In spring, kohlrabi is one of the first tasty and particularly tender root vegetables. The round tubers can be stored for a long time with little effort.
Kohlrabi should be kept with the leaves
Store kohlrabi properly
As soon as the tubers have a diameter of eight to ten centimetres, they are harvested. To do this, cut off the tuber above the root and remove the large leaves. The tender, inner leaves remain on the tuber and can be processed with it. If you do not need all the ripe kohlrabi at once, there are various ways to store the vegetables carefully:
- in the refrigerator
- in the freezer
- in the basement or in heaps of earth
storage in the refrigerator
To keep the kohlrabi fresh for a long time, it can be stored in the refrigerator. To do this, wrap the vegetables in a damp cloth and place them in the vegetable drawer. In this humid climate, the kohlrabi will keep for about two weeks, but will lose some of its nutrients over the period. Without a moist cover, the storage time is reduced to just under a week. The outer skin loses moisture, becomes soft and wrinkled.
Storage in the freezer
This is easily possible if you cut the tubers into slices or pieces before freezing and blanch them, i.e. scald them briefly in hot water and then cool them down with cold water.
Without blanching, the vegetables in the freezer become woody, changing taste and appearance. But even if processed correctly, the kohlrabi is no longer crunchy after defrosting. If you don't like that, it's best to freeze ready-made kohlrabi dishes. This turns out to be very easy. To do this, the vegetables are cleaned, processed according to taste and finally frozen as a ready meal in suitable plastic containers. This keeps the kohlrabi tasty for months.
Storage in the raw state
Various types of cabbage and root vegetables can be stored raw for months without losing any of their quality. First of all, make sure that you use vegetables that ripen as late as possible and that have not received too much fertilizer.
The vegetables are stored in a box with sand in the dry, cool cellar. A ground rent fulfills the same purpose. To do this, dig a pit about 40 cm deep in a dry spot in the garden, place the vegetables between layers of sand and cover the whole thing with fir greens or leaves.
Small metal or plastic containers, such as an old juicer pot or washing machine drum, make good soil heaps if buried. Here, too, the vegetables lie cool and dry in the sand. Air holes ensure the necessary air exchange. Finally, the heap is closed with a tight lid so that no mice are invited.
If you store your kohlrabi in piles, you must make sure that all tubers are undamaged to prevent mold and rot.
The garden journal freshness ABC
How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?
The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:
- as a free PDF file to print out yourself