Store vegetables for the winter

Stocking potatoes is relatively easy if you harvest them late and take into account that they should be stored as dark as possible. Too much light not only causes the tubers to germinate prematurely, but also leads to green spots on the skin and forms the toxin solanine, which is typical of most nightshade plants.
Such areas should then be cut out generously before cooking, otherwise the potatoes can have an unpleasant bitter taste.

Store only intact tubers!

Basically, potatoes are best served with one Digging fork take them out of the earth without damaging them. They should then be left on the ground for a few hours and then rubbed off the now dry earth. They are not washed off, because the remaining soil residues are the best protection against later rot. Potato trays made of wood, which you can easily assemble in the required size from a few slats or boards, are suitable for storage. It is important that there are enough slots on all sides to ensure constant air circulation. Then you just have to find a frost-free, airy place in the basement, where it is never warmer than 5 ° C. Checking a little more thoroughly once a month and repositioning the tubers will help prevent rot from spreading.

Root and tuber vegetables as well as carrots need a lot of sand

These vegetables can be stored the better the later they are harvested. Here, too, it is important that they are fully developed and without any external damage. If you estimate that the harvest will not be used up in the next eight to ten weeks, all you need to do is Stow these types of vegetables in wooden boxes filled with damp sand, which are then placed in a cellar room that is as dry as possible will. Temperatures between 3 to 5 ° C with a humidity of 70 to 80 percent are ideal. The cellars of newer houses, however, are too warm for winter storage and, due to their concrete walls, mostly too dry. A pile of earth in the garden, dug around 50 cm deep, would in this case be the far better alternative for tuber and root vegetables. A 20 cm thick layer of straw is placed directly over the harvested crop and the entire pit is finally protected against extreme frost with synthetic fleece.

Special case store onions over winter

If the onions are well air-dried for two to three weeks immediately after harvesting, they will survive the winter without any problems. It is important that you cut off the meanwhile withered leaves after digging up about five to eight centimeters above the neck, which noticeably reduces the risk of rot. The loosely seated bowls should be removed from time to time during controls. Onions have the longest shelf life when they are stored in cool clay pots, the opening of which is covered with a linen cloth.