How To Keep Zucchini And Pumpkin For The Winter At Home? In The Apartment, Until Spring, Fresh

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How To Keep Zucchini And Pumpkin For The Winter At Home? In The Apartment, Until Spring, Fresh
How To Keep Zucchini And Pumpkin For The Winter At Home? In The Apartment, Until Spring, Fresh
Anonim

Zucchini, although, like pumpkin, belong to the pumpkin family, the storage conditions have both many common, key points, and many differences. Zucchini and pumpkin can be stored together if the vegetables are whole, without damage, without signs of decay and collected on time: they will not interfere with each other during storage and there is no risk that the disease will spread from pumpkin to vegetable marrow and vice versa. However, it has been noticed that pumpkins usually lie much longer than zucchini, which is important to take into account when storing the fruits of these vegetable crops together and check their storage places at least once every couple of weeks, since if the zucchini start to rot, then the rot can easily spread to pumpkins.

Storing zucchini crops in the house
Storing zucchini crops in the house

In addition, it is reliably known that pumpkins can be stored at a significantly higher temperature than squash.

Naturally, a long period of preservation of both pumpkin and zucchini can be ensured if the harvesting technology, its preparation for storage and the storage conditions themselves, specific for the fruits of each of these crops, are correctly observed.

So let's start with how to properly store zucchini at home and then talk about pumpkin.

Content:

  • Harvesting zucchini for storage
  • Basic rules for storing zucchini
  • Options for storing zucchini at home
  • Harvesting pumpkin for storage
  • Storage conditions for pumpkin at home

Harvesting zucchini for storage

As we have already noted, timely and correct harvesting is the key to long-term and full-fledged storage of zucchini. So, as far as zucchini is concerned, they must be removed before the onset of frost (even small ones).

If the crop of zucchini gets frozen, then the whole batch may be spoiled, and they will no longer be suitable for storage. In the very first days after laying for storage, zucchini that have fallen under frost may begin to rot, it will be impossible to stop this process.

Keep in mind that zucchini will be best stored if the skin is quite thick, and if you knock on it, you will hear a dull sound. The seeds should not be fully developed (technical ripeness), the size of the squash should be medium.

There should be no damage on the surface of the zucchini, fruits with developmental defects should also be excluded from the batch intended for storage at home. Pay attention to the "pattern" on the skin: given the description of the variety, you will understand whether this specimen is ready for harvesting.

Do not forget that zucchini can ripen during storage, and as soon as this happens, their structure will become loose. Do not be surprised that by cutting the zucchini (taking it out of an impromptu storage), the seeds will sprout in it - this happens and not rarely.

When storing vegetables, you need to cut them so that a rather large part of it remains (six or seven centimeters long) from the stalk. In this case, the cut should be clear, it is the cut, it is impossible to pluck the fruit, literally twisting the stalk: such fruits, most likely, will not be stored for a long time.

A smooth cut on the stalk of the zucchini and its rather long length will provide reliable protection against the penetration of microorganisms into the zucchini that can lead to the occurrence of internal rot. In addition, the stalk can be judged on the state of the fetus as a whole: if it is healthy after a certain period of storage, then the fetus is most likely healthy too.

Negative changes with the peduncle indicate that the fetus is also not changing for the better. In the event that even the edge of the stalk has already begun to rot, it is better to get this fruit and use it for its intended purpose, leaving it to be stored further is a big risk.

In order to prevent such incidents from happening, always pick the zucchini fruits in dry, sunny weather, doing it carefully, in no way damaging the surface (skin) of the fruit.

Wet vegetables also cannot be stored, first they need to be dried by placing them in a ventilated area. Just a couple of hours is enough for this, they need to be laid out in one row and never stacked one on top of the other.

Storing zucchini in boxes
Storing zucchini in boxes

Basic rules for storing zucchini

The very first rule, in addition to the subtleties described above, is the right choice of zucchini variety. For example, zucchini varieties of medium and late ripening (from 50 days or more) are best stored. So, very good results during storage are shown by the varieties: Festival, Golden Cup, Gribovsky, Arlika (ripens in 50 - 60 days, has cylindrical, light green fruits with juicy pulp, weighing up to 700 g and good taste, is well stored), Assete, Aeronaut (ripens in 50 days, the weight of the fruit is slightly more than a kilogram, the pattern is small dots, the color of the fruit itself is light green, the pulp is tender, well stored) and Yellow-fruited (record holder for shelf life, ripens in 50-60 days, has fruit of cylindrical size, weighing about one and a half kilograms with a smooth surface and an orange mesh on a yellow background, cream pulp,pleasant to the taste).

However, despite the variety, even fruits that have a maximum shelf life longer than the beginning of March are better not to be stored, but to be eaten before that time.

Options for storing zucchini at home

Zucchini are best stored at a humidity of 80 to 85% and at temperatures up to five degrees Celsius and not below zero. If the temperature is high, then the shelf life will be reduced to a minimum (the zucchini will simply rot). You should not store zucchini in completely dark rooms, they should lie where there is no draft. However, the stale air is also not good for them, the room must be ventilated periodically, at least once every couple of days.

