When is it necessary to clean leeks and how to store it properly?

Leek is an amazing plant that can be eaten fresh, under the marinade, dried or salted, and also used in many dishes as an additional ingredient. At home, it is very easy to grow in any climate zone. It is unpretentious, and, moreover, it is easy to understand how to store leeks in the winter and when to remove it. The plant is rich in vitamin C. It is not without reason that it is revered in Western Europe.

The most valuable accumulates the lower part of the leek, which is white. It is there that a large number of nutrients are located. You can eat onions at any time during its growing season. Green young shoots are added to salads, they have a pungent spicy taste. In many varieties, the leaves do not coarse over time.

The productivity of these varieties is pleasing: with simple and timely care, it exceeds several times the volume of onions, for example. Most effective when cultivation is carried out through seedlings or by the method of sowing seeds in the winter. If you want to get your seeds, then leek must be cultivated for two years. Only in the second year it will bloom, like any two-year-old plant.

There are several ways to preserve onions in the winter. You need to know that not all varieties are suitable for these purposes. Effective storage largely depends on the proper timely cleaning of the plant. In any case, this process is not complicated. Subject to the rules, up to six months, useful substances may be retained when lying.

Leek Harvesting Scheme

It is carried out in three stages:

1. digging process;
2. land removal and pruning;
3. storing.

To determine when onion harvesting is necessary, you need to know the characteristics of the planted variety. Already in August, you can dig out individual plants for cooking. But massively for storage at home, leeks begin to be harvested in early October (for common varieties). So that the bulb has a beautiful pronounced white color, a couple of weeks before harvesting, the soil around the plants is covered with opaque material.

The digging process is carried out carefully so as not to disturb the stems. What is damaged and contaminated should not be laid in the winter - it is better to cut it out. The remaining leaves are shortened by two-thirds, the roots should be cut in half.

How to prepare a leek feather?

During the growing season, a feather is prepared before digging, cutting it off from bulbs that are not subject to storage. This process can be continued until the onset of cold weather. After cutting the sheet, all dried and yellow areas are removed. Then, using running water, the material is washed and allowed to drain water, laying it on a gauze napkin or paper in a place where there is no light.

The dried feather is cut into rings or like straws, followed by laying them in the freezer for storage. There is an option to dry and chop the leek and use it seasoning for various dishes. You can store the pen and the whole, without chopping, as you like.

Tip

It is important that the plants are not damaged by frost before harvesting, such material will not be stored in the winter.

Winter preservation methods for onions

Leek can be stored in the sand. To do this, after cleaning it immediately lay. Optimum parameters when humidity does not exceed 80% and temperature is about zero. The storage container may be a medium-sized box (preferably wooden). The bottom is covered with a layer of sand of 5 cm, then the stems are vertically set in rows, which are covered with wet sand up to 20 cm. The guaranteed shelf life in this way is 6 months.

If there is a balcony, then you can store leek there. It is necessary to carefully cover it, then it can withstand -8 degrees without any problems. Periodically cleaning of spoiled plants from the total mass is carried out.

To carry out storage in the refrigerator, use selected high-quality plants. Plants are trimmed and cooled to a level of 0 degrees. Next, the cooled stems are placed in perforated bags made of polyethylene of 8 pcs. Store at temperatures up to -5. Onion withstands five months. Can be cleaned in the freezer. The preparation process has been described above.

For drying onions for the winter, an oven or an electric dryer is suitable. The temperature of 50 degrees is ideal, while all useful substances are preserved. You can also dry at a temperature slightly above 100 degrees, but not more than 20 minutes.