Carrots are not only one of the most popular vegetables with a pleasant taste, but also a treasure trove of vitamins, especially vitamin A. To enjoy fresh and crisp carrots all season long, we need to find ways to store them properly. Experienced gardeners often joke that harvesting carrots is a lot easier than storing them! If stored incorrectly, carrots not only lose their appearance, but can also damage your health!

Many of us simply put our carrots in baskets or boxes to preserve the harvest, but this method does not always ensure long-term freshness. What are the most effective ways to store carrots to keep them not only fresh but also nutritious until spring? Discover simple but highly effective tricks to prevent carrots from drying out, rotting or losing their flavour!

Where to start?

The first thing to do is to harvest your carrots. Experienced gardeners are convinced that the timing of the harvest also has a major impact on the success of the carrot storage. Timing is very important. Unfortunately, no calendar will help you to determine this.

To find out if now is the right time to harvest carrots, look at the tops of the carrots. If the tops have turned yellow, it is time to harvest the vegetables. If you do this too early, the vegetables will not contain enough amino acids and sugars. If you delay, the carrots will have too much sugar and will become a real insect magnet!

Subtleties of cleaning

In addition, carrots should be dug strictly in the evening and it is important not to water the carrots the day before harvest. At night, the plant uses the sugars accumulated during the day for growth, so that carrots harvested in the evening will contain more beneficial substances.

Set aside the harvested carrots to dry in the fresh air for a couple of hours. This will help the vegetable's micro-traumas to heal, thus increasing its shelf life. Cut off the tops of the carrots together with the thin ends, as the ends are the most likely to start the decay process. Carefully remove the soil. Finally, sort the crop by size.

Preparing the cellar

First of all, keep the vegetables in a cellar for a week at a temperature between 10 and 15 degrees. After this time, move the carrots to a permanent storage area where the temperature must be kept between two and minus two degrees Celsius and the humidity at around 95 %. The place should also have good ventilation, but do not overdo it to prevent the crop from sprouting.

Forget about baskets and boxes! Carrots rot quickly in them. Strangely enough, these vegetables are best in enamelled pots! Place the harvest in the pot with the pointed end facing downwards, place napkins or paper towels on top and cover with lids. This way, your carrots are sure to keep until spring!