How to keep Jerusalem artichoke in winter

How to keep Jerusalem artichoke right? This issue does not give rest to those who respect this wonderful culture, called the earthen pear, for the health benefits and ease in growing. Let's try to consider this issue comprehensively. We hope that after reading this article you will know exactly how to preserve Jerusalem artichoke and all its useful properties. Let's start with the description of an earth pear.

What is this culture like for summer residents?

Summer residents and truck farmers love this wonderful culture for the excellent taste of tubers. And diabetics - for the fact that the earth pear is rich in inulin, vitamins, phosphorus and iron. At first, Jerusalem artichoke will seem unusual to you. But after a while you will make delicious salads from it, you will understand that in fried or boiled form it is liked by almost everyone. Particularly pleasing to many dieters is that the ground pear is like a potato. But the benefits in it are much greater.

How to store Jerusalem artichoke in the winter?

Even if you were lucky enough to grow an earthen pear on your site, it should be effectively protected from spoilage and frost. After a long winter, it threatens to freeze and rot almost everything that has grown in your garden. It is also important to organize the storage process in such a way that it does not take up all your free time.

Summer residents, interested in how to store Jerusalem artichoke, are surprised to learn that it can perfectly overwinter in the ground. And do not just winter, but become even more tender and tastier. This is his great advantage over potato tubers. But, unfortunately, practically in any locality, this method of wintering Jerusalem artichoke is unacceptable due to the fact that the mice and rats living in the ground will cause damage to the tubers. Therefore, the crop will have to be harvested in autumn. Where and how to keep Jerusalem artichoke after this?

A cellar or a refrigerator?

After you extract the ground pear from the ground, you will have just one, but quite weighty problem. The fact is that Jerusalem artichoke has a very delicate skin. If the peel of the potato is coarsened after it is extracted from the ground, this does not happen with the earthen pear. Therefore, its vulnerable surface is easily damaged.

How to store Jerusalem artichoke taking into account this information? The first way: you need to dig the harvest of earthen pears in parts, in a washed and dried state stored in a refrigerator in plastic bags. It will be necessary to eat such Jerusalem artichoke as soon as possible. Otherwise it wilts, dries and spoils. The second method of storage is the freezing of Jerusalem artichoke. The third takes into account the possible need to save large amounts of harvest. In accordance with it, the tubers extracted from the ground are divided into portions which are placed in plastic flower pots or other strong containers of the same material. A small trench is made in the earth, spruce branches are laid in it, pots are put and buried. Top should be covered with lapnika and a single sheet of roofing material. By the way, spruce branches will help you and if you want to just leave Jerusalem artichoke in the ground before the spring comes. They scared off rats and mice.