My friend Ellen stores her garden carrots in half gallon size organic milk cartons in a spare fridge. It keeps them from drying out she says. Have yet to try this as I don't have the second fridge yet, but am considering it.

That's interesting! So you're talking about the cardboard type ones? And does she close them up with tape or something? How long can she keep them like that for?

I've had success packing them in paper shopping bags, with damp paper towels between the layers, in the veggie bins of my regular fridge... but I usually go through those in about 2-3 months, so I don't know how it would do for long-term storage.

I'm just so leery now of losing another whole summer's harvest!

I have no good place to store root veggies for more than a month or two - so mine are canned up and stored that way. I love home canned carrots - can't tolerate store bought canned carrots. I also grate up some and freeze that for use in baked goods.

When I make soup or stew (or a roast) I open a can, drain and dump them in - since they are already cooked I do it near the end and not near the start.

I also make candied carrots that are like desert, and dilled carrots which make a nice snack.

I believe long before refrigeration, they stored them in stuck in buckets of moist sand, not touching, kept cool. It kept the humidity just right. I think the refrigerator lets water pool in places, too dry in others. They also left them in the ground, undug -- remember Scarlett?

But I believe they were prepared to eat wilted, brown, weird carrots we would consider inedible today, and when they were done, they were DONE. There was no expectation of having carrots last until May. People really starved in the late winter in cool climates.

They also grew different varieties that may have stored differently/better. If the carrots you had to throw out were a fleshy, high sugar, thin-skinned variety grown to taste good (and why wouldn't you? that's what I want to eat!) it is likely the softer, sweeter varieties would not have stored as well as something that is hard, almost woody and has a thicker skin that's harder for pests and bacteria to penetrate.

So you may be able to extend the life of your carrots longer, but not the whole winter. Perhaps Macy's suggestion of looking into some good ways of preserving them that sound tasty to YOU is your best bet. There are lots of classes to help take the fear out of it and with some friends, it could even be fun.

stacey, the spring might help with humidity, but as far as temps go, have you put a thermometer in there to check? For carrots I think I remember they need btw 32-34 degrees F, and close to 100 percent humidity. I have a cold room, between my garage and basement, which is what I use, plus storing the carrots in tubs in sand.

I'm in western Canada, six hours north of the US border, and the ground freezes in late October/early November, so in-ground storage isn't an option for us!

growlery is right, another thing to consider is the variety of carrot. While we've found the tastiest carrots to be Nantes (Scarlet, etc.), they are best for eating fresh, freezing, canning, but not very good at all for storage. But the Danvers types, which we don't like much for fresh eating in the summer, store very well. Not as tasty as a Nantes in the summer, but in December infinitely better than whatever the supermarket can provide!

Becky

Thanks for all your thoughts!

I do grow two types... I've refined this over many years. I plant an early, sweet variety really early, which we eat in early/mid summer. Then in late spring/early summer I plant my storage variety, so it'll be ready in September/October. I also plant a second crop of the "early" (non-storage) type in mid-summer, for fresh eating later in the season. My storage crop is Bolero, and I plant Mokum and Nelson for the sweet types.

I've thought about freezing, which I may do this year to at least part of the crop... it's just that I do so much other freezing (beans, peas, corn, tomatoes, peppers, fruit) that I was trying to minimize that time-consuming activity :) I'm also GC-ing and DIY-ing the major house/yard reno, and trying to work too, so I don't have much extra time. And definitely not for canning, though I always love seeing macybaby's canning pics!!!

I do have a remote temp/humidity sensor in my root cellar room. Temps in there -even in the dead of winter when its 0 degrees F outside- are never lower than about 45 F. I really think it's the water flowing beneath the house. You can see the path it takes across the lawn, underground, because the snow is always thinner there and melts very quickly in spring. Is the water warm? I don't know... One thing I may try is moving the ventilation tubes (I have two, in the proper high-low configuration, with blast gates and all that). Right now they draw air from the crawl space below an addition. In order to make them draw from the exterior, we'd have to drill/chip large holes through the masonry walls of the house. There's not even a wood sill to go through, it's all thick concrete :( However, I'm a little reticent to do all that work (and make big holes in the house) if it won't solve the problem. For instance: what about in fall when it's warm outside? How to cool the crops down in Oct, November?

