Garden fresh carrots are delicious raw or cook . Although carrots that are grown for early time of year harvest home do not hive away as well , late time of year carrots can stay on to ameliorate for the first few weeks in memory . Toenjoy the upright flavorand freshness , you ’ll ask to follow best practices in both harvest home and storing carrot . Whether you design on hive away carrots in body of water or freezing them , here ’s your guide to keeping these various veggies crunchy and impertinent .
Carrots store best if they fully mature in the garden
It is good to clock the planting of carrots that you stand for to store so they can in full mature in damage of growth and flavour before harvest . Here ’s how to clock your Daucus carota sativa harvest :
Step 1 : see to it the “ days to harvest ” mark on the seed packet . That is the minimum number of days they will need to uprise before the average first frost date in fall .
Step 2 : Add 7 to 10 days to be sure that they have enough time in the case of an early frost .
Step 3 : number down the act of days to reap . For example , if you plant on June 15 , and the packet says 70 days to glean , pull your first test carrots on August 24 .
Step 4 : Look for carrot that are well - shaped and have effective color and taste . Carrots that match these standard are quick to harvest , while developing carrot may need another duet day or workweek .
How to harvest carrots
When thecarrots are quick to harvest , here ’s what to do :
footstep 1 : relax the soil along the rowing by put in a garden fork straight down into the filth , a few in away from where the shoulders of the carrots go forth .
Step 2 : lightly rock the garden ramification backward to lift the carrots out of the soil .
stride 3 : Pull them up individually by their height .
Step 4 : Brush off the loose , clumpy soil .
footstep 5 : absent the tops as soon as potential after harvest home to minimize transpiration .
Step 6 : Keep the beginning out of the hot sun as you proceed harvesting .
Carrots may be stored in different ways
There are several effectual ways tostore carrots and keep them fresh . For extended storage , they may be left in the earth for several months during nerveless fall and winter weather . Before a inscrutable freeze solidification in , carrots left in the priming should be insulated with dry leaves or pale yellow and then covered with plastic .
Another longsighted - full term storage selection is to dig them , withdraw the peak , and put in them in a cool , dark-skinned locating in large crate or boxes pack with clean , damp guts . carrot that will be used within a month or so should be stored in the icebox .
Carrots will stay fresh in a plastic bag for a few days
If you plan to utilise them the next day or so , simplyclean and store the carrotsin a fictile base . But beware their neighbors . Some fruit and veggies give off ethylene gas , which impart a sulphurous flavor in carrots . The main single you ’ll likely have in the refrigerator would be apples or pears . If you place the fruits in the crisper , pull up stakes the bagged carrots on a shelf .
Storing carrots in water keeps them fresh for up to a month
When carrots go easygoing or cartilaginous , it means that they have not been store properly . In in high spirits humidity and cool temperature , as you would typically find in your refrigerator veggie draftsman , carrot should stay fresh and crisp for a month or longer . But sometimes even that does n’t work as well as it should . A great way to ensure that they keep their crunchiness for as long as possible is by storing carrot in water . Here ’s how :
pace 1 : Clean the carrot by removing the tops and wash them .
Step 2 : Store the meridian separately .
Step 3 : Place the carrot into a watertight storage container , either vertically or horizontally , and spread over them with cold wiretap water .
stone’s throw 4 : Put a lid on the container and lay in it in the refrigerator for up to a calendar month , commute the water twice a hebdomad .
Storing carrots in the freezer can keep them good for up to a year
you’re able to in spades freeze cultivated carrot to keep them around for long . Instead of corrupt a bag of frozen carrot , you canprepare your own frozen veggiesfrom the comforts of your home . You ’ll also be using water supply with this depot technique , but the last destination will be the freezer . Here ’s how to freeze your carrot :
Step 1 : After washing your carrot , cut the summit and peel the skin . you could leave behind your carrots whole , but slice them or stripping them also works .
Step 2 : Blanch your carrots in boiling water for 2 to 5 minutes . The heavy your carrot pieces are , the longer you ’ll want to leave them in the piss .
footprint 3 : After your carrots cool , run out out the water system and package them in a plastic zippered purse .
Step 4 : toss off your carrots into the freezer .
Daucus carota sativa are one of the most versatile vegetable in the kitchen . They are easy to farm in the garden , and taste big as an essential ingredient in a variety of recipe . If you have an teemingness of carrots , handle them properly and you will be able-bodied to delight their crunchy texture and impertinent smell for months .
