Saturday, January 9, 2016

Root Vegetable Storage Guide

Earlier this fall, as we were bringing in veggies, we found ourselves referring often to curing-and-storing guides.  Most sources we found were overly comprehensive, including fruits and vegetables from all regions of the world and dividing up the information into unintuitive (to us, anyway) groupings.  Eventually, we decided to compile all the information we needed for our modest garden into one chart: what we grow (or will grow soon), how to cure it, how to store it, and what not to store it with.

In the off chance that you might find it useful, too, we wanted to make it downloadable as a .pdf to print off and hang on your fridge (which is what we did to help memorize the contents).  But you'll have to earn it!  It's not hard. Visit us on Facebook, where you'll find a link to the download.  You don't have to Like the page to download the file, but it will help us out a little (in Facebook's eyes) if you do, and it gives you another way to follow us if you don't want to subscribe to the e-mail list or add us to your RSS feed.  In addition to the free .pdf file, you'll also earn our undying gratitude for helping to spread the word about THL.  What a deal!

How to use the guide: RH = relative humidity; storage humidity is also given as relative humidity.  Avoid storing ethylene-producing crops  with ethylene-susceptible crops as much as possible.  Chill susceptible veggies go bad quickly if their storage temperature dips below the minimum of the recommended range.


(Alternatively, if you're not a Facebookian, you can always download the low-res image above as a jpeg.)
Also, if you have any suggestions for how to improve the chart, or additional vegetables you think would be useful, let us know in the comments section below!

Ok, ready? Go!


3 comments:

  1. This is an excellent resource. I especially like that you included ethylene information. That's very good to know.

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    1. Thanks Leigh! The root cellaring book by Mike and Nancy Bubel says that if your root cellar has good ventilation, ethylene compatibility isn't a huge deal. But I think I'd at least like to keep ethylene-sensitive crops "upwind" of the ethylene producing ones!

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    2. I've got that book but we don't have a proper root cellar yet. I'm finding my pantry is to warm in summer, so most of my storage takes place in the fridge.

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