What you need to know about the timing of harvesting beets and carrots?
Every gardener knows the common truth of agriculture: growing carrots and beets is still half the battle, the main thing is that they are preserved as long as possible. Without this, a difficult and troublesome land business loses all its meaning, because usually summer residents plant not two beds, but much more for the purpose of winter supplies.
In order for the roots to be well preserved and at the same time not to lose their taste and vitamins, it is necessary to dig them up in time.
When can you pick carrots and beets? It depends on a combination of many factors:
- growing region (north or south);
- weather conditions (rain or dry and warm autumn);
- a specific variety (wound - or late-ripening vegetables);
- ripening degree.
It should be borne in mind that the harvest time for these root crops is different: beets are harvested earlier, and after a couple of weeks - carrots. In any case, it is important to let the fruits ripen well, otherwise the under-ripened vegetables will quickly stick and rot in the basement.
To understand whether the beets or carrots are ripe, you need to dig out one fruit with a pitchfork: if it has small white branching roots, the vegetable is fully ripe and ready for harvesting.
There is one more nuance: in the case when the autumn is dry and warm, it is better to postpone the harvest for now, because the vegetables will be better in the garden than in the cellar. But if prolonged rains are predicted, it is better to remove the roots from the garden before they occur. Otherwise, both carrots and beets will be saturated with moisture, which will significantly reduce their shelf life and even taste.
Harvesting beets
Growth characteristic beets is that the upper part of the fruit protrudes above the soil surface. This entails an earlier harvest compared to carrots, because if the beet bed is caught by frost, there is a risk of freezing of root crops. Such vegetables will still be useful for consumption, but they will no longer be stored.
After harvesting, the beets must be cleaned from the tops with a knife or scissors, without damaging the fruits, and dried.
Harvesting carrots
Unlike beets, carrots tolerate the first frosts well, so it is better to postpone its collection until they come. The main thing is not to forget to "put" the tops on the ground.
Experienced gardeners say that carrots that have undergone the first frosts in the beds are stored better, since the fruits are already cooled down in the cellar.
But nevertheless, it is necessary to dig up the roots before the onset of constant frosts, because a stable low temperature carrot will not transfer. The tops can be unscrewed by hand, leaving a small tail, and the vegetables can be dried.