Food preservation and vegetable storage techniques including canning vegetables, freezing, pickling and drying or curing. This article is about drying and storing vegetables and legumes. Storing vegetables properly can extend your food supply for many months.
Root vegetables store dry best, with sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes keeping for several months when properly stored. Peas and Beans can be dried and stored. Preserving garlic, shallot, ginger, chinese cabbage and onion--all are simple to do, and are covered separately below.
Root Vegetables
Beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, artichokes and turnips can all be left right in the ground until mid-November in most climates, or until there is danger of freezing. Some people just pile soil and straw over the rows to keep root vegetables from freezing, extending this simple and effective storage method even longer. You can keep mature parsnips in the ground 2-3 months after they mature in cool climates. Jerusalem Artichokes keep well for a month in dry storage, especially in boxes packed with peat moss.
Once you dig your root vegetables up, store them in a cool, dry, dark place such as a garbage can buried outdoors, in a barn, or in a box in a well-ventilated, cool basement. Sweet potatoes will keep up to 4 months in storage. Don't wash your root vegetables before storing them for long periods. Just cut off the tops and wipe off the dirt. Keep them dry.
Tips for storing vegetables successfully:
1) Keep a watchful eye for any vegetables that are rotten and remove them immediately to prevent spreading.
2) The best temperature is 32-38 degrees F
3) Store vegetables in a cool, dry location
4) If vegetables start to grow, the temperature is too high
5) If vegetables start to shrivel, the air around them is too dry
Brussel Sprouts Leave early winter sprouts on the stem. Hang them in a cool dry location and they should keep for at least a month.
Chinese Cabbage Store in a cool, dry place. Will keep several months - just throw away discolored outer leaves and use the inner ones.
Garlic Leave the leaves on. Dry in clumps in sunny location for a few days. Then hang in open mesh bags in an airy location. Keep it dry.
Onion Bulbs Store in open mesh containers, or open weave baskets, in a cool, airy, dry location.
Shallot Keep them in a cool, dry storage spot and Shallot bulbs will last for several months. You can also chop them up and freeze them.
Drying Beans and Peas Spread lima, snap, field (pinto, navy, northern, etc.) beans and peas out to dry in a warm location with good air circulation. Dry for several days in the shells. Then shell and store in closed containers. Keep in cool and dry conditions.
Click here to read my article: Freezing Vegetables
