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Fresh cucumbers can be bought in the store at any time of the year. But their taste qualities are far from the taste of homemade greens grown in their dacha or in the garden. Therefore, at the end of the season, gardeners try to preserve the crop of greens in order to enjoy the taste of home-made vegetables until the very cold weather. To help them with this, we have prepared a selection of the most effective ways to keep cucumbers fresh longer.

The video shared the secrets of storing green vegetables

How to keep cucumbers fresh

What varieties are best kept
How to choose fruits
How to prepare them
Ideal storage conditions
The best ways to save greens
— In water
— In a protein coating
— In a refrigerator
— In sand
— In a barrel
— over vinegar
— In a vacuum
— In the well
— in cabbage
What not to do

What varieties are stored for a long time

Cucumbers keep fresh for about a month, and sometimes longer. But not all fruits are able to lie so long. Keeping quality, first of all, depends on the variety. The varieties specially bred for this purpose are best kept. These are «Kharkovskiy», «Nezhinskiy» and others. When choosing a variety for planting, information on its keeping quality can be found on the packaging.

Of the usual varieties, the most leery are long-fruited parthenocarpics intended for open ground. They are covered with a dense skin, elastic and not watery. For storage, it is best to choose pickled varieties. They will last longer than salad. These are the «Paris Gherkin», «Bush», «Salting», «Debut» and the like. Do not try to save greenhouse cucumbers. They are not designed for this, they deteriorate within a few days.

How to choose fruits to save

Choosing them is not difficult if you consider a few points.

• Freshness. From the collection to the laying of vegetables, a minimum of time should pass. Samples that have lain for a day or longer are only suitable for preservation.
• Elasticity. For preservation, elastic specimens with thick skin are selected. Loose watery fruits with a thin skin are rejected.
• fruit condition. Damage, even the smallest, should not be. Each defect on the skin is a gateway for infection. Instances with spots and signs of infection are also rejected.
• The age of the greens. Ripe cucumbers are best. Vegetables that are too young or overripe will not last long.

Preparing fruits for storage

Selected cucumbers need to be prepared for laying. Dry fruits are best stored. But this does not mean that they need to be laid dirty. Dust and dirt must be washed off. It is optimal to do this under running water, substituting the cucumber under the stream. An important point. Rinse vegetables very carefully so as not to damage the thorns and skin.

Washed greens are laid out on a soft cloth at some distance from each other. In this form, they are left to dry. Turn once or twice during drying. Dried fruits can be disinfected, this will extend their shelf life. Each cucumber is dipped in vinegar solution. To prepare it, one and a half tablespoons of vinegar are diluted in a liter of water. The disinfected fruits are dried again.

Ideal conditions for crop preservation

Vegetables are heat-loving, so they begin to deteriorate in the cold. In the heat, too, they do not lie for a long time, because they lose moisture and fade. The optimum temperature for their preservation is considered to be 12-14˚С. This is what they like the most. Humidity should be 90-95%. With a decrease in these indicators, cucumbers begin to lose moisture and fade.

How to store fresh cucumbers at home

There are many ways to store the crop, and this is not only freezing or harvesting. We’ve rounded up the ones that really work. We offer a selection of methods on how to store fresh cucumbers for as long as possible.

In water

Prepare a flat bowl or tray. Pour water into the container so that it covers the bottom by one and a half to two centimeters. Turn the greens upside down and place them in a tray so that the cuttings of the stems are in the water. Put the tray in the vegetable compartment. The technique allows you to keep vegetables fresh for three to four weeks.. An important point. You need to add water as it evaporates.

In a protein coat

Separate the egg white from the yolk and beat it lightly. Gently coat each cucumber with liquid, making sure not to skip a single section. Let the squirrel dry. Put the dried fruits in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. You can put them in a cardboard box or box and leave them in the room, but then they need to be lined with wax paper.

In a refrigerator

Take dry fruits. Wrap each in loose paper or paper towel. Put them in a plastic bag, put them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. There is another similar way. Put the cucumbers in a bag, leave it open. Cover with a moistened cotton cloth, put in the refrigerator. This will keep them for two to three weeks.

In sand

Take a cardboard box or a wooden box. Make small holes in the walls for ventilation, if there are none. Line the bottom of the container with paper, cover with a layer of sand 1.5-2 cm high. The sand must be clean, preferably calcined. Lay a row of vegetables on top of the sandy layer, cover them with sand. Repeat until the container is full. Place the box in a cool room. For example, on a glazed loggia, in the basement or in the cellar.

In a wooden barrel

This is an old method for storing fresh cucumbers. It has long been used in the villages. Rinse the barrel thoroughly and pour over boiling water. Line the bottom with horseradish leaves. They will give a disinfecting effect. Cucumbers put vertically downwards tails. The fruits should be very tight so as not to crumble. Arrange them in one or more rows, as many as will fit. Lay each row with horseradish leaves. Cover the last row on top with them. Seal the container tightly with a lid. After that, the barrel is lowered into the pond. An important point. The water must be cold. It is best to have a spring at the bottom.

Over vinegar

An unusual but effective way to keep cucumbers fresh. Take a basin, preferably flat, pour table vinegar on the bottom. Cover the bottom with any grate, on which lay the cucumbers in layers. Cover them with another basin so that air does not get inside. Place the container in a cool place.

in a vacuum

In the airless space, the cucumber crop will last until spring and even longer. You can buy a vacuum cleaner and other packaging equipment at a hardware store. It’s easy to use.

You can do it differently and keep the greens in the airless space inside the jar. They do it like this.

1. Take a three-liter glass jar, if available, you can use a larger container.
2. Place a small candle at the bottom. An important point. Scented candles are not allowed.
3. Lay cucumbers around the candle so as to fill two-thirds of the volume. They shouldn’t be too tight.
4. Light a candle, let it burn for eight to ten minutes.
5. Carefully cover the jar with a lid, roll it up. Do this carefully so as not to extinguish the candle. It will go out when all the oxygen burns out, and a vacuum appears inside the glass container.

in the well

If there is a well on the site, if desired, part of the cucumber crop is preserved in it. Put greens in a dry bucket, cover with a cotton cloth and lower it down so that the bottom only touches the water surface. It is not necessary to submerge the container in water. In a cool and humid environment, vegetables can be stored for two to three weeks..

in cabbage

Non-standard way of storage. It is suitable for those who grow their own vegetables.. Plant cucumbers in cabbage beds so that cucumber bushes are located between heads of late varieties. When the lashes grow up and the ovaries appear, lay the greens, without tearing them from the stems, inside the head of cabbage. Try to put the cucumbers as close as possible to the stump, twist the whips in a spiral. Further cultures grow together. In autumn, remove the cabbage, leave a long stem. Hang it upside down in a cellar or cool basement. So greens can be stored until spring.

What not to do

To save Zelentsy for a long time, you need to remember what absolutely cannot be done with them.

• Seal the plastic bag with vegetables tightly. They release moisture, which accumulates and provokes rotting processes. Even in the refrigerator in such conditions, the crop will not lie for a long time.
• Store greens near ripe fruits or vegetables, such as apples, tomatoes, pears, etc. They emit ethylene gas into the air, which speeds up biochemical processes. Cucumbers ripen faster and begin to deteriorate.
• Try to save damaged fruits. Even if the defects are very small, they are still infected. Such specimens begin to rot and infect those that lie nearby.

Whatever option you choose to preserve your home harvest, you need to regularly inspect your stocks. They do this in order to reject greens that begin to deteriorate. If they are not removed in time, there is a risk that the entire bookmark will be damaged due to one rotten copy.