Once yourroot cellaris ready , think about which methods will work well for you : What suits your usable distance and thecrops you plan to store ? To discover out if your crops will lay in well with the proficiency you have in mind , find out the crop - by - crop guide below .
A list of green groceries that I ’ve had the best experience with for keeping incold storagefollows . If you do n’t see a fruit or veg listed , it probably is n’t a good keeper in these conditions . Generally , you shouldn’twaste valuable green groceries or energy on items that willmostly have unsatisfactory resultant . Therefore , bug out diminished the first year and keep notes on success and failures for the next year .
Storing Fruits
Many fruits do n’t store well in cold computer memory for long periods of time . Apples and pears are among the few fruits that can be stack away in insensate computer memory for up to six month , depending on the cultivar . So , prefer long - keeping cultivars if you ’re plan to store many of them in your root cellar .
Partition off a section of your base root cellar for fruits or at least ensure they ’re in separate containers , away from veg . Never salt away fruits with white potato vine , turnip or cultivated cabbage . Apples and pears release a gas that causes tater to bourgeon , while turnips and cabbage can give out smell that might be engross by other produce .
Apples
count on the cultivar , apples will keep for two to six months if hive away at 32 degrees F. Apples are among the best - keeping yield , especially cultivars such as Granny Smith that can last up to six months . Stayman Winesap and Rome Beauty are the next good .
Normal storehouse straddle from four to six months with these cultivars . you could keep Jonathan , McIntosh and Delicious ( red or icteric ) for shorter catamenia .
Most cultivars should be stored at a temperature of 32 degrees and 85 to 95 percentage humidity . wrapper Malus pumila in newspaper or nuzzle them in husk or clean teetotal folio . Apples “ breathe ” more than most other fruit and give off a barbed olfactory property , so keep them off from other produce . Store them in boxes , barrels or bucket . Cover with 2 inch of wadding cloth on top .
Citrus
Orange River and grapefruit are some of the few citrus yield thatcan be stack away in a root cellar . These fruits will keep for up to two calendar month if store at 32 to 40 degree and at 80 to 90 percentage humidity . Just make certain to hive away only blemish - free fruits .
Grapes
After pick , apace nerveless grape vine to 50 degree . Spread them out in single layers and go away them until the stems are slimly shriveled . Then pack them in shallow container no more than 4 in deep , cushion with ironical shuck .
Store them in a stead that is slightly humid and has a temperature of about 32 grade . Grapes will keep for one to two months .
Pears
count on the cultivar , pears stored at 32 degrees will keep for two to six months . Anjou , Easter Beurre , and Winter Nelis keep better than Bosc , Bartlett , Cornice , Hardy and Kieffer .
harvesting while they are still unripe and appear to be unfledged . Choose fruit that are free of defect and bruises . wrapping pears in newspapers or nest them in stalk or clean , dry leafage . Store in box or cask , trash can , or buckets , covering with 2 inches of packing textile on top . Store pears aside from other fruit and veggie . Maintain a temperature as close to 32 degree as possible , as well as a high comparative humidness of 85 to 90 percent .
Beets to Endive
Many vegetables , especially settle crops such as potato , can be kept well through the entire winter , as long as the required temperature and humidity are provided . If you ’re a tiro , start with the most stored ancestor vegetables : beet , carrots , potatoes , turnip and rutabaga . The surveil vegetables are good for cold entrepot .
Beets
Beets stored at 32 level will keep for four to six months . Harvest beet in late November , when the night temperature reaches 30 degrees .
Remove most of the greens , which might otherwise rot , but leave behind a 2 - column inch stub . Never trim off the special K right at the solution . You might very well geld the veg , invite quick decomposition . Do n’t wash .
Pack the beetroot in containers surrounded by straw or in moist sand for keep in any outdoor storage pit or a root cellar . locate them in an region with temperature slimly above freezing and a humidity stratum of 95 percent . you’re able to also leave the beets in the ground covered with 6 inches of straw and harvest them as ask .
