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Green onions, onions are the most popular vegetable in our diet. We eat it fresh, adding it to salads, boiled, baked, fried, stewed with all other dishes. We eat to get vitamins and maintain health in autumn colds, winter frosts, spring thaws. Add to a variety of dishes to give them flavor. We even grow it ourselves. But how to save it so that it could be eaten fresh in winter and spring?
What varieties can be stored
If you already grow onions on your site, then you need to choose varieties so that you can eat it all year round. To do this, plant varieties that ripen throughout the summer. For long-term storage for the winter, late-ripening varieties are chosen, and the most bitter onions are better preserved, the sweeter it is, the faster it needs to be eaten.
So you can save until spring the harvest of the late-ripening variety “Snowball”. Its juicy round white bulbs can be added to salads all year long if stored properly. Golden-brown spherical bulbs of the Late Farmer variety are also designed for long-term storage. Perfectly stored and their sevok.
Up to 9 months, the Volzhanin variety is stored without loss, the bulbs of the correct form, covered with golden dry husks, are distinguished by white flesh and pungent taste. “Setton”, “Galileo”, even “Studgarter Riesen”, grown from sevka, may well survive the winter if good conditions are observed. But the varieties “Strigunovsky local” (it is also recommended to grow from sevka) and “Kaba”, although late-ripening, it is better to use fresh.
Onions of the Kaba variety are considered one of the best in terms of their taste, but their loose structure does not allow them to be enjoyed in winter. If you create ideal conditions for storage, you can save the harvest until the new year. The ripened harvest of “Rostovsky”, “Mstersky”, “Krasnoyarsky”, “Arzamazsky”, “Bessonovsky”, “Balakleyevsky” varieties of spicy onions, as well as their sets, is well stored. Leeks of late ripening varieties, for example, “Karantansky”, “Elephant”, can also be stored until spring, but their greens are a little tougher and sharper than those that ripen earlier.
Preparing Stocks for Storage
Preparing a crop for storage begins with its harvesting. Onions are chosen at different times, depending on the ripening time of each variety, but most often this happens in August. A fully ripe onion drops feathers, its neck becomes thinner and dries up. This event is best done on a dry warm day, start in the morning. It will be possible to save for the winter only fully ripened specimens without mechanical damage. That is why they cannot be pulled out, thrown, but only slightly dug up (usually done with a pitchfork), carefully removed, cleaned from the ground with your hands and put to dry.
They dry the onions together with the leaves in the fresh air, if the weather permits, otherwise they lay them out or hang them in small bundles under the roof: in the yard, on the veranda, balcony, in the shed. If the crop is very small, you can carefully dry the bulbs using the oven, for this you need to keep the temperature no higher than 40-42 degrees, keep the oven ajar or often open for ventilation. The dried onion is cut with scissors – the roots are shortened carefully so as not to hook the bottom, and the leaves are cut off, leaving 4-6 cm.
Only after that, the onions are sorted out, and the strongest medium-sized bulbs without mechanical damage are sent for long-term storage. The largest and smallest are determined for use in the near future. Those that are slightly larger than the set can be planted in the fall along with early varieties – they can be eaten in the summer before the spring plantings ripen.
Leek is usually harvested as a whole plant or as individual leaves. Fresh green leek leaves can be harvested throughout the summer if frozen for later storage in the refrigerator or dried like any herbal seasoning. To do this, the green leek leaf is carefully cut off, all dry or damaged areas are removed, washed and dried, spread out in a thin layer on a dry, clean cloth. Dried leaves are cut into convenient pieces (rings, straws, large pieces), frozen and kept in the refrigerator all the time.
Sometimes gardeners cover the leek with a special covering material (or just a film, which is not so effective) so that it stays green and fresh for a long time. But he still will not withstand severe frosts, and in order to preserve and feast on them in winter, it is better to harvest before frost. Cleaning and preparation for long-term storage of leeks is no different from preparing onions. It is also carefully dug up, taken out, cleaned, cut roots. Leaves do not need to be cut, this can lead to rotting of the stem.
Video “Onion storage technology»
Recommendations for storing onions at home, which will help to avoid damage and decay.
Storage conditions
Onions are usually stored in the basement, and if it is not there, then just in the apartment. In order for it to be preserved at home until spring, certain conditions must be observed: monitor temperature and humidity. Onions can dry out with a lack of moisture and rot with an excess of it. If the temperature drops too low, it will simply freeze and lose most of its usefulness and taste. If it’s too warm, it will grow. None of this will happen if stored correctly.
In the apartment
If the apartment is the only way to store onions, then you need to find a place where fresh air penetrates, but the temperature does not go beyond 18–22 degrees. Humidity during storage at home should remain between 50-70%. It can be an unheated pantry or just a place near the balcony (but not near the battery). On the glazed balcony, you can cover the bow so that it can hold out there until the big frosts.
If you do not cut the leaves and braid the onion into braids, then it is convenient to store it in a suspended state in the attic or even in the kitchen. So it decorates the interior and protects residents from viral diseases thanks to its phytoncides. Leek on the balcony in a sheltered state tolerates frosts of 7-10 degrees.
Fresh green leek with leaves can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 months. To do this, it is cooled to a temperature of -2 degrees, then placed in a chilled perforated bag and left at a temperature not lower than -5. A green fresh leaf (without a stem) is cut into small pieces, folded into a thin layer in plastic bags and frozen in the freezer, and left there until use.
In the basement
Of course, it is best to store the crop in the basement. Sweet and semi-sharp varieties require temperatures from 0 down to -1, sharp ones feel comfortable down to -3 degrees. Humidity should be maintained at 75-90%. This is important, because with less moisture, the onion will simply dry out, and with more risk of rotting. Other vegetables that require different conditions should not be nearby.
If the humidity is excessive, it can be reduced by placing boxes of ash next to the vegetables. Onions are recommended to sprinkle lightly with chalk to protect them from decay. Once every 2-3 weeks, you need to check the condition of the onion, remove spoiled specimens in order to save the rest from the same fate.
Leek is best kept in moist sand. 5 cm of sand are poured into the box, plants are placed in rows on top and another 15-20 cm of wet clean sand are added. So it can be stored up to 5 months and will always be green, juicy and tasty. It is worth recalling that the crop is added to the basement only if wet cleaning and ventilation have already been carried out there.
What is the best way to store
Onions are stored in boxes, baskets, wicker nets, even nylon stockings. To store at home correctly means to ensure the supply of fresh air. Racks are suitable for storage, the layer of onions should be no more than 40 cm. Boxes and boxes must necessarily have holes, they are placed in the basements not on the floor, but on wooden stands. For storage of sevka, small trays are used, they are placed vertically, but loosely. Turnip, leek, sevok – any onion is stored fresh for a long time under the right conditions.
Video “How to store onions”
Tips for proper drying of onions, caring for them, as well as creating all the necessary conditions for storing them throughout the winter.
