Storing winter crops. Haven’t had to do a bunch of this before but seeing how food is a commodity in this economy, we decided to “pack in” potatoes, onions and carrots this year. I consulted our local extension service to see if they had advice on harvesting and handling produce for storage. USU has such a great extension service, they were happy to point me in the right direction. Here’s a summary of what I learned. Crops should be free as possible from any skin breaks, bruises or decay (as they are the main points of entry for organisms). Curing helps heal any slight skin injuries. Leave approximately 1” of stem on most vegetables. Store only the best as poor specimens will taint others in storage. Buy or grow late maturing varieties as they store best.
If you are growing crops for storage they suggest harvesting very early in the morning or before any heat warms the produce. Don’t harvest directly after rain as wet produce is more likely to rot. It is better not to wash root crops until use, actually a thin covering of soil will help prevent drying or shriveling. Be careful in handling to prevent bruising.
They recommend using clean straw, peat moss, newspaper or sawdust for insulation and storage. The packing material must be clean and uncontaminated. Use it for one year only and then recycle as mulch. Retaining moisture is key and all the materials above rate well at this job. Make sure the produce does not touch each other helps cross transfer of disease or odor. One frequent mistake is folks putting produce into storage before the cold weather hits, this leads to early spoilage. The temp needs to be in the low 30’s for most veggies with the exception of peppers, tomatoes and squashes. Winter squash, pumpkins need dry 50-55 degree storage after curing. Peppers and tomatoes are best in the low 50’s and moist atmosphere.

Interesting notes on preserving fruit. Optimum for apples is 30-32 degrees with 90% humidity. Apples will ripen twice as fast at 40 than 32. The two best “keepers” by variety are Winesap and Newtons (yellow) averaging 5 months in good conditions. Evidently some varieties of pears will keep for about 6 months Winter Nelis and Anjou’s at 29-31degrees. The storage life of pears can be one third longer at 30 than at 32 – how sensitive can they be?

Storage bins can be as simple as a buried garbage can, crate or barrel. Tunneled out hillsides, cone shape pits, trenches and mounds have all been used for produce storage. Allow for good drainage, provide tight fitting, rodent proof lids. Separate layers of veggies with recommended materials and seal tightly. Place one to two feet of more insulating material on top.

Winter squash refers to a group of squashes that are late harvest. The following varieties keep exceptionally well in dark, dry 45-50degree storage: Hubbard, butternut, sweetmeat, dwarf blue or grey pumpkins and buttercup. Spaghetti, Red Kuri, kabocha, turban and banana squash are all fair keepers. Delicata squash does not keep long term like other winter squashes. USU recommends inspecting your storage weekly for signs of decay. Remove any affected produce immediately to prevent rampant spread of decay.