When it comes to winter food storage without using up lots of electricity or other fuel, root vegetables are king. After all, their whole purpose is to last until spring! Storing your root vegetables doesn’t have to be complicated. Just keep these few rules in mind·
- Keep them some place cool, but don’t let them freeze. A root cellar or cool basement is ideal. If your winters are mild, you can even leave them in the ground all winter. Just cover with a thick layer of mulch to keep out the frost, and be sure to use them before it warms up and the plants start to sprout.
- Most root vegetables like high humidity. Pack them in damp sand, newspaper or peat.
- Don’t wash your veggies before storing. You want to handle them gently to avoid small nicks and bruises that could lead to rot.
- You know the saying, “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” It goes for root veggies, too. Be vigilant against rot. Use any damaged roots as soon as possible after harvest. Check every week or so and promptly remove any veggie showing any sign of going bad.
- Potatoes take slightly different handling. Keep them dry, and don’t expose them to light. Light will trigger the formation of toxic compounds. Do not eat potato sprouts or any part of the potato that has turned green.
With proper handling, you should be able to store your root vegetables all the way through ‘till spring – if you don’t eat them all up first!
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Great tips. Exactly what I needed. Thanks!