Unfortunately, many of us know about turnips only from an old kind children's fairy tale. And in vain, because behind the inconspicuous shell is hidden the real treasury of vitamins and microcells necessary for health. In addition, this vegetable is universal, which can be used to prepare not only salads and side dishes, but also unusual desserts. Growing it is not difficult at all - it does not require any complex care, nor any exceptional conditions. And how to store a turnip for the winter will tell our article.
How to keep a turnip in winter in a cellar?
If you are a happy owner of a well-ventilated and dry cellar, then keeping your turnip fresh and elastic until the very spring will not be difficult for you. But this is provided that the turnip was collected at the right time and was properly prepared before laying for storage. But first things first:
- For winter storage in the cellar only late varieties of turnips ("Tyanem-Pitanem", "Orbita", "Manchester Market", etc.) are suitable, the collection period of which falls on the first ten days of November.
- For digging up the harvest, a clear day with an air temperature of +5 to +10 degrees is best.
- Extract the roots from the ground should be very careful, trying not to damage their skin. It is most convenient for this to use blunt forks.
- After digging up turnips must be placed in one layer in the shade or under a canopy, so that the ground on its surface is dried and it was easy to shake it.
- Before the bookmark, each fruit must be inspected for damage and ruthlessly rejected all suspicious - there is still no such turnip, and even the neighbors will infect rot. The process of sorting is combined with a haircut, shortening the tops to the tails at 5-7 cm.
You can store a turnip in winter in a cellar in one of the following ways:
- in strong plastic bags with holes for ventilation;
- layers in boxes, pouring each layer with two or three centimeters of sand;
- in clay, paraffin or wax glaze.
Whichever way you like, the key to successful turnip storage will be a temperature of no higher than +3 degrees, humidity at 80-90% and no contact between neighboring fruits.
How to keep a turnip in an apartment?
If you can not boast of having a cellar, do not despair - a turnip can be stored as in a refrigerator in a vegetable box or in a freezer. Before freezing, the root crop is cleaned and cut into small pieces, and then briefly (2-3 minutes) blanched. After that, the billet is cooled in ice water and spread over the portion packs.