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A Guide to Harvesting and Storing Vegetables for Winter MARK ANDERSON owner, Anderson’s Seed and Garden
DURING THIS TIME of year, we harvest more from our family garden than we can eat. Sure, we give a bunch of it away to family and friends and we take some to the food pantry for those who can use it. Then, we try to can and freeze as much as time allows. Fortunately, many of the vegetables we harvest can be cured and stored for many months in a cold storage room, a cool room in the basement, a cellar, or even in a garage if it doesn’t get too cold. The easiest crops to prepare and store are onions, potatoes, and winter squashes. This year, I pulled up my onions to prepare them for storage on August 19. Normally they will start to die down by early- to mid-August, but if the tops haven’t started drying up by
around August 15, then you need to encourage them. I gently step on the tops of the onions to break them, and in just a few days the tops have turned yellow and are starting to dry up. At that point, usually around the last week of August, I pull the onions up and lay them on their sides or upside down so the sun will dry the roots. Leave them like that for a few days, and after the roots are dry then the onions will have stopped growing and can be prepared for storage. Gather up the onion bulbs, leave the tops attached, and place them in a warm, dry location with good air circulation like a barn or a shed — where the sun does not hit them. Leave them in this “curing” location for four
to six weeks. During this time the onions will dry, creating a hard, outer-wrapper skin that will protect the onions during storage. After the four to six weeks of curing, trim the tops off the onions, put them in mesh storage bags, and hang them up off the floor in a cool storage space (about 40 to 50 degrees). Depending on the variety of onion, they could keep as long as four to six months. Potatoes are probably the easiest vegetable to harvest and store. The vines will normally start to die back when the potatoes are ready to harvest. For early potatoes, that is about late July, while later varieties like Pontiac or Yukon Gold will start to die down in late August. Don’t let the potatoes stay in the ground too
Color for Spring! Plant fall bulbs now for amazing spring colors. Anderson’s Seed and Garden 69 West Center, Logan • 435-752-2345
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