An important condition for long-term storage of zucchini is the factor that they should not touch each other. Do not store zucchini next to other fruits and vegetables, excluding pumpkin.

Usually at home, zucchini are stored in the underground, and if it is an apartment, then on the balcony, which is periodically ventilated, if it is heated, or, conversely, zucchini are insulated if the balcony is not heated, covering them with warm blankets and placing them in wooden boxes upholstered with foam …

You can try to keep the zucchini in the pantry, laying them out on shelves that are pre-designed there, or hang them like cabbage, but only by placing each in a separate net (for example, from under the onion, you can even with the remnants of onion peel, it can play the role of an antiseptic).

In a box on the balcony, zucchini can be stored in dry sawdust or river sand, but for this they do not need to be put, but placed vertically, placing them so that the stalks "look" up. At the very bottom of the box, it is advisable to place straw or sawdust, a layer of a couple of centimeters.

If it is very cold on the balcony, then, in addition to blankets that can be used to cover the boxes with zucchini from above, they can be additionally wrapped in Kraft paper, regular newspaper or any cloth before being placed in the box.

In the event that on the balcony or in the basement you have the opportunity to maintain a low positive temperature, there are boxes and you can place the zucchini while standing (so that they do not touch each other), then put craft paper or ordinary corrugated cardboard between them.

It is permissible to store zucchini as semi-finished products, this is if there is no place at all for their storage and it is impossible to provide suitable conditions. To do this, they can be cut into rings or cubes and dried, wilted or, even better, frozen.

Harvesting pumpkin for storage

Pumpkin is a wonderful and unique vegetable that many of us underestimate. It contains, in fact, everything that the human body needs. In addition, it feels good when grown on different types of soils, sometimes even slightly waterlogged, in completely different climatic regions. Pumpkins can be made in different sizes and shapes - from huge, which cannot be lifted by one person, to the smallest.

Storing the pumpkin crop
Storing the pumpkin crop

Let's move on to storage, - as in the case of zucchini, the key to the successful storage of pumpkin is the timely harvest and the correct conditions for further maintenance. How to understand when it's time to collect pumpkin?

It's very simple - by the stalk: if it begins to dry out, has changed its color from green to gray, then it's time to remove the pumpkin from the site and lay it in storage.

In order to remove the pumpkin from the site correctly, you need to slightly raise it above the ground, thereby loosening the tension of the tops and (as in the case of the zucchini) just cut off the fruit with a part of the stalk five or six centimeters long, and not tear it off.

The pumpkin must be dried: from all sides its surface must be devoid of even a hint of moisture. The smallest particles of moisture that you overlooked can subsequently become hotbeds of rot and mold, which develop quite actively during storage.

When a pumpkin is laid dry, without damage, harvested on time and with a whole stalk, then it can easily lie until the next harvest.

Storing pumpkin at home
Storing pumpkin at home

Storage conditions for pumpkin at home

It's nice that the pumpkin can be stored under conditions that are comfortable for you and me: that is, with a humidity of 80-85% and a temperature of up to 22 degrees Celsius. The main thing is that in the room where the pumpkin is stored, the temperature does not drop below a couple of degrees of heat and does not go beyond zero towards frost.

The second important condition is to try to provide the pumpkin with a constant temperature without sudden fluctuations. For example, at home, place it in a closet or on a heated balcony, if we are talking about an apartment.

The pumpkin can be stored both simply open, putting, say, on sackcloth (plywood, any boards, any thick cloth or a pile of newspapers), or covered (with the same burlap); both in bulk (folded in a neat pyramid), and in boxes or paper boxes, in size suitable for the size of the pumpkin fruit.

It is great if the pumpkin is reliably protected from sunlight and not only direct, but in general any, that is, kept in the dark.

Check the pumpkin for storage about once a week during storage. If this or that fruit begins to rot, then it must be immediately removed and recycled, carefully cut out to healthy tissue and the focus of rot removed.

Watch the humidity in the room where the pumpkins are kept more often, it should not be too dry. This can lead to their drying out. If the humidity drops below 80%, then you can spray the air from a spray bottle or place the pumpkins in a more humid room, but preferably with the same temperature or its minimum deviation from the temperature of the previous storage location.

As in the case of zucchini, if there is no place to store the pumpkin, then you can cook a semi-finished product. To do this, first wash the pumpkin thoroughly, then peel off the entire peel, then cut it into two, three or four parts, be sure to remove the seeds along with the peri-seed pulp and pack tightly wrapped in cling film. After that, the pumpkin must be placed in the freezer of an ordinary household refrigerator. In such conditions, the pumpkin will lie for a long time and will be suitable for many types of processing (with the exception of processing for juice).

By the way, pumpkin seeds, being toasted, are very beneficial for the stomach and intestines and contain a large amount of vitamins. If you do not want to fry, then you can simply put them in any metal container and put them on a heating battery for a couple of days, there they will dry out during this time and you can also eat them, like fried ones.

That's all we wanted to tell you about storing squash and pumpkin. If you have your own personal secrets of storing these vegetables, then share them in the comments, we think that it will be very useful for everyone!

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