Keeping apples fresh until spring requires no money or significant effort. The main thing is to take care of the timely and accurate collection of fruits, preparation of a room suitable for storage or other suitable place and high-quality packing. If these conditions are met, the apples will definitely lie until spring, without losing their appearance and taste.
Correct apple picking
Remove the apples from the tree when ripe. You can judge about ripeness by the main color of the skin - it brightens noticeably, as well as by the illuminated side of the fruit - the so-called barrel is colored with a cover color characteristic of the variety. Do not overexpose apples on the tree in the ripeness stage - overripe fruits are not suitable for long-term storage, their flesh becomes brown and loose, like cotton wool, they quickly rot. In turn, unripe apples are also poorly stored, because wither and wrinkle, besides, they lose their taste.
Gather apples from the tree carefully, taking care of preserving the outer natural wax layer, which protects the fruit from drying out and harmful microorganisms. It is best to use cotton gloves to remove apples from branches.
If you want to keep your apples fresh until spring, do not use pickers. They are convenient for picking fruits, but they often injure them, which makes the fruits unsuitable for long-term storage.
Select apples for long-term storage without scratches, scuffs and dents, not affected by diseases and worms. You can sort out the rejected fruits, cut some for drying, and cook jam from others, make jam, juice, compotes, marshmallows, etc.
How you can keep apples until spring
Dry sawdust
Pour a layer of dry sawdust into prepared boxes or cardboard boxes with holes along the side walls. On them, carefully lay the apples in one row, trying to do this so that they do not touch the sides. Pour a layer of sawdust on top and lay another row of apples on it. Etc. You can replace sawdust with straw. Locate the filled containers in a ventilated basement or cellar, where the air temperature ranges from 0 to + 5 ° C.
Paper
You will also need crates or boxes. Wrapping each apple in paper (old magazines and newspapers will do), carefully stack them in rows in boxes. Experienced gardeners recommend making no more than 3 rows in order to avoid pressure from the upper rows on the lower ones. Lower the boxes into the cellar or basement.
Polymer bags
A very popular method of storing apples today. Buy plastic film bags 30-40 microns thick from a specialty store. Place an apple in each (you can do more if the size allows), tie it tightly with twine and put it in a cool, dark place. After about 2 weeks, due to the natural "breathing" of the fruits, a certain gaseous environment is formed in the bags, which helps the apples to stay fresh for a long time. Practice shows that both in winter and even in spring they have the same attractive appearance, retain their taste and aroma.
Experienced gardeners, along with polymer ones, also use ordinary plastic bags, only together with an apple they put a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or vinegar in each bag.
Earthen pit
Dig a hole 50-60 cm deep. Throw coniferous branches on the bottom, cover the walls of the hole with them as well - this will protect your storage from rodents. Put the apples prepared for storage in bags (ordinary plastic bags) and tie them tightly with twine. Fold the bags with apples into the hole, throw a lot of coniferous branches on top and bury it with earth, not compacting it very much. If you decide to keep apples fresh until spring in this way, put them in an earthen hole before the arrival of real winter frosts. An earlier laying, when thaws still occur, can lead to spoilage of apples due to excessive dampness and moisture.
