With the rush of harvest season upon us, it’s time to start storing the garden’s bounty through the winter, whether it’s your own garden or you’re buying in bulk from a local farmer.
There are many ways to store these crops, some of them new, some of them high-tech. But the basic requirements for preserving food stay the same, so we took a look at tried and true Maine storage methods and found some simple options you can use this season.
Before you do, it’s worth the time to research the specific temperature and humidity requirements of the particular foods you are trying to store. For example, most root vegetables store best in a cool and humid environment. But squash, onions and garlic do well in drier air. And apples release a gas that makes other food ripen faster, so you’ll want to store them farther away.
Fill an unused room with squash
If you close off rooms in your home during the winter to save on heating costs, you’re also creating good conditions for long-term squash storage. Maine farmers used to use these rooms (specifically the space under the bed, in some cases) to store crops that needed cool, but not freezing, temperatures in a drier environment than the root cellar.
Store your carrots in sand
Carrots can last you all winter when stored in layers of moist sand, sawdust or peat moss. To do this, leave them unwashed after harvesting and trim the tops off as you harvest and layer them in a bucket or box of sand. Check on them throughout the winter for mold or sprouting.
This method can also work for other root vegetables and leeks (store them upright).
Potatoes can store between layers of straw in a ventilated container, like a crate or a tote with holes drilled in the sides.
Leave the dirt on
Root vegetables will last longer if you don’t wash the dirt off them after harvesting. Potatoes are one good example, and the same goes for most roots.
Store beans in the attic
If you’re growing dry beans such as lima, kidney or navy varieties, you’ll need to store the pulled plants in a warm, dry place for a few weeks to get the moisture out before you shell them. One convenient place to do this is your attic.
They should remain on the vine until “dry enough to rattle,” a BDN article said in 1918, then spread on the attic floor until fully dry. Or, pull the entire vine and hang the plants from the attic rafters for several weeks.
Once shelled, you can store beans in airtight plastic containers or bags in a cool, dry place, where they should last for several years.
Braid your garlic and onions
Garlic comes in hardneck varieties (the type you typically see at the grocery store), which store well when the top is snipped, and softneck garlic. If you grew or bought softneck garlic, you can braid the soft tops to extend its life after the plants have been fully cured.
Enterprising homesteaders have occasionally managed to braid hardneck garlic, but it’s not easy. You might do better to dehydrate if you’re looking for long-term storage.
You can similarly braid your onions once the tops are fully stored and dried.This also makes them easier to hang up, providing air ventilation and keeping them fresh.
Uproot entire plants
As frost becomes more likely, you can harvest and hang entire plants. They probably won’t last all winter, but you can enjoy them for an extra month or two.
Tomato plants can be pulled up entirely and stored inside, where the green fruits will slowly ripen. An expert suggested in a 1942 BDN article that tomatoes can be pulled a few at a time to turn red in the sun for good taste.
To do this with Brussels sprouts, trim the leaves and roots to create a “log.”
For cabbage, leave the roots on and hang them upside down.
Leave crops in the ground
More of your vegetables can make it outside through the winter than you might think, and the cold even makes them taste better. Called “overwintering,” it’s mostly as simple as leaving them unharvested until the spring. In the cold, the starches in the fruit will convert into sugar and produce sweeter vegetables.
This works for carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, horseradish and most roots. Carrots can generally be harvested into January with this method; a covering of hay, mulch or landscape fabric can keep it going longer.
You can do it with the allium family, which includes garlic, onions and leeks, as well. Kale is another popular choice for cold-weather sweetening, and other greens work too.
Bonus round: transplant into your cellar floor
In researching this story, we found one mention of Maine farmers of yore actually transplanting their crops with strong root systems, such as celery and cabbage, right into the dirt floor of their cellar.
