Useful tips on how to store cabbage at home

Cabbage is a vegetable that, if stored properly, can stay fresh until the weather warms up. Its succulent leaves are a source of vitamin C, which is lacking in the cold season.

Ideal storage conditions for cabbage can be created not only in the cellar, but also at home. Read the article about how to properly prepare heads of cabbage and where it is best to place them in an apartment, and how to store cabbage at home.

Preparing for storage in an apartment in winter

Preparation for storage cannot begin several days before harvest. It starts in the spring months. The first step is choosing the right variety.

Variety selection

Winter varieties of cabbage are best stored. They were bred by breeders precisely for this purpose. Heads of cabbage are distinguished by increased shelf life and good immunity, capable of resisting bacteria and fungi that trigger the process of rotting.

Seeds you can choose from:

• Aggressor F1;
• Amager 611 (this variety has been known to gardeners since the Second World War);
• Snow White;
• Valentina;
• Wintering;
• Kolobok.

All listed varieties are late-ripening. From the moment they are planted until harvest, it takes up to 5-6 months. Such vegetables are stored for a long time, up to 7-10 months.

Read more Here.

Drying

If cabbage was grown for winter storage, then It must be collected before the onset of serious frosts.. The optimal temperature for cutting heads of cabbage is 0...-5 degrees, but not higher than +7...+8 degrees.

In an apartment, the best place for drying crops is a loggia or pantry.

After 5 days, the vegetables are sorted. Fruits with cracks, frostbitten, signs of rot or other damage are removed. They need to be eaten first. They are not suitable for storage as they will quickly begin to deteriorate.

Selection of containers

For placing cabbage at home The following container is suitable:

1. Boxes. They can be wooden or plastic, with an open top. To save space, they can be stacked on top of each other.
2. On shelves in the pantry or on the balcony. The heads of cabbage are wrapped in suitable material and laid in one layer, stalks up.
3. In a suspended state, attached to the roots. The main thing is that the heads of cabbage do not touch each other.
4. In a pyramid on pallets. The forks are laid out on a bed of spruce branches, layer by layer: with the stumps up, then with the stumps down. It turns out that 4 lower forks will support 1 upper one.
5. In clay, suspended by a rope. The material should be thick, like sour cream. Each fork is dipped in it, and then hung on a crossbar on a rope.

Conditions

Optimal temperature for storing cabbage from 0 to -1 degrees. Air humidity should be at least 95%. At temperatures above +4 degrees, the heads of cabbage will begin to germinate; if it drops below -6, the vegetables will freeze.

How to properly preserve fresh vegetables at home?

In an apartment, cabbage can be stored on a glassed-in loggia and in the refrigerator. They place it in the pantry and even leave it at room temperature, but the shelf life in this case is sharply reduced.

At room temperature

Forks will not last long at room temperature. Within a week they will begin to deteriorate and rot.

As a rule, the air temperature in the apartment is +25 degrees and above. Therefore, this storage method is initially losing.

Forks, without loss of quality, can be left in the apartment for 7-10 days. After this time, some measures need to be taken, otherwise the crop will have to be thrown away.

In a refrigerator

Heads of cabbage feel good in the refrigerator. To prevent them from losing their beneficial properties longer, they need to be placed in the freshness zone, which all modern models are equipped with. Another option is to place them in a vegetable storage drawer.

If the cabbage is wrapped in film, condensation will accumulate under it. A little trick helps to avoid its abundant appearance. Before wrapping the forks in plastic, they are cooled in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The film itself should also be cool. You need to act quickly so that the cabbage does not have time to heat up.

Vegetables will last about 5 months in the refrigerator.. A significant disadvantage of this storage method is that a large number of forks will not fit in it.

Read more about storing in the refrigerator. In this article.

On the balcony

Cabbage is stored on the balcony if the loggia is insulated and the air temperature does not drop below -6 degrees. Weather conditions specific to a particular area are important.

Storage Features:

• wrap the heads of cabbage in paper or cling film;
• place them in a box insulated with foam plastic;
• cover the vegetables with a blanket or other suitable material.

If all conditions are met, cabbage can withstand frost down to -10 degrees. If the temperature drops below, vegetables need to be brought into the apartment. Such changes injure the leaves and reduce the shelf life of vegetables. Therefore, they need to be checked periodically for the appearance of rot.

Do not allow the vegetable to be exposed to direct sunlight.. Ultraviolet radiation destroys vitamins and microelements that vegetables are rich in, and also leads to its rapid spoilage.

In the pantry

The air temperature in the pantry is lower than in the entire apartment. Vegetables are placed in it if there are no other options.

In a small room it is convenient to organize shelves on which cabbage is laid out in one layer, in a pyramid or in boxes. If space allows, you can hang the forks on the crossbar.

The shelf life of heads of cabbage in the pantry does not exceed 1-2 months. As long as it's warm, dark and cool.

Deadlines and ways to increase them

Shelf life of cabbage at home:

1. Up to 7-10 days it stays fresh at room temperature. The lower it is, the less active the metabolic processes in vegetables are.
2. Up to 6-7 months the heads of cabbage can lie on the balcony, but optimal conditions must be created for this.Since it is difficult to maintain stable air temperature and humidity in the loggia, the average shelf life is 4 months.
3. Up to 30 days vegetables will last in the refrigerator if they are not wrapped in film or paper.
4. Up to 6 months extends shelf life cling film, when placing the crop in the refrigerator.

To keep the product fresh longer, You can resort to small tricks:

1. Coat the heads of cabbage with clay. It acts as an additional obstacle to microbes. At the same time, the shell prevents the vegetable from drying out.
2. Store the heads of cabbage at a distance. The less contact they have with each other, the better.
3. Hang the forks by rope or roots. With this storage method, they do not interact with the surface and are less susceptible to rot.
4. Choose the coolest place in the house.
5. Periodically replace the cling film with a new one.
6. Clean the top rotted leaves.

The more conditions are met, the longer the crop will remain fresh.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

When storing crops, problems may arise that need to be addressed immediately:

1. Cabbage began to quickly rot from the inside. Damaged heads of cabbage cannot be saved; they must be disposed of.

   Most often, the reason for rapid spoilage is contamination of vegetables on the site. This is why minimal contact between the plugs and each other is so important.

2. The upper leaves deteriorate. The reason lies in the air temperature being too high. To save the crop, it needs to be moved to a cooler place.
3. The forks are fading. This occurs due to loss of moisture. You need to try to preserve it in any available way: wrap the vegetables in film, coat them with clay, wrap them in paper.

Conclusion

Store cabbage at home it is possible.With a properly organized process, the entire harvest will be able to survive until the onset of heat. It is best to divide it into parts: put several heads of cabbage in the refrigerator, and distribute the remainder on the loggia and in the pantry.

First of all, you need to eat vegetables that are warm and only after that proceed to harvest from the balcony.