Finally - the photos....
My larder this fall includes: Winter squashes: Butternut, Long Island cheese, Acorn and Delicata. A couple small orange pumpkins. Potatoes, and lots of sweet potatoes. Onions, garlic. My chile ristra has grown and is drying well. My root cellar (a small basement refrigerator has about 5 lbs of carrots, 10 lbs of beets, some celery, and a head of purple cabbage.
In past years, I kept my potatoes and squashes in baskets in the basement. This year I was disappointed I couldn't see the ones at the bottom of the basket. My husband made the perfect solution - shelves. Now I can admire all my stored vegetables!
Most of my vegetables are from my garden. Some are from Piccadilly Farm, whose CSA distribution I hosted this year. A nice acorn squash I got in trade for a big bunch of dill. (I love the idea of trading! I will try for more trades next year using our new bulletin board that is being installed this winter.)
My onions and carrots will not last the winter. These I should try to grow more of next year. Looks like I have plenty of potatoes sweet potatoes, squashes and beets.
16 comments:
What a lovely post and lovely pictures! They make me hungry:)
Have a nice week,
Charlotta in Sweden,
Cesar's Garden
Looking forward to seeing them!
wow just amaisingly beautifoul ....great post
I've always wondered how you store things in the winter! Thanks for this.
I've enjoyed your garden since I stumbled across it last winter. Thank you. How cool is your basement? I can't seem to find a good place to store unprocessed produce that can't be refrigerated. I like the way your squash is stored and I am considering it here. Winters can get long in ND...
I really like the shelf your husband built, where did the actual shelves come from? They are a great size!
Great larder shelves! Nice air flow. Is your basement heated? My old basement was cool and a little damp, great for storage. My new one is warm and dry - good for canned goods storage and hanging laundry, but not cold cellaring. What is your basement temperature and humidity like in the winter? I am looking at the unheated garage to make a colder space that doesn't freeze.
how are you storing your carrots?
My carrots (also beets, celeriac, cabbage, winter radish and parsnips) are stored in my root cellar! Not half as exciting as it sounds. My root cellar is a small energy efficient refrigerator that I keep on low setting in the basement. These roots need a fairly high humidity for keeping. Higher than potatoes or squashes, so you can;t keep them out on shelves. I keep them in plastic bags inside the refirgerator.
One year I learned the hard way by leaving a beautiful harvest of big beets in a basket. They shriveled up within a couple weeks. Right now I have a lot of beets and some cabbage, parsnips, fennel and carrots in my root fridge. But carrots are very hard for me to keep. My husband eats them very fast :)
Looks good!
Shelves?? Did you buy them locally at Ikea or a big box hardware store?
I got the shelves many years ago at home depot for some other use and found them last week in my basement. Home Depot still carries them :Home Depot little shelves
THANKS a bunch Kathy!! I will be picking some up at my next trip to the Depot. :)
Do you know how much your energy efficient frig costs to run? I am wondering which model it is? Thanks.
I admire your shelves! I just showed them to my husband. We grew sweet potatoes for the first time this year. We harvested 4 grocery bags of huge sweet potatoes. We do not know where to store them in our little townhouse.
Well done! The excellent photos of your larder have given me some space saving ideas for mine. Thank you.
Post a Comment