I wish I had a "cool" space, but the garage freezes solid, and I've no in-between zone :(

And you guys are right, too... maybe I just need to adjust my expectations and decide that having our own carrots until early March is darn good enough :)

We've given up carrot growing. Too many disappointing factors. But I would second the idea that we can't hope to prolong the produce indefinitely. Keeping things going after Christmas is a gift--just keep eating. And eating. Once the fresh stuff is gone, start in on the frozen and dried stuff with a will.

And keep working on that frozen game as well (hear that, DH?).

You have no idea how romantic all this sounds to an LA ear. I can hardly believe your good fortune!

Wow, good for you to try to have all that yummy food on hand for your family. What a disappointment to lose all those carrots. We've haven't been able to get a good crop of carrots from our garden yet, but when we do, these are the resources we'll be thumbing through to store them.

1. Four Seasons Harvest by Elliot Coleman

2. Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables by Mike and Nancy Bubel -has best keeping varieties listed, as well as storage ideas. They claim they'll last until May or beyond when kept cool and moist 32-40 degrees and 90-95% humidity. Their fav. storage method includes spreading damp saw dust in a carton, box or can, layering sawdust and single rows of carrots like a pan of lasagna (p. 62), They have more ideas than this, too.

I highly recommend checking out the books if you haven't already. HTH : )

I also know a family that digs a storage pit in their garden and stores their root crops in there. Pretty primitive, but they've had good success with it. I can give you more details if that's something you want to pursue.

not helpful at all in your situation, but when I read the title, I realized my horses would be horrified that someone would want to *store* carrots long-term instead of instantly giving all possible carrots directly to the, er, horse's mouth :)

I admire your work ethic! I have a lazy ethic...

Stacey,
I saw my friend Ellen and asked her for more details. She uses the cardboard containers folded shut but not taped or stapled to allow them to "breathe." SHe has never kept them longer than March, because by that time, she has overwintered carrots to dig, and then spring carrots from her hoophouse. Yep, she's hardcore, as it sounds like you are, too.

BTW, are you the person who triggered the SoPo chicken ordinance? Rock on if so! We live 40 miles up 295 and have hens in the backyard, and a big garden too.

Hey, everyone- thanks for your input and ideas!

mabeldingeldine- Thanks so much for getting more info! I really appreciate it. I tried overwintering carrots last year but they started to re-grow before I could dig them, and didn't taste good. Maybe I should try again and just be more vigilant about digging as soon as the ground thaws enough. Does she just leave the tops on and cover the bed with straw?
...Some day I will have a hoop house! Someday! And, yup, we're the SoPo chicken people. My daughter started it, actually. We live in Cumberland Foreside now, with 9 hens :)

Stacey, she does cover hers with straw and dig early. The carrots she stores are from her community garden plot which she doesn't have access to in the winter.

Good for you and your daughter for the chicken ordinance! I believe I wrote a letter of support back in the day. You love much closer to me now, we are in Richmond.

I have a small hoop house constructed from pvc conduit and have greens growing in there now. It was not an expensive project, about $200, the majority of the expense for the plastic. We love it, as a matter of fact I was just out there and the temp was 89F -- gorgeous! I highly recommend a hoophouse.

I just finished Eliott Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook and was intrigued by his scheme of growing and harvesting from unheated houses all winter long.

I have run greenhouses in various cool and cold-ish configs but never as thoroughly rational as his. I found many useful ideas about planting dates and varieties for carrots.

L.

I've visited Eliot's farm, it is pretty amazing.