Storing garden veggies

[Mike121]

I'd be curious to know how all of you, especially those of you from the UK, store veggies that you gather from your gardens? We tend to grow less than we actually need just because we don't know how to store most of it for year long use, but there are some that we store in freezer bags in the freezer (squash, okra, peas). Everything else we either eat fresh or give away.

Anyways, what do y'all grow that you're able to put up to eat all year long?

 

[gdning8]

I use a dehydrator. Only works well for some veggies but I like it. Canning works as well but it’s more work

 

[Mike121]

I use a dehydrator. Only works well for some veggies but I like it. Canning works as well but it’s more work

What kinds of things do you dehydrate? What do you do with them after? Eat them like chips or rehydrate them to cook like normal?

 

[Meadowlark]

Potatoes: Spring crop, fall crop, can some and dry store some...year around supply.

Corn: three crops staggered, freeze excess...year around supply

Tomatoes: Spring crop, fall crop, excess is mostly canned, and some is frozen...year around supply

Beans: Spring crops, fall crops, can excess pintos, Limas, bingos, navy, and green beans...year around supply

Peppers: spring planting yields continuous harvest with peaks in June and October. Freeze excess jalapenos and sweet peppers...year around supply.

Okra: continuous production through summer months, freeze excess...year around supply.

Peas: spring crop of sweet peas, summer and fall crops of cow peas, can excess...year around supply.

Beets: planting in fall yields an early spring/late winter harvest that is mostly canned as pickled beets...year around supply.

Broccoli: Fall plantings and late winter plantings yield fresh broc from Oct. through February. Some excess is frozen, but most consumed fresh...year around supply.

Cabbage: Fresh supply from Oct. through February

Carrots: several plantings through fall yield late winter spring harvests, excess is canned...year around supply

Onions: Spring crop of 200 pounds plus consumed and dry stored in sheds provides supply until about January and then we supplement with green onions fresh until the spring harvest...year around supply.

Cucumbers: Spring plantings and fall plantings yield continuous supply fresh from May through Oct. Excess is canned as sweet and dill pickles.

Sweet Potatoes: Produce great summer crop which I store in dark cool location that lasts months. Not big consumers of sweet potatoes so one crop is enough for all year.

Bok choy, collards, lettuce, radishes, chard, turnips, are all mostly cool season crops consumed fresh. Similarly, watermelons, cantaloup, honey melons are seasonal and consumed fresh.

Probably forgot some. We grow about 95% of the veggies we consume in the garden and consume as much as possible fresh.

 

[Mick Emery]

We dehydrate, freeze, dry store, ferment & can.
Like Meadowlark we grow about 95% of our veggies.
They are also a lot of our Christmas gifts to family & friends.

 

[Mike121]

Potatoes: Spring crop, fall crop, can some and dry store some...year around supply.

Corn: three crops staggered, freeze excess...year around supply

Tomatoes: Spring crop, fall crop, excess is mostly canned, and some is frozen...year around supply

Beans: Spring crops, fall crops, can excess pintos, Limas, bingos, navy, and green beans...year around supply

Peppers: spring planting yields continuous harvest with peaks in June and October. Freeze excess jalapenos and sweet peppers...year around supply.

Okra: continuous production through summer months, freeze excess...year around supply.

Peas: spring crop of sweet peas, summer and fall crops of cow peas, can excess...year around supply.

Beets: planting in fall yields an early spring/late winter harvest that is mostly canned as pickled beets...year around supply.

Broccoli: Fall plantings and late winter plantings yield fresh broc from Oct. through February. Some excess is frozen, but most consumed fresh...year around supply.

Cabbage: Fresh supply from Oct. through February

Carrots: several plantings through fall yield late winter spring harvests, excess is canned...year around supply

Onions: Spring crop of 200 pounds plus consumed and dry stored in sheds provides supply until about January and then we supplement with green onions fresh until the spring harvest...year around supply.

Cucumbers: Spring plantings and fall plantings yield continuous supply fresh from May through Oct. Excess is canned as sweet and dill pickles.

Sweet Potatoes: Produce great summer crop which I store in dark cool location that lasts months. Not big consumers of sweet potatoes so one crop is enough for all year.

Bok choy, collards, lettuce, radishes, chard, turnips, are all mostly cool season crops consumed fresh. Similarly, watermelons, cantaloup, honey melons are seasonal and consumed fresh.

Probably forgot some. We grow about 95% of the veggies we consume in the garden and consume as much as possible fresh.

