When to harvest cabbage from the garden

Cabbage belongs to cruciferous cultures. It has several varieties. For storage in the winter time cabbage of late and late varieties is used. It is a cold-resistant plant, it is less susceptible to diseases and lesions by pests.

A bit of history

Cultivated cabbage started long ago, inperiod of the Stone Age. This is evidenced by archaeological excavations. The emergence of culture is due to leaf forms. She first appeared in Rome. The cabbage was brought to our country by merchants. Already in the 16th century she was present in the list of dishes of Russians.

Cleaning cabbage for storage

For winter storage, mid-late andlate varieties of cabbage. Their cleaning is in the middle of October, when the air temperature during the day will not be more than 5 degrees, and at night will drop to zero. When to clean cabbage for storage? For this, a dry, fine October day is best. Do not wait for a steady frost, when the thermometer falls four degrees below zero. Cabbage can freeze and winter storage can not be carried.

But do not hurry. When storing cabbage for storage will be earlier than the due date, do not lower it directly into the cellar. First you need to cool it or air it well in a draft. For information: cabbage, which ripens in late terms, is valued for its high sugar content.

Storage of cabbage in winter

Usually, for winter storage, cabbage iscellar, cellar or cool pantry. Before laying vegetables, the room is well ventilated and disinfected. For this, walls, drawers, shelves and ceiling are whitewashed with lime and fumigated with sulfur.

At what temperature should cabbage be stored? The optimal is from -1^oC to +1^aboutWith a relative humidity of 90-98%. Compliance with the temperature regime is a prerequisite for the storage of any vegetables, including cabbage. For the winter hard, elastic, medium sized kittens are laid.

Do not store large cabbage, itcrack. Small, too, does not fit - it dries quickly. At the cabbage leaves are left and 4-5 cover leaves. When cabbage is removed for the winter, one should not mix its varieties to prevent the formation of a rot. Periodically looking through the vegetables, remove the unhealthy heads. The places where they were placed for the winter are treated with lime.

Ways of storage

• Large polyethylene bags are suitable for storage. Loaded with cabbage, they are put on the floor of the cellar. You do not need to tie them.
• Many housewives store cabbage, wrapping eachheaded by newspaper. Periodically, the cabbage is looked through, the dry upper leaves and the old newspaper are removed. The heads are stacked on shelves, without touching each other.
• The easiest way: cabbage is stacked in a cellar on straw, bricks or boards in one row and upwards with a stump.
• When you remove the cabbage for storage, you can dig it with the root. An eyelet is attached to it, for which the head is hung up to the ceiling of the cellar.
• If you lower the cob in the sand, the vegetable will not spoil.
• Cabbage will be well preserved if placed inEarthen grooves cobs up and pour lime. So it will not get damaged by rot. Bookmarking in grooves is done before the onset of frost. With their arrival, you should hide the vegetables with foliage and straw.
• You can roll cabbage in paraffin or liquid clay. After drying, these mixtures form a film, and the head is not damaged by rot.
• When you remove the late cabbage for storage, you can wrap the heads of food film, release air, bandage and hang it to the ceiling. With this method, vegetables do not absorb moisture and will not get injured.

Cleaning cabbage from the garden

When to clean cabbage from the garden? If you decide which day you will cleancabbage, in the early morning, water it with plenty of water. For a day it will well moisten the soil, and by evening you can take out the heads from the garden, digging out with the roots. You can cut cabbage with a sharp knife, leaving a small stump.

Heads should be strong, leaves light with glitter. When to harvest cabbage from the garden for further long-term storage will, please note,that it should not have cracks, stains and decaying leaves. During the harvest, 4-5 extreme leaves are left on the head, which will protect the vegetable from disease, damage and drying out.

Pests and their control

Before you think about when to clean upcabbage for storage, you need to grow healthy, strong heads. To achieve a good harvest, care must be taken to protect it from pests. Some of them need to get acquainted.

• Bloks are small bugs with black stripes. Favorite for them delicacy are cabbage leaves, on which they gnaw holes. Lime, ash or tobacco dust are used to control this pest. They sprinkle leaves. You can fumigate plants with smoke. To do this, it is enough to burn garbage. If nothing helps, you should use chemical means: "Hexachloran" or sodium silicofluoride solution.
• Cabbage whitetail and cabbage shovel injurethe underside of the sheet. Pests lay eggs, which in a week turn into caterpillars. They completely eat up all the leaves and bite into the head. With these pests you need to fight relentlessly, otherwise you can not wait for the cabbage harvest. Caterpillars should be collected and burned, and eggs crushed on leaves. After that, chemicals are used, they are sprayed with plants. But you can do this only before the head of the house.
• Cabbage fly is the most dangerous pest of thisculture. Eggs lay on the ground, next to the plant. In a week, a huge number of larvae appear from them, which feed on the roots, damaging them. The fight against this pest begins with the destruction of egg laying. For this, the land around the cabbage is sprayed with the drug "Hexachloran" with a periodicity of 6-8 days. Can be used for powdering naphthalene or tobacco dust. To prevent the larvae from appearing on the roots, the plant should be fertilized and fertilized. So the upper tier of roots is formed faster.

Beneficial features

The use of cabbage and its nutritional valueare undeniable. It contains a large number of vitamins, minerals and proteins, which are well absorbed and have high quality. Cabbage is rich in vitamin C. It is several times larger than in lemons and oranges, beets and carrots, garlic and onions.

The content of tartaric acid allowsuse a vegetable in various weight loss diets. Fiber of cabbage reduces cholesterol and blood sugar. In use comes raw, fried, braised, pickled, canned, pickled and dried cabbage. This vegetable is indispensable in the kitchen of every mistress.