Storing veg safely during winter months.

[StringfellowParticipant]

I would like to use my garage for winter storage of root veg such as carrots, beetroot, potatoes etc. and am concerned about nibbles from rodents and the like. Would clamping using damp sand in cardboard or even plastic boxes help prevent their entry? I was thinking along the lines of the ‘Really Useful’ range that have lids aswell.

Has anyone suffered issues with this or anything else – any useful tips on storage and doing it cheaply? Poison is mentioned in HTGWV and I will use it as a last resort.

Charles, could you remind me of the dehydrator model you purchased and a brief comment on how you have found it in operation; I couldn’t find the post about it, elsewhere on the forums.

Thanks in advance. Spring is nearly here…..

[Pete BuddParticipant]

Hi Stringfellow

I have 2 options; a reasonably cool garage and a shed. Sometimes, (like this winter so far), the shed is ideal but most winters the garage is ok. I have some large plastic containers that I have managed to accumulate and I stack these up with plywood inbetween. Carrots, parsnips, beets and swede all keep well using a mixture of sharp sand and old potting compost. The mixture should be only just moist. I have had a little bit of top growth and fibrous root re-growth, due to the mild conditions but it has not affected the quality so far.

Hope this helps

Pete

[StringfellowParticipant]

Hey Pete,

Thanks for this help (again!) I like the idea of using plastic containers and then using plywood as a kind of ‘lid’ – much cheaper than the ‘Really Useful’ boxes; I’ll start collecting.

Although I doubt it’s an exact science, roughly what ratio of sand to compost have you found works well e.g. 50/50? I wonder if council greenwaste compost (perhaps sieved to remove large bits of wood etc.) would work?

Thanks Pete.

[charlesModerator]

 The dehydrator is an Excalibur with nine shelves, costs around £250 I think, see http://www.drying123.com

[Pete BuddParticipant]

You`re dead right Stringfellow, its not an exact science, in fact calling it science is doing an immense disservice to proper scientists )
I just happened to have some fairly dry, used potting compost and used it to bulk up the sand. It did make the mixture a bit dryer and as mentioned previously you cannot afford to have it too damp. Having said all that, I doubt that there was any more than 20% compost.

[StringfellowParticipant]

Thanks to you both.

I’ll see what is to hand nearer the time next autumn and then take things from there Pete.

I’ll also look into the Excalibur machine and perhaps consider building a simple solar dryer.

[Author]

Posts