Maybe you get golden with a great harvest this year , more than you’re able to mayhap eat at once or give away to friends . Or maybe your garden was n’t as generative as it unremarkably is , and you desire to check that what ’s glean wo n’t go to waste .
In the honest-to-goodness days , things were simpler — almost everything from the garden just went into the etymon root cellar for safekeeping through winter .
Most modern base do n’t have root cellar , so it takes a routine of experiment ( and creativity ) to find the right balance of blank , temperature , and proper breathing so you may stack away vegetable for a long time .
If you want to maximize the shelf life of your firmly - North Korean won crop , keep reading !
revealing : If you shop from my clause or make a purchase through one of my links , I may obtain committee on some of the product I recommend .
How to make sure your vegetables will last in storage
surprisal : The refrigeratorisn’talways the best office to keep vegetables .
If you want to savor that scrumptious premium of food through pin and winter ( and possibly even outflow ) , it ’s important to acquire the right varieties , foot them at the correct clock time , and provide the right-hand conditions that keep them fresh ( or dormant ) for as long as possible .
Here are five tips to aid you achieve that .
1. Grow a reliable storage variety.
There ’s no near manner to maximise computer memory lifespan than by originate a long - storing miscellany in the first place .
If I wanted homegrown onions in December , for lesson , I would n’t grow Alisa Craig or Walla Walla , which have a shelf life of just a month . I ’d go for an onion assortment like Copra , which can last up to a class under optimal experimental condition !
These varieties are screw to quell sound the longest :
Yellow onions
White onions
blood-red onion
Winter squelch
Garlic
Potatoes
2. Pick vegetables at the right time.
veg that are nibble at peak maturity will last longer than developing or overripe vegetables . So , seek to stay harvest for as long as possible , unless frost is coming or pests are threatening to eradicate your entire crop .
Related : regain First and Last Frost Dates Accurately with This Custom Planting Calendar
When you harvest , handle the vegetable mildly . Any produce that ’s bruise , nicked , or otherwise damage or continuous tense should be set aside to practice up first .
3. Give your vegetables enough time to cure before storing them.
sure veg need to be cured in ordering to keep well in storage . This mental process dries and hardens the skin so your vegetables are less susceptible to premature guff .
cure also heal any wounding and gives the vegetables meter to get perfumed or more flavorful , as starches are convert into shekels .
Garlicshould be cure in a lovesome and teetotal sphere out of lineal sunlight for 2 to 4 weeks . ( Timing will depend on how humid your climate is . ) Here ’s everything you ask to know tocure your garlicproperly .
Potatoeshave a simple , two - step curing process : Once the foliage has died back , leave the tubers in the ground for about 1 week to allow for their skins to inspissate and “ set . ” Then , harvest all the potatoes and result them in a dark , well - ventilate domain ( ideally with 85 to 90 percent relative humidity ) for 1 to 2 hebdomad to end up curing .
Sweet potatoesshould be heal in a warm , sunny arena ( 80 ° F to 85 ° F with at least 85 percent relative humidity ) for 7 to 10 days before hive away .
wintertime squashneed to be cured in the Dominicus while it ’s warm and dry for 1 to 2 weeks . Here ’s precisely how youcure pumpkins and other winter squash .
4. Pay attention to temperature and humidity requirements.
Most vegetables like being stored in very inhuman condition . The bulk prefer temperature between 32 ° F to 38 ° F for optimal keeping , though notable exceptions are honeyed tater ( which store well in warmer temperatures of 55 ° F to 60 ° F ) and wintertime squash ( which should be kept between 50 ° F to 55 ° degree Fahrenheit ) .
gamey humidness is often preferred as well ( up to 90 percent relative humidity for theme vegetables and white potato ) .
alas , home icebox are ardent and ironical than most of your green groceries likes : around 40 ° F with 50 to 60 percentage comparative humidness .
To make up for these circumstance , you could increase humidness by wind your vegetable in dampish towels or put in them inside moldable grocery bag to keep them from dry out out .
Your guide to less wastefulness
If spoiled food is a problem in your kitchen…
Get myFruit & Vegetable Storage Guidefor admission to printable charts , helpful gratuity , and secret tricks for retain your green goods fresh for as long as potential .
Thischart from the University of Wisconsingives temperature and humidness ranges for some plebeian vegetable ( and also has a groovy overview on how to build your own basement storage room ) .
5. Keep certain crops away from others in storage.
As a gardener , you ’re in all likelihood familiar with fellow traveller plants .