Iaroslava/Adobe Stock
Brussels Sprouts
you could keep Brussels sprouts in the garden for a remarkably long time , sometimes right up to New Year ’s twenty-four hour period in areas that revel moderate winter . If you are n’t bless with such conditions , create a basement “ garden ” of Brussels stock so that you could cull them as you need them .
To do so , do n’t pick the sprout off the stem , but savvy up the whole plants carefully , restrain the root word and the filth clinging to them . engraft them upright by eat up the beginning in a box of soil . gently water and pick sprout as needed .
Cabbage & Chinese Cabbage
later cabbage stored at 32 degrees will keep for five to six month , while former lettuce stored at the same temperature will keep for only a few week . So , look at opt a late cabbage cultivar .
train cabbage for storage by removing the on the loose outer leave . you’re able to put in individual heads , individually wind , or entire plants . If you store only the heads , enwrap them with newspaper , gunny or other material , and store them in boxes or bins at a temperature just above freezing in a damp expanse . If you require gelt head to quell crisper longer , leave the radical on and put in them out of doors in a container of damp Baroness Dudevant or grunge .
moolah give out a solid smell during store , so most people favour to store it in an outside storage arrangement .
Iaroslava/Adobe Stock
Carrots
carrot stored at 32 degree keep for seven to nine months . Store as you would beets .
Cauliflower
Cut off the roots and result the leaves intact . Use overcompensate box or baskets with moist moxie stratum . Cauliflower can be stored for one to two months .
Celery
cultivated celery stored at 32 level will keep for two to three months . To control the best storage sentence , pull the harvest , leaving the roots entire . impart the tops ironic ; do n’t wash off .
Keep the plants at a temperature of 32 to 34 degrees and the solution in slightly dampish Baroness Dudevant or territory . To quash odor contamination , do n’t salt away with dough or turnips . In area without severe winters , you’re able to leave Apium graveolens dulce in the garden , covered with a loggerheaded bed of leaves or chaff .
Endive
store at 32 degrees , endive will keep for two to three months . stack away this leafy vegetable with its root word in slightly moist sand or soil . you may also expend your basement to hive away the stem of witloof chicory until they sprout delicate , mild heads of Belgian escarole . Here is how .
rise the chicory all summertime in your garden and reap it in late fall . Put the tooth root in a boxof moist guts and set them in total darkness inyour 50- to 60 - arcdegree cellar . After several week , small endive top dog will shoot . glean them before they attain 6 in magniloquent .
Garlic to Onions
Garlic
put in in a dry spot at 40 degrees , Allium sativum will keep for six to seven month . Just like onions , you must cure ail before storing it . Dry garlic thoroughly , making certain the bulb are n’t in verbatim sunlight .
If you have large quantity , lay the works in the garden with their spinning top cover the bulbs . If you have just a few , gang , linkup or braid them and hang them in a well - air coolheaded way to salt away and wry . Or remove the teetotum and roots with a knife or shear , give 1 inch of roots on the bulb , and store them as you would onion , in a cool , somewhat humid ( 60 to 75 percent ) orbit .
Green Tomatoes
Green but full - size tomatoes will ripen in up to two calendar month if book at 55to 70 degree in moderate humidity . good tomato do n’t salt away well , but hold green ones in computer storage and encourage them to ripen there .
Harvest all tomatoes that are of good sizing , mature and still green , just before the first killing frost . polish off from the plants , wash and allow to dry before storing . If you transfer the stems , there is less chance that the tomatoes will puncture one another . Separate unripened tomatoes from those that show crimson , and tamp down dark-green love apple no more than two deep in shallow box or trays for ripening .
Horseradish
Whole base can keep for one to two months at 32 degree . Dig out whole horseradish roots and store them in a ascendant cellar in damp sand in a bucket or plastic bag . Or impart the roots in the ground throughout the winter .
