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1. Mike (tfb)
   Veggie grower
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   A comment in Root cellar check-in made me think about the quality of the veggies I've stored through the winter, and wonder what results other people have had:

   I’m curios what other people have found about the quality of the veggies they’ve stored. My neighbor loves to give me carrots that she has stored for several months, but I usually can’t use them for anything other than soup (or soup stock!)

   I’ve stored garlic, potatoes, squash in my unheated basement for years, with mixed results. I just cooked a pumpkin yesterday and the flavor was pretty bland. My temps are high, I think, about 50F, although they do go lower in colder weather. Also, the humidity is nowhere near 90%.

   So far, I've only been doing casual storage of a few crops. This means 40-50°F and 40-60% humidity. General results over three or four years:

   • onion: great texture and taste
   • potato: great texture and taste, when they don't sprout or start dehydrating
   • carrots: OK taste and texture, can tend to lose flavor
   • winter squash: good taste and texture
   • beets: as long as they remain quite firm, excellent taste and texture

   This is all casual observation. I'm taking more care with storage this winter, and will add notes!

   Posted 2 years ago #

2. sunwarm
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   So this is interesting. Somewhere I thought you had mentioned that 90% humidity was optimal. Is this true? because it seems high to me.

   Just to follow up: my neighbor brought over some cooked squash from her storage and it was quite sweet. We got into a discussion and she said that she keeps her squash in a corner of her downstairs, ie. much warmer than a typical root cellar. So I don't know whether squash is different from other vegetables stored over the winter.

   Posted 2 years ago #

3. Mike (tfb)
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   Yes, high humidity is important for a lot of the usual winter storage crops, like carrots, beets and potatoes. They dry out otherwise. They shrivel up, sometimes quickly, sometimes taking their time so they feel more-or-less OK, but the texture and taste have started to change.

   I think 90% relative humidity sounds high because high humidity is often associated with condensation as well, everything wet and dripping. This happens with air temperature changes, so the idea is to keep a steady temperature, so nothing is actually wet. This is what dirt floors and earth in general as an insulator is good for, keeping the temperature constant.

   We just ate some winter squash (acorn), baked and then pureed into soup, and it was great! Winter squash is completely different for storage, 50F or higher, and much lower humidity is fine. I have some squash here on a shelf in the Milkhouse, where it's about 60F and 50% humidity, and they're doing fine.

   Here's a good summary page on root cellaring, it has a chart at the bottom showing optimal conditions for various veggies!

   Also, for carrots and beets, which are both really susceptible to drying out, an emergency trick I've tried that works quite well is to put them in plastic bags (using up those old shopping bags is good). I tear a few holes in the bags as well. This keeps the moisture in. There's a night and day difference between some beets I have now in bags, and others from the same harvest left open in a wooden bushel basket, both at around 45F and 50% humidity (far from ideal conditions).

   Posted 2 years ago #

4. sunwarm
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   Thanks for the info, and another page to bookmark!

   Posted 2 years ago #

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