Navigating the winter treats of the season makes sense: opening a jar of pickled cucumbers on New Year’s Eve or enjoying berry compote made from a personal harvest. Achieving this starts with careful growing, proper processing, and smart transport.
What to wear?
The most practical containers for transporting apples, pears, plums and other fruits are simple boxes made of wood, plywood, or plastic. Such boxes protect the crop during winter storage and make it easy to bring seedlings to the dacha in spring. The benefits are clear: fruits don’t crush, and the crates stack neatly, saving space for both transport and storage.
Root vegetables like carrots and beets belong in boxes as well. To prevent damage during transport, lay them with paper or, better yet, with long wood shavings, straw, or similar packing material between layers.
Potatoes are best stored in breathable textile bags. These bags keep potatoes dry and usable even if they sit for a while without getting moist.
Berries have no better option than wicker baskets. In a pinch, cardboard boxes or plastic buckets can work, but berries should not stay long in them—they tend to wrinkle and spoil quickly. The bottom of the basket, box, or bucket should be cushioned. For currants, add a few currant leaves at the bottom. If the container has a lid, close it only for the journey and leave a gap of several centimeters for air circulation.
Greens like lettuce and parsley should be gathered in small bunches and carried in compact boxes. Supermarkets do stock these greens, making them easy to source when needed.
Important: do not take spoiled fruit on board. Spoiled fruit spoils its neighbors and undermines the entire load.
How to wear?
As the saying goes, the guiding rule is to handle with care. The transport of produce should be gentle to prevent crumbling or rolling during movement. It should be kept soft and stable, avoiding jolts from bumps. Smooth acceleration and braking are key. Unload the harvested goods carefully.
People tend to value what they have grown with their own hands and care for it appropriately.
Three tips for the road
- To slightly improve ride quality, reduce tire pressure a bit—the car will feel softer on the road. Remember the classic scene from a certain novel where a deteriorating Cadillac is sold; the goal is not to overdo it—the tire pressure must stay within the manufacturer’s limits. The exact specification is on the door plate, the back of the fuel filler flap, or in the user manual.
- Choose a cooler day for transport or run the air conditioning to keep the cabin fresh.
- Whenever possible, select the flattest route from the country house to home. A smoother road helps protect fragile cargo during the trip.
Expert opinion
Andrey Tumanov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Your 6 Acres and a TV presenter, offers practical insights:
— He does not meddle much with garden-to-car transfers. Potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, zucchini, and pumpkins move well in a bag or loose in the trunk. For delicate fruits, he favors about ten different baskets in varying sizes. He keeps berries in baskets only and avoids combining different berries in one container to reduce the need for bulkheads later at home. Crushing fruits and vegetables, including ripe tomatoes and pears, happens best in baskets. He aims to gather the most delicate berries, such as raspberries, just before departure. Modern transport-friendly varieties matter, since berries can release juice when damaged and sour quickly; newer varieties stay drier and are easier to move to another city. He never leaves what he brought in the car, and even when exhausted, unloads and processes promptly to avoid losses in sun or heat. Often, driving with the harvest in open air is managed, but with the dacha harvest, the air conditioner runs at full power. [Citation: Expert commentary by Andrey Tumanov, summarized conclusions on transport strategies for garden harvests.]
Knowledge of readers
The topic of crop transport is discussed widely on Runet. A simple, useful, and universal tip is to maximize processing at the dacha itself. If electricity and drinking water are available, canning becomes straightforward, and gas power makes it even easier. In this scenario, raw materials from the dacha are avoided in favor of canned vegetables, jams, and compotes. Boxes, bags, and shopping bags work fine for transport. Crumpled newspapers can line benches to protect fragile items—move slowly and calmly; otherwise, broken glass may need to be cleaned up later. Organic matter, instead of ending up in a landfill, serves as fertilizer for future crops.
The topic of avoiding traffic jams on the way to and from the dacha is explored in several places. For those curious, reading options include a Yandex.Zen article on the subject.