Preserving Melons for Winter: Several Ways to Make Delicious Supplies

I love melons very much and always try to extend the season of their use as long as possible. I even decided to make small reserves, but I don’t know which side to approach. Tell me how to store melons at home? I heard that they can be frozen.

Much to the regret of melon lovers, the aromatic and sweet fruit is a seasonal summer vegetable. It would seem that the first melons ripened yesterday, but now they cannot be found even on the market. To make useful supplies, the fruits can be pre-prepared. True, it will not be possible to keep them fresh until next season, since the melons deteriorate very quickly. However, they will lie for some time if the conditions are right.

How and how much can fresh fruit be stored?

Indoor conditions save fresh melon more than a week is unlikely to work - it's too warm for that. But the cellar is perfect for this purpose: there the air temperature even in winter has positive (but not very large) values, and the humidity is suitable. The main thing is that the cellar is ventilated.

For storage, it is necessary to select only whole fruits, without damage. It is desirable that they be removed from the garden a week before they are fully ripe.

It should be borne in mind that melon is not a potato and you cannot put it in bulk. If the fruits come into contact with each other, they quickly deteriorate. Therefore, in the cellar, they must be placed at a short distance, choosing one of the following methods:

• hang in nets;
• spread out on shelves, having previously poured sawdust on them or lined with fabric;
• put in a box "standing" (tail down) and cover with sand to half the height.

It is not recommended to store fruits next to potatoes (they tighten their aroma) and apples (ripening is accelerated).

The shelf life of fresh melons depends directly on their variety:

• early melons will last no more than a month;
• melons of an average ripening period are stored up to 4 months;
• late-ripening varieties can be stored for up to six months.

Freezing and drying melons for the winter

Those who live in apartments and cannot boast of a cellar can be offered freeze melon, choosing the sweetest varieties and with dense pulp. To do this, it must first be cleaned and the pulp should be spread on a board. The frozen slices then need to be put in containers under the lid or in bags.

The melon can lie frozen for a year.

Another very good way to make large stocks of melons for a long time is to dry them in a dryer or oven.

Video on how to dry melon