Storing Sweet Chestnuts is simple:
sweet-chestnut-tree
Sweet Chestnuts can be cooked or stored and are very nutrtitious.
The Sweet Chestnut Tree (latin name – Castanea sativa) grows to a height of about 30m.
The Sweet Chestnut produces spiny fruit which encase the edible chestnut, traditionally roasted in bonfires
This is How To Store Sweet Chestnuts:
sweet-chestnut-tree
The nutritional value of sweet chestnuts is high:
To Cook a Chestnut snack:
It is fun collecting the nutritious sweet chestnuts at this time of year; they can be cooked or stored.
How long have your apples been keeping in store this winter? Our Bramley cooking apples have stored well up to now, possibly because we have had a very cold winter.
apple-in-March
This box has been kept on the concrete floor of a north facing porch. I am surprised they did not get frosted. It is almost the end of March, we are getting a few rots, but the majority of apples are in perfect condition.
apple-storage-box
It is important to check the box regularly and to pull out any apples showing signs of deterioration. We put them on the bird table.
bird-feeder
These apples have not been checked for a few weeks – and the rots have progressed in some apples:
rotten-apple
rotting-apple
The main causes of apple problems are:
The length of time apples will store depends on variety. Our Bramley cooking apples have kept for 6 months, but we are starting to cook & freeze some now, as the apples will go off as the temperature rises in spring.
How long have your apples kept in store?
After harvest, store garlic bulbs:
garlic-harvest
Once the garlic cloves begin to shrivel inside the wrapper, or begin to sprout, they are past their best.
clove-of-garlic
Garlic bulbs will keep for several months (depending on the variety) if stored correctly after harvest.
Click this link to buy a book about storing garden produce:
harvested-marrows
hessian-sack-marrow
Do not wash root vegetables before putting them into store, keep the mud on! This applies to all root vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips & swedes.
pulled-carrots
Researchers, working on behalf of ASDA, looking into the shelf-life of vegetables have found those covered in soil lasted twice as long as those that had been washed.
They believe mud acts as a preservative because it blocks the light and helps to keep the temperature down.(FarmBusiness,19th Jan2007,p4)
The soil around root vegetables should be dry before they are put into store. So it is best to lift the roots:
potato-harvest
If the soil is wet when the root vegetables are lifted, leave the vegetables on the surface of the soil, so the mud can dry off before putting into store.
This is How To Store Sweet Chestnuts:
sweet-chestnut-tree
Saxon
Acrylamide is a chemical found in starchy foods that have been cooked at high temperatures, but boiling food does not seem to produce the compound. Swedish scientists discovered acrylamide in 2002. As acrylamide causes cancer in animals there is a possibility that it may harm the health of humans.
As it seems impossible to stop the production of acrylamide, and impossible to remove acrylamide once it has been produced, research is trying to find ways of reducing the levels of acrylamide in food.
Potatoes stored in the fridge can increase their sugar levels. Higher sugar levels leads to more acrylamide being produced when the potatoes are roasted, baked or fried at high temperatures.
Therefore to reduce acrylamide levels:
Acrylamide is produced naturally when starchy foods are cooked to a high temperature. Potatoes will contribute to a healthy diet when following simple guidelines for storage and cooking.
Onions must be checked for Neck Rot (latin name – Botrytis allii, B. squamosa and B. cinerea) once they have been lifted, because it destroys onion bulbs in storage.
onion-neck-rot
White onion varieties are more susceptible to onion neck rot, but red and yellow varieties
may suffer. Garlic, shallots, chives, and leeks are also affected by neck rot.
New potatoes will not store, unless they are stored in a freezer.
New potatoes have not set their skin, which means that the skin will easily scrape off with a knife.
scraping-new-potatoes
Potatoes need to have a set skin which will not scrape off, before they will store over the winter.
new-potatoes-lifted
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