How to save zucchini for the winter

Almost every gardener plants several zucchini bushes on the plot. They do not take up much space, but the harvest of barrel-like fruits is always excellent. All summer they are fried, stewed, cooked with zucchini stew, pizza, pancakes and pancakes are fried, marinated, canned, and snacks are made for the winter. Whatever our hosts come up with. But zucchini does not become smaller, they bear fruit until the first frost.

This is where the question arises of how to keep zucchini fresh for the winter, so that you can please your family with a vitamin vegetable, and don’t forget yourself if you want to go on a diet. After all, the vegetable has a minimum of calories, and there is a lot of fiber needed by the body. The nutritional and beneficial properties of zucchini are practically not lost from prolonged lying.

Variety choice

The question of how to store zucchini for the winter should be approached in detail even at the stage of acquiring seeds. The fact is that there are varieties with thin and thick skins. Only thick-skinned specimens are suitable for long-term winter storage.

Experienced gardeners recommend planting several bushes such as, for example, varieties of zucchini:

• Aeronaut belongs to the early varieties. The ripened fruit has the shape of a cylinder. Dark green zucchini will keep for at least four months;
• Pear-shaped – also an early variety with orange flesh. Keeping quality is high;
• Asset F1 is a large-fruited variety of Dutch breeders. Fruits retain their taste and presentation for a long time;
• Arlika is characterized by long fruiting and excellent preservation of fruits in winter;
• Variety Negro is striking in its unusual coloring. The peel of long cylindrical fruits is black-green. The shelf life of fresh zucchini is about two months;
• The yellow-fruited variety has cylindrical, silver-colored fruits. The flesh corresponds to the name – yellow. Retains its qualities up to 3 months.
• Skvorushka is characterized by high yield (up to 20 fruits per bush) and keeping quality.

About the Skvorushka variety:

Of course, we cannot impose our ideas on our readers, we only recommend. But if you want to keep fresh zucchini in the winter, read carefully what they say on the packages.

Harvest time

The issue of proper storage of zucchini also includes the time of harvesting fruits from the garden. This is a heat-loving plant, so if you plan to store vegetables for a long time, you need to remove the vegetables before the first frost. Otherwise, they will rot in the basement almost immediately.

Collect only ripe vegetables. To determine the technical ripeness and ability to lie for a long time, you can use the following parameters:

1. The peel is thick, if knocked, a muffled sound is obtained.
2. The seeds are not fully ripe.
3. Not too big.
4. No signs of rot or damage.
5. With a clear pattern, corresponding to the variety.

Ripening of zucchini will occur during storage. If you collect overripe vegetables, then after a month of storage they will become loose, unsuitable for cooking.

Preparing vegetables for storage

When harvesting, use only a sharp knife. Fresh zucchini intended for long-term storage is not recommended to be separated from the bush by twisting. The fact is that the stalk is loosened, which is an additional opportunity for the penetration of pathogenic bacteria into the fetus.

You need to leave a stalk that is at least 5 cm long, which will be a kind of symbol indicating the quality of the stored zucchini.

Harvest zucchini in dry weather. Dirt is removed with a dry cloth. Put cut zucchini on some kind of bedding so as not to damage the peel of vegetables. It is not recommended to immediately store zucchini for storage; they should lie down in the sun for several hours. After that, the vegetables are sorted out, unripe or defective are discarded and put away for storage. You can leave a few young specimens for eating at first.

Decide on a storage location

Even before harvesting, you need to think about where and under what conditions to store zucchini for the winter:

• in the cellar and pantry;
• in the apartment.

In the cellar or cellar

Gardeners consider basements and cellars to be ideal places. In them, just the temperature necessary for the successful keeping of vegetables is + 4- + 6 degrees.

In addition to temperature, air circulation and high humidity up to 80% must be ensured in the cellar. These conditions are necessary for almost all vegetables.

Since zucchini is harvested when it is still warm outside, they must be identified before being stored in a basement or cellar in a dark, cool place. You can lay newspapers or straw on the rack, and arrange the vegetables in one layer at some distance from each other.

If during the previous winter fungal diseases or parasites were noticed, it is necessary to whiten with blue vitriol, and then treat the room with a sulfur checker.

Zucchini for storage can be:

1. Arrange on shelves or put in baskets, boxes, on racks, shelves, placing cardboard, old newspapers, straw. The tail should always be out, as this is an indicator of the safety of the fruit.
2. Arrange vertically in baskets or parallel in boxes, as in the photo below.

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3. Another original way invented by gardeners is to store zucchini in a nylon stocking: it does not take up space, you can immediately see the problems. But the vegetable will be stored for at least 4 months.

Ventilation openings or shafts are installed in each basement and cellar. Any vegetables, as well as zucchini, should not be stacked next to them. Drafts and cold air are only harmful

Indoor storage

It is much easier for rural residents in the matter of preserving fresh zucchini. Indeed, in addition to the underground, they have pantries, warm vestibules. Summer residents living in the city do not have such places. How to store zucchini in this case? Practice proves that for vegetables the air of a city apartment is quite acceptable for such a procedure. The main thing is to know how to properly store zucchini.

A place for vegetables should be chosen away from batteries and air conditioners. You can not leave zucchini in winter for storage in the bathroom and kitchen: the conditions are unsuitable due to high humidity. They will quickly begin to wither and rot.

Many housewives are interested in whether it is possible to store zucchini in boxes next to the front door or in front of the balcony. Of course, in a city apartment, although this is not ideal, it is quite a suitable place. As a rule, it is much cooler here than in the rooms. But in this case, zucchini is either wrapped in newspapers or put in bags, or cardboard is placed on the racks. You can even cell from under the eggs. The main thing is to create conditions for storing zucchini so that they do not come into contact with each other.

Although if you watch a video of one of the gardeners, you will see that she uses stacking to store zucchini in winter, and nothing spoils:

Storage location – refrigerator

You can store zucchini in the refrigerator. Usually young vegetables are put in it, which should be consumed within three weeks. It is clear that many vegetables cannot be placed. But the conditions are still right.

You can put them just like that or in paper bags (by making a hole for air) on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or in storage boxes for vegetables.

To summarize

We tried to tell you how to keep zucchini fresh in winter. The main thing is to save the harvest by creating the necessary conditions.

Many housewives are concerned about how long fresh zucchini are stored in winter. Generally, zucchini should be eaten within 4-5 months. Then an irreversible process begins in the vegetable: the seeds germinate, and the pulp becomes tasteless, friable. Such zucchini is no longer suitable for culinary delights.

If you have other ways to store vegetables, please share with our readers.