Cabbage is a valuable vegetable. The store usually sells a dutch Dutch with a thick leaf pattern. Such cabbage is bitter, I prefer to grow my own. I put it in storage in the basement. The whole family feasts on her until mid-spring, when fresh appears on the shelves.
Selection of cabbage varieties for better storage
Unfortunately, not all varieties are equally well stored. First, a few words about the shelf life:
- Early varieties quickly lose their presentation, leaves fade, turn into tasteless "rags."
- Mid-season in the basement or refrigerator can withstand up to 3 months.
- Mid-late stored for more than six months.
- Late ripening is the most bedridden, remain dense until mid-spring, and with late laying even until summer.
Choose a list of varieties to your taste.
Stored up to six months:
- Glory;
- Belarusian;
- Hannibal
- Rusinovka;
- Hybrid Gingerbread Man.
Suitable for longer storage:
- Stone head;
- Winter storm;
- Extra;
- Gift;
- Dobrovodskaya.
The best varieties for hanging by the root:
- Monarch;
- Sugarloaf (summer tastes better);
- Moscow late;
- Amager.
I noticed that hybrids marked F1 are less susceptible to diseases, but they don’t like the bitterness in them. We give preference to a real white-headed cabbage, crunchy, rather than grinding on the teeth.
Proper harvest
It is important to observe the cleaning time:
- when the cabbage is harvested ahead of schedule, the leaves quickly become cottony;
- standing out on the head, heads of cabbage crack, begin to sprout.
Usually, two days before the planned cleaning, I unscrew the smallest fork with a root. I check the ripeness of the head for small roots. If they dry out, they break off shortly, it’s time to harvest the main crop.
Later varieties are best planted and cleaned separately. It is convenient to place seedlings in rows, alternating early and late varieties. By the time of ripening, the autumn summer is already being removed. Cabbage becomes spacious, the ground is well blown from below.
It is a myth that cabbage cannot be removed in the rain. Moisture on the leaves is not a hindrance, it dries quickly. The main thing is that the earth is dry. Advantages of dry soil:
- the root is easier to stretch;
- less need to wait for the cabbage to be ready for laying;
- when the plants do not get moisture at least five days before harvesting, the heads of cabbage will become less flabby.
Those plugs that I will hang, I remove the last. I dig them with a pitchfork, then swing it. I do not touch the leaves, I leave even the lower burdocks. I read somewhere that this is a storeroom of cabbage in case of a hunger strike.
I chop up the rest of the heads with a sharp chef-knife, it’s more convenient than a hatchet. On a head of cabbage, it is enough to leave 2-3 covering green leaves, with them the head of cabbage is stored better. The standard size of a head is no more than 3 cm. No longer is needed.
Heading out for storage
Noticed that medium-sized vegetables are best stored. On the bookmark I select smooth dense heads of cabbage. It is important to probe the tip, the keeping quality of the fork depends on its condition. If the fingers are squeezed in, I put the cabbage closer, it must be consumed first. Large forks without cracks lie well until the New Year. I try not to lay them for long-term storage.
When sorting into rejection, the following is removed:
- nedogon - soft reconciliation heads of cabbage;
- cabbage with leaves damaged by insects (larvae may remain on heads of cabbage, they will devour plants until spring);
- cracked;
- frozen on the bed or during transportation (they will immediately begin to rot).
It is advisable to lay out cabbages by caliber:
- small ones are best stored on the balcony, it is convenient to lay out, to cover.
- the largest are preferably eaten earlier.
It is difficult to distinguish between late and late cabbage, we lay it together, for food we select those forks that have begun to dry out.
Ways to store cabbage
A few words about the preparation of the premises. In the summer, be sure to choose a time for processing the basement with a sulfur block. In August, all the boards with a white, warm, thick solution of lime with the addition of vitriol. Ceiling, walls need to be well dried. If the house has an electric heater with a temperature regulator, it is advisable to place it in the basement for several days. In recent years, my husband began to quartz walls before laying the harvest.
We store cabbage together with other vegetables. We hang heads with roots above the chests with root crops. The rest is laid out on wooden collapsible racks.
In what form is cabbage stored:
- We cover the most accurate forks with a talker. We dilute clay with water to the consistency of sour cream, add 1/5 of the sifted wood ash. In such a shell, the forks are stored until the summer.
- We remove large cabbage on the upper shelves, put old newspapers on top to protect against condensation, or wrap each head of cabbage in them (we change as we get wet).
- The rest of the forks are laid out more carefully so that more comes in. Wrap them well in plastic wrap. In the same form can be stored in the refrigerator.
On the glazed balcony, the remaining crop is well in wooden crates. We lay them out in 10 pieces, the upper legs up, the lower ones down. With the onset of cold weather we cover the cabbage with an old blanket. I know that some store heads in the sand, like a carrot sprinkled with chalk.
In large vaults, the forks are folded with herds in separate compartments. It’s more convenient for us to store all the vegetables together. Cabbage is adjacent to root crops calmly, you do not have to go to the store for it.
