by Rowan O’Malley, The Organic Prepper:
As someone who lives in USDA climate zone 4, where temperatures dip down to -30F, I take winter seriously. Each fall, when winter looms, yes, I am thinking about the usual homestead tasks of preparing firewood and making sure the woodstove is ready for burning. However, I am also getting ready to survive the winter without grocery stores. Now, so far, the grocery stores have continued to operate, but you never know.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Although, in the long term, I would love to dig and build a proper root cellar, I don’t have one now. I know that OP readers are in different circumstances in terms of where they live and whether they have a root cellar or not, so I thought I would share a few of my tips on the different creative “layers” of fresh vegetables that I have ready to eat over the winter.
All of this can be done without a root cellar. I am in a very small space of just under 500 square feet. Rather than add solutions like a big chest freezer to the mix, I prefer finding solutions that blend with what I’m already doing and don’t add any dependency to the electrical grid.
Layer 1: Packing Available Fridge Space
My first layer is one that is available to most folks: the refrigerator. In fact, my fridge capacity is pretty small, but I still find space to pack in some extra root vegetables in there when the sales are on in the fall. This particular year, I had a smaller garden myself and participated in a community garden that gave a lot of food away. So, when the harvest season came, I picked up bulk carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes for an amazing price. I mixed in a few of my own late beets, too.
That was at least a couple of months ago now, and I was able to reach into the fridge to get some carrots and beets in perfect condition to make a soup last night. I used two methods: storing some in the original plastic ventilated bag that the bulk carrots came in. Some other beets, I wrapped in a damp tea towel and stored in another area of my small fridge.
Every once in a while, I take them out to check on them and I might rinse them in water to keep them damp, as the fridge can dry things out. When they are protected from drying out/getting too wet and well-tended, I have found that root vegetables can last months in the fridge.
There’s another benefit of filling unused space in your fridge, too: it is more efficient than empty space and could save you a bit on your electricity bill.
Layer 2: Use What Ya Got
One corner of my cabin is fairly cool. It doesn’t get the daytime sun. Although it is nowhere cold enough to be a real root cellar, it is surprising how well I do with it. The storage temperature recommended for root vegetables is just over freezing, from 32 to 40 degrees F. My “cold” room is more like 50 degrees F in the depth of winter on the floor.
The humidity recommended for storing root vegetables is very high, around 90 to 95 percent. Depending on whether I’m running the woodstove, the humidity in my “cold” room will vary between 40 and 70 percent. Not sure what you’re dealing with in your own place? I bought a few small thermometers and humidity meters for just a few bucks each.
In my own experience, if I compensate for the low humidity, I can store root vegetables in my “cold” room much longer than you might expect. To do this, I store them in cardboard boxes that are low and filled with damp shavings. That way, they are getting the maximum cold from the floor and are kept damp enough to keep longer.
The secret is in the balance: make the shavings too wet, and they will turn to mush. Too dry and they will shrivel. I find that the cardboard boxes work better than plastic buckets because the cardboard breathes. This does require you to check on them. Sometimes, I will dampen the top of them with a mister and check how the veggies are doing in there. I also have stored potatoes this way. I have been able to store veggies this way and have them last almost until spring. The secret is to monitor them and keep them suitably damp. I did try sand and have found that shavings work much better for me.
Read More @ TheOrganicPrepper.ca
