When to remove leeks from the garden and how to store them?

How to store leeks is a topical issue. This vegetable is popular with gardeners. It is grown in garden plots. Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology allows you to get a good harvest.

But you can't eat a spicy vegetable right away. In its natural form, the curiosity is not stored for long. It is a pity to deprive a family of a vitamin supplement because of ignorance of simple things. With a little effort, the seasoning will be on the gardener's table throughout the winter season.

The consistency of the vegetable, the content of micro and macro elements, vitamins depend on when to harvest and how to preserve the crop. It is unlikely that the gardener will be pleased with the sluggish greens of an incomprehensible taste. There is no benefit from such a harvest.

The difficulty is the impossibility of canning leeks. Vegetable crops are stored fresh, frozen or dried. Properly clean, ensure a presentation - a feasible task for any gardener.

Outlandish onion

Not so long ago, summer residents did not know what a leek is and how to grow it. Related plants were planted in the plots: turnip, garlic, goose onion. Now it's hard to imagine the menu without the original spicy vegetable.

The value of the plant is a thick white vegetable leg (modified bulb). Its taste is less spicy, slightly sweet. There is no bitterness when eating. The onion is pleasant in salads. It adds spice to fried or stewed dishes. Children willingly eat the novelty.

But the taste changes from when the leeks are harvested. The weather affects the severity and amount of vitamins in a vegetable. It is impossible to correct it. But choose the time of harvest, take into account the period of the maximum amount of useful substances according to the forces of the gardener.

The way leeks are stored determines the taste of autumn, winter and spring dishes. A competent arrangement of the premises, temperature and humidity conditions will provide the gardener with the gratitude of the household for deliciously cooked food.

Where does the miracle vegetable grow?

Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia did not know about the existence of a wonderful vegetable. Then it turned out: the plant is thermophilic, matures for a long time, but it can be planted through seedlings. Now it grows in the southern regions, the central part, in the northwestern regions. Leek is not uncommon in Siberia. But early varieties of vegetables are cultivated there.

The vegetable ripens 3-4 months after germination. Summer residents of the south grow it through seedlings in a greenhouse. After the earth warms up, the feathers are placed in a permanent place.

In the Middle lane, gardeners have succeeded in growing vegetables: in January they sow in boxes, in February they dive. Illuminate with a phytolamp, ventilate. In April, they are placed in a permanent place. Plants ripen in August-September.

In the north and northwest, gardeners plant only early varieties and hybrids. Seedling method is used. Placement time on the street - May. The first harvest from the garden is taken in the first decade of September.

Some summer residents allocate a place for a beam in an unheated greenhouse. This measure solves the problem of excessive rainfall. With properly prepared soils, onion plants produce an increased yield.

Vegetable endures lower temperatures, variable light, long rainfall. Subject to the terms of sowing, the plant will ripen in any region of horticulture.

Cleaning rules

The value of the vegetable is a bleached leg of a light (sometimes yellowish) color. In order for it to grow long, thick and juicy, gardeners spud the plant 2-3 times per season. As a result, the root system is immersed in the soil to a depth of 70 cm.

How to properly remove the miracle plant from the ground:

1. Harvest should be after the full ripening of the vegetable. This is evidenced by drooping, slightly yellowed leaves.
2. Tender young vegetable greens are also used for cooking. But you should not cut it off from plants intended for storage: the leg will not gain the required thickness.
3. Pitchfork will help the gardener to remove vegetables without loss. They are less traumatic than a shovel.
4. Before choosing a leek, it is recommended to unravel the bushes. The operation is carried out a day before digging the vegetable.
5. The gardener should pay attention to air temperature and rainfall. In cool, rainy summers, the ripening time of the plant is pushed back by 2-3 weeks.
6. It is recommended to finally complete the digging of the vegetable before the first frost. Leek is a cold-resistant culture. It withstands temperatures as low as minus. But the keeping quality of frostbitten feet is deteriorating.
7. Collection should be done in dry weather. This will keep your feet clean. The plant also accumulates the maximum amount of vitamins at this time.
8. Dig up plants spread out for 2 hours for airing on the ridge. In cloudy weather (with a threat of rain), move the crop under a canopy.
9. It is recommended to collect all the onion legs in one go. This is necessary for laying evenly dried plants for storage. For large plantings, the collected lots should be kept separately.

Green feathers should not be removed from excavated plants at this stage. Useful substances from them during storage will go to the white part - the leg.

How long to dry the crop depends on the weather and location. In sunny weather, it is enough to keep it outside for 5-7 days. In cloudy weather, the gardener needs to dry the plants in the attic or in the barn. Airing time 10-14 days.

Harvesting and storing leeks are simple activities. Following all the rules will provide gardeners with vitamin products throughout the year.

Vegetable storage recommendations

It is impossible to prepare a vegetable for future use by canning (s alting, pickling). It is kept in basements, under refrigerators or frozen.

Recommendations for storing leeks in the basement:

• cut the roots of a mature, dried bush (leave 1 cm);
• cut the tops gently by a third (this is enough to keep the vitamins in the leg);
• pour calcined coarse-grained sand into the box with a layer of 2-3 cm;
• put bushes vertically, sprinkled with moistened soil;
• backfill should rise to the length of the plant's leg.

Keep in the dark at 65% humidity. Use a hygrometer for control.

Some gardeners prefer to store their harvested crops in ridges.Before a steady cold snap, the plantings are once again spudded, covered with fallen leaves with a layer of 20-30 cm, then with a layer of snow. The plant hibernates. In the spring, after thawing, the soil should be raked off the leaves and carefully dig out the required number of plants. The summer resident has the earliest, freshest greens on the menu.

Leek is a biennial plant. The remaining 2-3 bushes can be left in the garden. They will give an arrow with seeds. The gardener will receive his own planting material. This operation can only be performed with varieties: hybrids do not retain features.

Leek does not lose vitamins when frozen. Gardeners who do not have a basement prefer to store it in a refrigerator chamber. Remove green leaves from the plant. The feet are washed and dried. Then cut into rings and put in a plastic bag or tray. Ready immediately after defrosting.

Some summer residents are in no hurry to send cut green leek feathers to compost. They are passed through a meat grinder or crushed in a blender. Then mixed with table s alt (to taste) and frozen. Vitamin dressing for soups and borscht is ready.

If there is free space in the refrigerator, the collected leek is stored there. The plant is carefully cleaned of damaged leaves, the earth is shaken off the roots and placed in plastic bags or wrapped in cling film. The layer of greenery should not exceed 5-7 cm.

The legs stored in the vegetable compartment should be consumed within 4-5 months. At the same time, air should be provided to the bags (perforate).

The old drying method has not exhausted itself. The leg is cut into rings 1-1.5 cm thick, placed in an electric dryer for 4-6 hours. The air temperature during blowing is 40 degrees Celsius. This preserves the vitamins. Keep the semi-finished product in a glass dish with a ground lid in a dry place.

If the gardener does not have a device, you can dry the raw materials in the oven with the door open. Lay parchment on a baking sheet. Spread the chopped onion in a 3 cm layer. The temperature should be set to 50 degrees Celsius. It is required to turn the rings every 15 minutes.

There are many ways to prepare a miracle onion for the future. Labor costs in the processing of plants are negligible. They'll pay off when it's time to get the supplies ready.

Compliance with the rules will keep the spicy-spicy taste. Vitamin products from our own dacha diversify the winter menu of gardeners.

Recommended