How I store vegetables and apples in sawdust in the cellar, a simple method

After harvesting, it must be preserved for the long winter months. In my blog, I already said that our vegetable cellar is in the basement of the house.

On the one hand, it is very convenient. On the other hand, such a cellar is certainly not as cold as an underground one. And if the autumn is warm, as it was last year, then the waxes wither quickly. Therefore, we try to preserve vegetables and fruits by all possible methods. So, in 2020, the method of storing apples and vegetables in sawdust showed itself well. And this year I again decided to make several boxes of sawdust to keep the grown intact and full.

For storage in sawdust, I use fresh material, just brought from the sawmill. These shavings are full of phytoncides contained in resinous wood, therefore they disinfect not only apples and vegetables lying in them, but also the entire atmosphere of the cellar.

In addition, the amazing mixture of shavings and apples reminds me of the smell that was in the store located next to our house as a child. Hungarian apples were sometimes brought there, which were considered the most delicious and aromatic. They were packed in wooden boxes and filled with shavings. Even after the apples were sold, the smell lingered in the store for a long time. And this amazing mixture of aromas evokes such wonderful, childhood memories of the happy Soviet period of life. Therefore, I never miss an opportunity to flavor my cellar in this way.

In ordinary plastic boxes, I put the remains of the old covering material so that the sawdust does not spill out. This is the most convenient method.

But this year I did not have enough pieces of covering, because I was still putting vegetables in the sand for storage. Therefore, I did it easier - I took the used paper, put it clean side up in the drawers, making a kind of cover. And she poured sawdust there. Apples are placed in two layers, they need to be covered tightly with shavings so that they are completely covered.

Therefore, it is not necessary to lay it very closely, so that there is a place for sawdust between the fruits. It turned out great. That is, the paper is also eligible for use. But I don't use newspapers, because printing ink contains heavy metals. I don't think it's useful to wrap the fruit in newspapers.

Different types of apples are stored in different ways. For example, Antonovka stays without problems until spring. And the very sweet and tender fruits of the Ural striped are stored much worse, they should be used already before the New Year. Because then there will be massive rotting. This has already been verified.

A friend of mine makes molten paraffin, dips apples into it, and so they are stored for at least a year, very well. But honestly, I don't have time to bother like that. I will try it someday, maybe next year.

In addition to apples, I also put carrots in the sawdust, one box, for testing. Let's see what happens.

How do you store apples and vegetables?