which is why the delicious carrot got its name. The variety gives a large yield.
- Queen of Autumn. This red fruit species is extremely popular. Fruits resemble a cylinder in shape, carrots are even, and the end is sharp. The aromatic and sweet vegetables are resistant to flowering and will last until almost the next harvest.
- Special carrots. The variety is more likely not late, but medium late. It has a conical shape of fruit, the color is orange-scarlet. They hibernate well, but they don't have to be stored for a long time - they are too tasty.
- Chantenay. A variety with wide sowing boundaries. The fruits are cone-like, short in length, but thick. Firm flesh, but the taste is not overwhelming. They can be perfectly preserved until the spring.
Preparing carrots for storage
It often happens that carrots set aside for the winter are poorly preserved, quickly rot, become covered with mold or white bloom. But you really want to remember the summer with its juicy orange-yellow flowers, as if filled with the sun!
The reason for the early spoilage of the fruit is the wrong varieties and storage conditions.
After all, root crops must be especially carefully stored in order to avoid unpleasant consequences. What kind of carrots will be better preserved? What will help to survive winter vitamin deficiency? Know, varieties with a shortened, such as the Parisian carrot, fruits are stored worse than others. Elongated carrots spoil much less during long-term storage. So from the heap carrots of any kind you need to choose those that have the necessary parameters in order to lie for a long time.
Storage carrots should be:
- Pretty mature.
- Not have the slightest suspicion of disease, damage or rot.
- Naturally, the variety must fit.
- The coarseness of carrots is an indicator that they spoil less.
Regardless of whether or not you washed the carrots, they must be dried for several hours. After harvesting, the carrots must not be heated! Drying can only be done in the shade.
Allow the roots to cool to zero two days before placing the carrots in storage.
You need to store the fruits in a dry place with low temperature and high humidity. The temperature should always remain at the same level.
The next step is the selection of containers. Sand, containers, various boxes will do.
Ways to store carrots in winter
There are many ways to store it. Can be stored in a grandmother's way: in basements and cellars. Only there is a condition: the room should not freeze and damp.
There is a rather difficult, but effective way, namely, storing carrots in the sand. A small layer of sand is poured onto the floor, carrots are laid out on it, and 1.5 cm sand is again on top. Then everything is repeated. Quite an interesting way.
One of the most popular ways to store carrots is in baskets and boxes.
And yet you have to work. It is necessary to remove particles of earth from the fruits, and then it is desirable to cover the top with a layer of slaked lime or just clay. Each root crop must be dipped in a solution of slaked lime or clay. Then the excess solution is drained, after which for two days the carrots dry in a ventilated place. Root crops will be covered with a film that perfectly protects against wilting and rot, if they lie in a large blank box.
They are even stored in plastic bags, but in this case, you do not need to tie the bag, because the carrots completely covered with polyethylene will be lost to you within 15 days. In addition, carrots emit carbon dioxide when breathing, which is excellent against disease. Fillers that absorb moisture, such as peat, are also suitable.
The most important thing during storage is to observe the temperature and moisture regime.
A jump or drop in temperature even by two degrees can serve as a catalyst for germination and disease. and the wilting of carrots. Be careful with sclerotinia and white rot, as these mushrooms are gluttonous and you run the risk of being left without a crop.
More information can be found in the video.
I love carrots very much, and I often eat them because of my bad eyes and fatigue. So, what is the best variety to plant? Who knows a lot about this. I also want her to grow up exactly sweet, eat both sour and bitter earlier. It’s not pleasant, I don’t want to eat it.