Tips for Storing Root Vegetables

If you're harvesting a plentiful crop of root vegetables from your garden, you might be wondering how best to store them. You don't always need an already overflowing freezer. In earlier times, the year's harvest was often stored for months without electricity. However, only healthy, blemish-free produce is suitable for this. This means the vegetables shouldn't show any visible external damage. Furthermore, the root vegetables to be stored should be harvested neither too early nor too late. There are various storage options available both inside your home and in the garden.

For successful storage, the right interplay of these factors is crucial: temperature, humidity, and air composition and movement.

Ideally, store root vegetables at temperatures between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (35-39°F) with a relative humidity of 85 to 90 percent. Root vegetables can even tolerate temperatures below freezing. However, they should only be removed from storage on a frost-free day, not when frozen.

Regarding air composition, it should be free of fungal spores and strong odors. Since fruits release the ripening gas ethylene, you shouldn't store them together with vegetables. Too much air movement will dry out the root vegetables, while insufficient air circulation can lead to rot.

Root vegetables can be stored in shallow crates in the garden, on the patio, on the balcony, or in a cool cellar. To protect them from drying out, cover them with foil. To prevent birds and mice from nibbling on the produce, the stored vegetables should be protected with a fine-mesh wire grid.

Another proven storage method is embedding them in moist sand. To do this, fill a crate with moist, but not wet, sand and nestle the root vegetables within it. The crate, covered with straw or leaves, can be placed in a cool spot like a cellar or on a balcony, or even buried in the garden. Again, a fine-mesh wire should be used to protect against mouse and bird damage.

Traditionally, root vegetables can be stored in an earth pit (Erdmiete). For this, dig a hole in the ground, protecting it from moisture with a sand drainage layer and from mice with a fine-mesh grid. The pit is covered with leaves, straw, or a layer of earth, and a hose or bent pipe should be inserted into the cover for air exchange. A cold frame, for example, can also be used as an earth pit if it is insulated all around with insulating materials.