To make grasp well-to-do , cover the row with about 1 foot of leaves or straw before the dry land has freeze . Horseradish rootage are thin - skinned , and the quality deteriorate once dug up , so you might dig up no more than a two week ’ provision at a time .
Jerusalem Artichokes
Stored at 32 degreesin high humidness , they ’ll keep for two to five month . memory as you would horseradish .
Kohlrabi
store at 32 degrees , Brassica oleracea gongylodes will keep for two to three months . Remove leaves and roots , and store them in an orbit with about 95 percent humidity .
Leeks
Leeks stored at 32 degrees will keep for one to three months . harvesting after nights reaches 30 degrees . thin off most of the fleeceable tops and leave the white tie intact . Use boxes , cans or bucketful lined with a fictile bag . stratum the leeks with sawdust or moist sand ; use peat moss or straw for outside computer memory . Keep them at a temperature of 32 degrees and 95 percent humidity . you’re able to also leave leeks in the solid ground covered with 6 inches of stubble and harvest home as needed .
Onions
Onions will last throughout the intact winter if store in a nerveless , wry situation . Pull the onions when their top falls over , shrivels at the neck opening of the bulb and plow brown . Keep the bulbs off the footing in the shade or land them inside out of the direct Lord’s Day for about two weeks or until pelt are papery and roots are juiceless , before storing . Then remove the tops and place them in bins or string traveling bag or braid their tops together . memory onions at temperatures array from 33 to 45 degree in an sphere with about 60 to 75 per centum humidity . Iaroslava / Adobe Stock
Parsnips to Turnips
Parsnips
Stored at 32 degree , they ’ll keep for up to six months . computer storage as you would beets .
Potatoes
store at 40 degrees and 95 percent humidness , potatoes will last throughout the wintertime . leave behind Tuber in the ground for about two weeks after the vines have kick the bucket — as long as the weather is dry — to make certain that the potato skins have toughened up for storage . Then toil the potatoes , and store them in a disconsolate , humid place at about 40 degrees . humiliated temperatures tend to sprain amylum into lucre and changethe smell . Never hive away with apples , whichgive off ethylene gasand encourage potatoes to sprout . Iaroslava / Adobe Stock
Pumpkins & Winter Squash
Harvest when very matured , before frost , with the stem attached . bring around for about two weeks in 70 - degree temperature so the skins will toughen .
wash drawing pumpkins and winter squeeze with a meek whitener resolution to prevent mold from take shape during storage . Or wipe them with a soft textile moistened with vegetable oil to deter mold . Store ona shelf in a ironic , 55 - point office . Do n’t mob them up , as their weight unit may crush the bottom bed . Store on the top ledge near the cap of the tooth root cellar as long as it ’s dry .
Pumpkins and wintertime squash can be stored for four to six months , depending on the cultivar .
Iaroslava/Adobe Stock
Sweet Potatoes
Stored in a tender ( 55 to 60 degrees ) area that is well ventilated and the humidness is 85 to 90 percent , sweet white potato will keep throughout the wintertime . Store sweet-smelling potatoes that are free from harm . Cure them for one to two weeks in a fond ( 85 to 90 degree ) and humid ( 80 to 90 pct ) place until the peel toughens and the wound at either destruction originate a protective , corky coating .
Radishes, Winter
store at 32 degrees , winter radish will keep for four to six months , with nearly indistinguishable change in flavor or texture . Store in the root cellar as you would beet .
Rutabagas
Rutabagas stored at 32 degree will keep for up to four months . shop as you would beets . you’re able to also wrap them well in plastic wrap that clings tightly to protect their skins and keeps their strong olfactory perception contained .
Turnips
store at 32 degree in the root root cellar , turnips will keep for four to five month . Store as you would Beta vulgaris . As with swedish turnip , you could wrap turnips in plastic wrap that cohere tightly to protect their skins and maintain their odor hold .
This article earlier seem in the Sept./Oct . 2023 emergence ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
