This year has been a great summer for gardens and as long as water was available, the harvest has been bountiful. This year, it has just not been possible to consume all that has been offered from the garden, so it has been necessary to put some of the harvest away for later.
One of the first things that is important when storing produce, it is important to ensure that anything you are putting away is of good quality. Do not wait until the last moment to prepare for winter as it is important to ensure you are putting food away at the peak of quality. When harvesting your produce be careful not to break, nick or bruise what you are picking. Compost or consume quickly any product that is not in the optimum shape for storage.
Different vegetables require different storage conditions. If we are storing crops which are not being processed, then temperature and relative humidity (RH) are the main considerations of storage. There are three basic types of storage. Cold and dry (0 to 5 C and 65 per cent RH); cool/cold and moist (0 to 10 C with 95 per cent RH); and warm and dry (10 C and 60 per cent RH).
Please note these are optimal conditions for storage and any temperatures or humidity that are different than these optimal conditions will shorten shelf life. Basements are generally cool and dry during colder months and home refrigerators can be considered cold and dry. Putting vegetables in perforated plastic bags will give a good short-term storage option for those that require cold and moist conditions. If you are lucky enough to have a root cellar, then you can likely easily store potatoes for the entire winter and beyond. Do note that any type of storage needs to provide ventilation as the vegetables are still respiring.
Any storage facility should be cleaned prior to storing any products and should be free of any potential rodent infestations.
Apples store best in the dark at a temperature just above freezing. A covering of perforated poly will help to prevent shrivelling. As apples exude ethylene gas ensure you do not store them with leafy green or cole crops as those crops are damaged by exposure to ethylene.
Carrots, cabbage, beets, parsnips, new potatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, watermelon, beans and rutabagas like cool/cold, moist conditions with good ventilation. Ensure these crops go into storage when they have dried thoroughly. Beets, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, beans, peppers and rutabagas will lose moisture readily so cover them with perforated poly. They do well at the bottom end of the range at 0 to 5 C. Potatoes will keep the best quality if they are stored at about 4 C when mature. Tomatoes like to be stored a bit warmer at about 10 to 15 C. All of these vegetables should be stored in the dark.
Peppers, pumpkins, squash and sweet potatoes should be stored in warm, dry conditions.
Garlic and onions prefer cold and dry storage conditions. If you happen to be harvesting seed for next year, most seed will store best if it has matured appropriately, cleaned and then stored in cold, dry conditions.
For any produce that you are processing, it is necessary to blanch them prior to freezing. This blanching process means that you plunge the vegetables briefly into boiling water and then immediately immerse in an ice bath. Different products have specific guidelines for the blanching time. Blanching will stop the life of the products which means that respiration has stopped and following this process will ensure you keep the maximum amount of colour and nutrition.
Hope you have a great harvest!
Hanbidge is the lead horticulturist with Orchid Horticulture. Find us at www.orchidhort.com; by email at [email protected]; on facebook @orchidhort and on instagram at #orchidhort.
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