How to Store Fresh Vegetables

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All other root crops must be covered in such a way that they will stay moist and crisp. Any containers made of wood, metal or plastic will do. I have used sand, sawdust or fine wood chips, and finely chipped leaves as storage media with equal success. I began my experimentation by slightly moistening the medium before packing the roots: I’ve found, however, that a container amply filled with roots generates enough moisture to keep all roots fresh if they stay covered in the medium. Excess moisture only encourages decay. Jerusalem artichokes present the one exception to this rule; they must be stored in a moist medium in order to stay crisp through winter.

Carrots, beets, rutabagas, turnips, winter-storage radishes, celeriac and parsnips can all be stored in this way, and preparation for all of them is the same. Dig the roots in the fall after some frost has fully developed flavor but before night temperatures drop much below the mid-20s. Damage from really hard frosts can cause spoilage in storage later.

On celeriac, cut off all foliage just above the crown, being careful not to cut into the tender apical bud itself, and remove excess roots. My next step is to wash the roots by spreading them out on the lawn and hosing off both sides, allowing them to drain and partially dry. Any roots injured in digging, and any that are deformed or woody, are sorted out for fresh eating or discarded. At this time, I usually pick out a good selection of roots from each variety I intend to save seed from for the following year (about two dozen in order to maintain genetic viability), label and store them separately in gunnysacks of sawdust or chipped leaves. The rest are layered on a bed of the storage medium, covered enough so that no root touches any other to retard the spread of decay should it occur, and further layered until the containers are full.

Seed plants

For the purpose of saving seed, roots of mature Swiss chard may be dug in the fall and stored in the same way as root crops. I also have successfully maintained artichokes as a viable annual crop far beyond their normal range here in Iowa by digging the perennial plants in the fall, storing them this same way, then planting them out again just as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring.

Leeks and cabbage are two crops with a long history of winter storage. Long-season, firm-headed cabbages have been developed, mostly in Europe, specifically for this purpose and are much preferred as long keepers. Cabbages have often been stored by hanging the heads from their stems, but I have discovered that replanting works much better, keeping them totally garden crisp for a full seven months.

As I dig the plants in the garden, I strip off all the leaves until only the tight heads remain on the stem, then replant as many as I can fit in a single plastic 5-gallon pot (or, if the heads are large, I fit as many as I can carry, since a pot full of cabbage plants can be quite heavy), firmly covering the roots with garden dirt. I use these same containers for leeks, knocking excess dirt from the roots, cutting off about a third of the leafy tops and removing dead leaves to reduce decay in storage. Then I pack them into the pot, covering their roots as I go, until I’ve fitted as many in as the container can hold. I water the dirt thoroughly around the roots and let the pots drain well before placing them in the root cellar. In fact, if the cellar isn’t down to temperature yet, I will leave my cold-hardy vegetables outside a while longer, covering them at night with blankets if necessary, until my cellar has cooled sufficiently. The longer green vegetables can stay out in the light, the better.

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