Storing Your Produce From The Garden

~ By Aletha ~

Crops if stored correctly will keep for months with out the need for freezing or preserving, some of these are all kinds of root vegetables and even hard fruits.

Nature's Cupboard is sometimes one of the best to keep some of your root vegetables in the ground till first frost if you can. If your ground gets waterlogged or you have predators such as slugs then no it won't be good, the slugs will love you but you will miss out on those wonderful vegetables you have been growing.

If you have some Carrots you can twist off the green and then get a sturdy box and layer it with either damp sand or untreated wood or sawdust and even compost, make sure that the carrots do not touch each other and you can also do this with beet root.

Potatoes if you grow them and want to keep them for awhile you will need to make sure you keep them in the dark if they are not they will turn green and grown sprouts. So what you need to do is rub off the damp mud and allow the skins to dry and then put them in a paper sacks. Do not store in plastic that will lead to them sweating and rotting. You sure do not want that after all your hard work. Another way if you want to keep them outside is you are going get some straw and heap the potatoes onto the straw and then cover it with more straw and pile with a layer of earth now you have to make sure you dig a small trench so water can run off and also make sure you leave a air hole on top.

Cabbage if you still haver some in the garden can also be kept but the trick is to keep them in a net or layer on straw on a shelf but they must not touch each other. The outer leaves will turn yellow and wilt but just trim them off and they are good then.

Apples and Pears which are considered hard fruits can be wrapped in newspaper or tissue and keep them where air can circulate around them so like in wooden trays or on shelves. As for Pears you want to pick them a little bit before they are ripe to store them and then uncover them and bring them to a warm place to ripen.

So these are just a few things you can do and just think come winter months you can sit back and take some of your vegetables and fruits and say "this is from my garden."

         

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