Well , this is the opposite of that — crops that want to be keptawayfrom each other to maximise shelf life .
Many fruits let out ethene ( a course occurring , colorless , and odorless chemical ) as they ripen , and this chemical substance speed up ripening for other green groceries as well , causing them to spoil sooner than they normally would .
So , it ’s good to keep high - ethene producers out from most other fruits and vegetables in storage ( and away from each other ) if you want things to last longer .
High - ethylene producer let in :
Okay , substantial public lecture : If you have a “ distinctive ” home ( and not a plate with a large Samuel Butler ’s buttery , basement storage , or root basement ) , how can you keep all these gamey - ethylene producer away from each other ?
The first affair you should do is avoid piling them all together in a bowl on the replication ( unless you plan to eat them within a few days ) .
seek to dedicate a pipe bowl or basket to each type of garden truck , and put them in different areas — perhaps one in each corner of the kitchen , one on each shelf in your pantry , and one on the dining mesa , for instance .
cool temperature also help produce stay fresher longer , so avoid storing them in direct sunlight or right on next to the stove .
you could also refrigerate fruits to slow down the ripen appendage and extend their shelf living . However , you should only do this with fully ripe yield — so keep them at way temperature until ripe , then place the fruits in a bowl ( with moldable wrapper over it ) or in a plastic bag , and refrigerate .
Winter vegetable storage tips by crop
For the most comprehensive overview on how to salt away your vegetables , herbs , and fruits , check out myFruit & Vegetable Storage Guide .
It ’s a downloadable ebook filled with utile tips and loose - to - read charts that you may impress and hang in the pantry to help you waste less nutrient in the kitchen !
you may also follow the tips below for storing the most common harvest this time of year .
Root vegetables
Root vegetables like carrots , beetroot , turnip , and parsnips can be salt away right where they are : in the ground !
In fact , this is the best place to keep them through winter as the ground provides just the right amount of moisture ( 90 to 95 percent humidity ) and stale ( 32 ° degree Fahrenheit ) that they care .
Let your root crops farm for as long as possible ( but before they turn over woody ) until the first hard frost . Then , cut off all the green tops , leave just a couple column inch of radical above earth so you know where they are .
open a heavy bed ofmulchover them ( up to 8 inches thick if you live in a very cold climate — you want to keep the soil from freezing self-coloured ) and leave the crops in berth .
When you ’re quick to reap , just push some mulch away , pull the veg , then breed the bare soil with mulch .
If you ’ve already glean all your root vegetables , store them in the electric refrigerator with the greens removed . Store the greens like you would other leafy greens ( wrap in a towel inside a plastic bag or placed inside theseamazing cotton produce bag ) .
Leave the origin vulgar and loosely sealed in a plastic bag . The bag facilitate hold in moisture so the origin do n’t go wilted as speedily .
For recollective - term storage , follow my pathfinder onhow to store homegrown carrots for six months . ( I do this because my soil freeze before I can use up all my carrots . )
If you like the convenience of prewashed veggie for salads and bite you ’ll habituate that workweek , scrub the base clean , then refrigerate them in container filled with pee .
This method acting work especially well for radishes ( which I like to keep in bowl ) and carrots ( which can be stored horizontally in wide , shallow containers , or vertical in magniloquent , half - gal Alfred Edward Woodley Mason jars ) . No lid is needed unless you ’re upset about inadvertent spills .
By storing antecedent vegetables in water like this , they ’ll stay squeamish and sharp for workweek ! Just be sure to give a fresh change of piddle every few days if it starts to cloud .
My favourite bag for go along greens and roots crisp : Veggie Saver Reusable Produce Storage Bags(large ) andSwag Natural Cotton Produce Storage Bags(assortment )
Garlic is one of the few vegetables that wish it relatively warmer ( 50 ° F to 60 ° atomic number 9 ) and reasonably drier ( 65 to 70 percent proportional humidness ) .
That means it shouldneverbe stored in the electric refrigerator unless it ’s already been peeled or turn off . Storing garlic in chilly condition ( with some moisture ) for an extended period will cause sprout , as you may have experienced before .
As an away , sprouted garlic is still edible and the green shoots are perfectly hunky-dory to eat . you’re able to evenplant a sprouted garlic cloveand reverse it into a whole young plant ! Though without the proper sidereal day distance weather condition that trigger bulb development , you ’ll most probable only getgarlic greensfrom your flora ( which are still delicious ) .
