Here's a good question from reader Dimara, who is trying to store vegetables for the winter. She asks:
There's been a lot of discussion lately on urban root cellars and even building your own if you have a yard. We don’t have access to a yard or root cellar and are running into a storage issue with our 5 cubic foot refrigerator vs. 20 pounds of produce we get from our CSA’s winter share once a month.
Read on for Dimara's storage solution for all her vegetables, and her question too.
I resorted to storing my produce on the fire escape in a large, hard plastic container with a lid and towel inside for insulation. Other than potentially causing a fire hazard, is this okay? How long will my produce last this way?
Right now I have 5 heads of green cabbage, 3 heads of red cabbage 4 kohlrabi, 2 acorn squash and 10lbs of daikon radishes. The weather has been pretty cold in NY and I check them every day. Any tips or info would be great!
Dimara, this is great you're trying to store your CSA veggies! We are just learning about all of this too, as we attempt to store a box of squash and potatoes harvested in the fall. Here are our main thoughts.
• You don't want your vegetables to freeze. Most vegetables and fruit won't do well when frozen; their cell walls will collapse when thawed and turn to mush. If it is freezing outside, bring your vegetables inside.
• Apples store best around 30°, and we imagine that many vegetables are the same. You want to keep everything as cold as possible without freezing.
• If it is freezing outside, we suggest a cold hallway, a non-insulated closet, or a basement, if you have access to one.
We use our side entryway, which always stays very cold because the door lets in drafts! It's at least 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. It probably doesn't get below 50, but our squash and potatoes have stayed pretty fresh. We're planning on eating our way through them before another month goes by anyway.
Any more tips for Dimara??
More on storing vegetables and fruit for the winter:
• Quick Tip: The Best Way to Store Potatoes
• How To Store Apples for the Winter
• The Return of the Root Cellar in the New York Times
• Gumdrop Coffee Jars and a DIY Root Cellar
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Dimara,
I came across this book on Amazon recently:
http://www.amazon.com/Root-Cellaring-Natural-Storage-Vegetables/dp/0882667033/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231881371&sr=8-1
view practicallydone's profile
5 heads of cabbage? 10 pounds of daikon?
How many people is she feeding? I think swapping with others or cutting down on the CSA order makes more sense.
view Palmetto's profile
Hi Palmetto,
We get 1 delivery a month during the winter, so it tends to be a hefty amount of produce. The good thing is that this has forced me to make meals in advance using what we have available and storing meals in the freezer. We made a batch of Veselka's cabbage and pork soup and the braised cabbage from the kitchn.
view FromTheSea's profile
I hate to point this out, but insulating the bin will make no difference. Unless there is a source of heat inside the bin, the vegetables will essentially be at outdoor temperature.
Think of a thermos -- the liquid stays warm because it starts out hot and the insulated container slows the rate at which it cools down. Eventually though, the liquid reaches the temperature of its surroundings.
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
Sorry I don't have any suggestion on root cellars since I am at the begining stages of researching this topic but have you thought about canning or pickeling? The daikons would be wonderful for Do Chua.
view Luxeport's profile
Many root vegetables can be packed in sand. The sand shoudl be a little damp - and this can cause it to freeze, but I think it could work if you used your plastic container and lined the sides with some insulation - even a thick lining of newspaper.
view HappyStance's profile
Many thanks for this. I live in the sticks of Upstate NY (Oswego) and since we get record cold and snow, I've stored outside for years. You reminded me though that since I have the space, I want to put in a root cellar. Not as major a project as it sounds, simple a nice deep hole with some hay and plywood to cover and Voila! Cold storage all winter that won't freeze!
view Jaie's profile
You can insulated with hay, but I'm guessing that hay might be hard to come by. I'd pickle that daikon and cabbage, but I'd probably rethink my order, too.
view Palmetto's profile
I learned the hard way w/this - my first time living in SE Wisconsin with a winter share CSA shipment... I thought I was all smooth, storing my produce in willow baskets insulated with straw - in the comfort of my (unheated) garage. It worked great in Seattle - not so much in Milwaukee. My potatoes, cabbage... everything froze as hard as a rock and there was nothing I could do about it. The CSA lady suggested I store the veggies "in an unused room in the house"!!! I almost choked at the thought of actually having an "unused room". Hahahahaha. Try to keep them inside, near a door or some other cold spot if you can. I had mush & a lot of wasted produce. :(
view keltrue's profile