Once upon a time, when I just bought the house, I tried to plant carrots in the ground. But little nasty nematodes didn’t let them grow… OK, I said, as I can’t beat the nematodes, I will move my carrots out of the ground. And I did. I tried many different ways - containers, concrete blocks, plant it early or late… amend the soil, shade, insulate containers, change seeds, you name it. Carrots were small, bitter, hairy… But step by step I was getting there. And this year I got two reasonable crops of carrots. It covered my canning and freezing needs and left enough to cover the fresh use for whole winter long… Along with the carrots, there were beets in amount to cover all winter long needs, potatoes enough to last till January. Great? Not so fast. I do not have a cellar. I do not even have a basement! But I have a small freezer converted into refrigerator. I set it to 54F and placed veggies there in thick cotton bags and making sure they do not touch the walls. I didn’t open them for about 2 months, as I still had other carrots in the ground. But when I opened it in October it was very unpleasant view. Bags where covered with mold, some carrots already rotted. I cleaned everything up, threw away half on the carrots. Potatoes were somewhat wet, but not moldy, beets started to grow leaves. I place all the veggies in metal net baskets this time and refrigerated again. Yesterday, I threw away the rest of the carrots (just few were OK to keep), potatoes started to grow, I had to remove all the grows, but they didn’t rot. Beets survived as well.
What I do not understand is why it was so wet inside the freezer box. Last year I kept it on 35 -37F to store beets and seed potatoes - it was much drier. I had the drain cover opened and some container under the drain and water was collecting in the container outside the freezer. But at 54F - the water never accumulated on the bottom, but everything was just wet.
Now I have to ask for help. How do you store root veggies if you do not have a traditional way to store it?
Here is my situation.
No basement, no cellar
Small and not possible to dig yard (boulders bellow soil), so new cellar not an option.
I have regular refrigerators(2) with 4 regular size veggie drawers
I have small freezer converted to ref, can be set at any temperature
Questionable: My neighbor has 150 yeas old barn right on our border and she would allow me to use it, it has walk out cellar below it. Barn is in poor shape(I would say dangerous shape), but cellar looks dry, though I am not sure how cool it is in summer, never got to the opposite wall that is “underground” but it is not really cool near entrance, big hole in the door and holes in the cellar roof(barn floor). In order even check the opposite wall I have to move 150 years worth of staff.
I know, I am crazy trying to grow and keep something that is easy and cheap enough to buy. But this is how the story goes
turn that small freezer into a freezer again and blanch and freeze them. thats what i do with mine. i dont have a cellar either. i just keep my potatoes in a cool dark place in the house. once they start to get soft, i make a bunch of mash potatoes and freeze in qt. freezer bags. canning is a option as well. i love pickled beets!
Yes, that’s an option as well. But am not sure if I need that much of frozen carrots, I like them fresh in winter, as a snack. And I do not like boiled carrots unless they are part of a soup. I may try next year low temperature just for carrots and beets. and potatoes will be on their own.
Galinas, I wonder if just turning the temperature back down to 40 would work? And maybe opening the door briefly once in awhile for a little air exchange. I store my carrots in a plastic pail, coverered with a towel or such, in my root cellar (which is just a cold room in the back of our earth covered house). Winter temperature is from 35 to 40 degrees. Potatoes are in there, too, in wooden crates. We’re in and out daily. They keep well through winter. When the temperatures start warming up in the spring (and then so does the root cellar) the carrots do start growing and I have to de-sprout the potatoes, but they are fine.
Before our house was done we lived in a small cabin and my “root cellar” was under the bed, very cold on the floor (little insulation) and warm higher up as it was all just one room with a wood stove. I recall that carrots and potatoes did OK just in buckets. The temperature certainly wasn’t consistent but I think the air circulation might have helped, and living where we do it was probably more cold than hot.
As for your neighbors old barn cellar – our undeground house, which isn’t nearly as underground as the barn cellar would be, but the summer temperature inside naturally wants to be about 60, winter 35-40 (we, of course, heat the house!). Though it is slow to cool down in the fall it is equally slow to warm up in the spring which is nice. A local farmers gave us a few apples in April from an old cellar underneath an unheated (but intact) outbuilding - they were in perfect condition! There are many old earth bermed potato cellars in our area which kept potatoes in open bins well into planting season. I’m sure they stored all sorts of root crops.
I can say from experience that clearing out an old barn is a huge undertaking!! Only worth it if you can do it safely, of course, and can make the cellar secure and dry. Cellar could be wonderful – getting it that way may be not!
I don’t think it’s crazy at all! We live in the midst of potato farms, could pick up any hundreds of pounds of potatoes for little or nothing. I still grow my own. Sue
Thank you very much for detailed response. Are your potatoes still taste fine after 35-40 degrees in winter? I thought they are turning sweet if stored bellow 40? If they do not change taste on 35-40 I am sure I can lower the temperature. The cellar under the barn is out of question. I spent one day moving staff around there, in a process got a black eye by hitting old sledge stored there in a dark, knocked out one of the support posts (looks like “installed” recently), found a corner where ground is soft and looks like a stream goes through when it is raining hard, noticed several posts and beams half-eaten by either termites or ants and discovered some animal bed in a dry part of the cellar . The conclusion is: No, it is not safe.
I am going to try the freezer-ref again next year.
I don’t recall any particular taste changes in winter, though I’m not sure I’d notice since they’re always cooked in a dish with herbs, spices and other veggies. I looked up and Mich State Univ recommends 50 deg and 95% humidity for potato storage (potatoes are a big thing in Michigan so I would think they would know). But right now my root cellar room is 40 degrees and 75% humidity and will likely be that all winter, maybe drier later (first year I’ve had a humidity meter in there so I don’t know). Fall and Spring would be closer to 50 degrees and higher humidity, but certainly not near 95%. On a really good potato year I’ve kept them through June (last ones probably getting wrinkly). Usually I run out in April. But they’re still good then. Been storing them that way for over 30 years now. But the room is vented to the outside except in the cold months (vents are closed off now) and we’re in and out daily. I hope you find that best temperature for your freezer-frig.
Yes, it does sound like that old barn cellar is not a good idea! Your freezer-turned-root-storage sounds safer. Sue
We love boiled potatoes as side dish, just salt and butter, noting else, so it is important for us they do not turn sweet. But we will use them anyway, so I will try 40F next year.