Read more:11 Vegetables You produce That You Did n’t Know You Could Eat
After you ’ve cured your garlic harvest , foregather the bulb into connection old bag , paper pocketbook , baskets or other breathable container , and store them in a cool , sullen and juiceless spot .
If you havesoftneck garlic , you may leave the stem integral and braid them for hanging . Hardneck garlic can simply be gathered and tied into beautiful bundles for put in vertically .
My favorite entrepot bags for garlic:100 % Organic Cotton Mesh Produce Bags with Drawstrings
Onions
Onions like it dusty ( 32 ° to 45 ° ) and moderately humid ( 65 to 70 percentage relative humidity ) .
For most home , that means an unheated service department or basement is the best place to stack away a big harvest of onions once they ’ve been cure . Keep the majority of your Allium cepa in that courteous and cool , saturnine and teetotal area , and bring in only a few at a time to utilize in the kitchen .
lay in them in meshing bags , paper bags , or crate so they have plenty of air distribute around them .
Like Allium sativum , onion can also be braid or tie into bunches for hang up in storage . The trick is to start braiding while the stem turn are still gullible and pliable ( they ’ll finish dry as they heal ) .
A combination of warm temperatures and wet will cause onions to break quiescence and sprout , so keep an oculus on the thermostat if you want them to contain for a long period .
My favorite storage bags for onions : Heavy Duty Mesh Sacks
Pumpkins and winter squash
After harvest , do n’t bury to bring around all your pumpkin and winter squeeze — a very important footstep you should n’t skip !
This go for winter squash you produce at family as well as pumpkins you might pick on a farm ( when you ’re on a pumpkin piece adventure ) . If the fruit was matured and harvested off a vine , it needs to be cure to insure a effective farseeing shelf life .
Once bring around , salt away your winter crush in a coolheaded , obscure and juiceless spot around 55 ° F ( like a pantry or W.C. , or even a basement or garage ) , but do n’t block about them or rent temperature drop too much .
Once it receive below 50 ° F systematically , reposition life start to get and your squash wo n’t keep as long . ( So for those of you in cold clime who wish to display all your pumpkins on the porch , know that they might not survive beyond Halloween or Thanksgiving , even if they were bring around . )
I also commend store wintertime squash in a individual layer , if at all possible . Squash are still vulnerable , even in their cured and hardened nation , and piling them all on top of each other ( especially the biggies like pumpkins ) make them more susceptible to hurt .
By storing them side by side on a ledge , you ’re also able to check on them more easily throughout the time of year and grab any untimely - moulder squash vine before it affects the other squash vine .
Once your potatoes have cured , store them in a cool , disconsolate , and well - ventilated area in mesh cup of tea , paper bag , or breathable baskets or bank identification number .
Potatoes like it surprisingly parky ( around 40 ° F or just a fleck cooler ) but also on the humid side ( at least 90 per centum comparative humidness ) .
The perfect place for them is in a temperature - controlled base root cellar — you experience , the ancestor cellar that ’s right next to your wine cellar at nursing home .
Oh wait , you do n’t have a root cellarora wine-colored basement ? Yeah , neither do I , so it ’s realistic to wear the white potato vine you store at habitation are n’t going to last for many months , even though they ’re up to of storing for up to eight month .
But , theywilllast for a month or two if you keep these tips in mind :
My preferred storage crates : Stackable Collapsible Plastic Storage Crates
Sweet potatoes
mellisonant potatoes , in contrast to white potato , actually like thing a bit warmer — though for most homes , they can be keep open in the same storage conditions once they ’re cured .
( I should take a instant here to remind folks that gratifying potatoes are not concern to potatoes at all , despite their interchangeable visual aspect and growth habits . fresh potatoes are actually a extremity of the morning resplendency family . )
To keep up shelf life , computer storage sweet potatoes in a dark and cool area ( around 55 ° F to 60 ° F ) in well - air bins , basket , or crate , or in mesh bags or paper bags ( notin plastic bags ) .
They also prefer high relative humidness of 85 to 90 percent , and you could expend the same technique mentioned above for stash away potatoes to maintain a in high spirits level of humidness to keep your sweet potatoes happy .
My pet burlap bags : Natural Jute Burlap Sacks
Herbs
To stash away herbs for several month , you have three choice :
try on this : Get More unionised With This Simple DIY Spice Drawer Hack
This situation updated from an clause that in the beginning come out on November 12 , 2022 .
