As I've said previously, this Friday night I'll be lifting my root crops for the weekend's shows. I'll know exactly how many long carrots, stump-rooted carrots and parsnips I'll need to lift so I'll start by clearing the sand from around the shoulders and trying to match them for size. If the shoulders are the same diameter the roots should all be of similar length and girth....you hope!
I'll lift the exact amount I need and try to match up the various sets that I need for each show. If I'm happy with them I won't pull any more....but if I'm not I may have to pull a few more until I'm satisfied with my sets. Those that don't match may be used in the one veg/one flower classes.
As soon as they are pulled they are hosed down and stored in a bath of water until I'm ready to take them all into the house for further cleaning.....as you can see from the pic I use one half of the kids' old plastic sand pit. Once in the house I fill a bath with cold clean water and proceed to wash each root with a sponge, around each root not up and down. This cleans all the mud from inside the root crevices and prevents scratching.
After cleaning they are wrapped (in their respective sets) in old, dampened towels and put in a cool dark place ready for loading into the car.
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