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11:50 pm
March 30, 2011
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I had a large box of carrots in the fall that I though I would store (as is dirt and all) in my basement. I put them in a clean cardboard container and added clean wood shavings and added the carrots so they wouldn't touch. This was more or less an experiment in storing food, I didn't really expect them to stay good. Of course today when I checked them, 5 months later, they are all shriveled and look like I dried them. What should I have stored them in, and is long term storage even possible? I don't really care for canned carrots, so I would probably not use very much if I had to can them. Please help so I can plan accordingly for next year.
Christina
4:11 am
January 21, 2011
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Ooooo what a let down to loose all those carrots! I am a freezer so I would have got out my lil trusty vacuum sealer and froze them babies. You would have lost the crunch, but that is all I got. lol
Welcome to the forum, by the way! 
8:06 am
January 16, 2011
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I used to store them in buckets or old metal wash tubs with sand. They needed to be buried & I think, so they didn't touch then too. The wood shavings may have been too dry of a material for them.
You can also leave them in the ground (garden) and put bales of straw or hay over them & just move the bales to havest as needed during the winter. Just be sure to put the bales back until you have gotten them all.
9:54 am
August 24, 2010
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here is a good article on storing root crops
http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/roots_harvesting/623
2:11 pm
March 30, 2011
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hmmmm, I stored them exactly how the link suggested. I guess that I stored them too long? I am going to try rehydrating a couple and see how that works. They look fine, just dried.
4:10 pm
December 14, 2010
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This is another link: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07601.html From Colorado state.
5:20 pm
January 16, 2011
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The link Ross posted says to use moist sand. I still think your packing material was too dry.
Also, the variety of carrot you grew could have a lot to do with it. If it wasn't a good "keeper" it would most likely deterioate faster than one that was.
5:49 pm
April 20, 2011
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We are limited on storage. This Fall we used our large ice-chest, setting it on our covered back porch. We harvested all our carrots, washed them and stored them in our ice-chest. This might not work for all, our elevation is at 3,000' and it gets very cold in the winter. It worked really well. We used the last of our carrots at the end of February. Pick a carrot seed that says good for storage. We raised several varieties, but Bolero was our choice for storage.
9:22 pm
April 20, 2011
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Forgot to add to my post, that our ice-chest has a small door in the top. We put a wedge in the lid so some air can get into the chest.
9:47 pm
August 15, 2008
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One thing I did with carrots last year…of course..I did can them, but I also stored them. I washed my carrots very well and dried them as well…cut the top off and the tip of the carrot…just about a 1/4" then I packed them into a bread bag and put them into the crisper drawer of the fridge. I just made a couple of carrot cakes with fresh carrots from last years garden and they are crispy and sweet. My MIL taught me this and it works great. She says if you happen to see a little spot or bag sweating..take them out, find the bad spot and cut it out…wash and dry them again and you are all set. They are awesome. We love the canned ones..but it is nice to have some crunch here in Maine in April.
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