What a great reply, thank you! When you say dry store, what do you mean? We usually put our potatoes from the store in a cabinet in the kitchen. Are you talking about something different? How long do they last in dry storage?

Also, on the frozen veggies, do you blanch, or slice, them before freezing? We've frozen okra and squash before. With the squash we sliced and blanched them first then froze them in freezer bags. With the okra, we sliced them, battered them, then froze them.

I love sweet potatoes, but never even considered that to be something I could grow before. I much prefer a sweet potato to any other kind of potato, especially baked with just salt, pepper and butter.

Finally, how big is your garden? I don't think we've ever had a garden big enough to get 200 lbs of anything!

Again, thank you for the reply. A lot of great info here. I'm sure I'll be referencing this list time and time again, but now it's time to get on YouTube to see how to can a lot of these things.

 

[skinyea]

Can/ freeze/dehydrate/ dry store. Kinda do a bit of everything.

 

[Tetters]

Freezing is probably the easiest method for me. The trouble is, the space needed, and the horrible possibility these days of the grid going down with no back up. That is why I resorted to a dehydrator as a back up. Once I have prepared and steam blanched my veggies - just about any veggies - I freeze them, and dehydrate them from there as the space in the dehydrating machine is available. The big benefit of this is that the results are very easy to store in a cool dark place (cool room, store cupboard with closed doors)
You will be surprised how much space you can save, and even without electricity your efforts will not spoil.... mind you, you have to do it right!!
Rehydrating is easy enough, but with soups, stews, curries etc just add a spoonful of veggies while the cooking is going on.
I string up onions on the back porch which is shady, and put potatoes in strong paper bags out there too - they have to be kept dark or the light will turn them green and then they are poisonous to eat
I also make big bulk batches of pasta sauces with a glut of tomatoes. That is a really good way to keep a massive amount of veggies as they can be added into the sauces. They save loads of money too and are much nicer than shop bought sauces.
Fruit is mostly made into jam, frozen or dried. Herbs are dried.
During the wartime (just before I was born) my grandad used to keep his potatoes in a clamp out in the garden. I think this method can be used for most other root veggies.

 

[gdning8]

What kinds of things do you dehydrate? What do you do with them after? Eat them like chips or rehydrate them to cook like normal?

Tomatoes are the main vegetable I dehydrate. I eat those just like chips. The flavor is different than raw but it’s delicious.

 

[Meadowlark]

What a great reply, thank you! When you say dry store, what do you mean? ...

I use different storage methods, but the most effective is probably a dark shed, open ended on the prevailing wind, and elevated on hardware cloth. I use this for potatoes and onions, not together. Both can be stored, with some loss, through fall when replacement crops come in.

Potato sacks work well if placed in dark, cool place.

Potato buckets layered with dried leaves and aerated.

It is important to dry the potatoes (or onions) first before storing but always UNWASHED

Also, on the frozen veggies, do you blanch, or slice, them before freezing?

I prefer to steam instead of par boil seems to prevent getting mushy. See the thread on broccoli processing

Broccoli Processing

When a family that loves fresh broccoli cancelled out on us for their Christmas visit, I was left with a surplus of broccoli. What to do? No problem: Process it into freezer bags. Step 1: Harvest it. Ideally, this should happen before the yellow flowerets begin to show in the heads. I had...

www.gardening-forums.com

I love sweet potatoes, but never even considered that to be something I could grow before.

Very easy to grow in Texas. The Murasaki variety is especially tasty and stores very well.

Finally, how big is your garden? I don't think we've ever had a garden big enough to get 200 lbs of anything!

The total garden is about 40 ft by 80 ft give or take but I normally only have less than half of it planted in veggies at any given time and the remainder is planted in cover crops rotated with veggies 365 days a year.

 

[Mike121]

I use different storage methods, but the most effective is probably a dark shed, open ended on the prevailing wind, and elevated on hardware cloth. I use this for potatoes and onions, not together. Both can be stored, with some loss, through fall when replacement crops come in.

View attachment 101228
Potato sacks work well if placed in dark, cool place.
View attachment 101229

Potato buckets layered with dried leaves and aerated.


View attachment 101230


It is important to dry the potatoes (or onions) first before storing but always UNWASHED

View attachment 101231

View attachment 101232




I prefer to steam instead of par boil seems to prevent getting mushy. See the thread on broccoli processing

Broccoli Processing

When a family that loves fresh broccoli cancelled out on us for their Christmas visit, I was left with a surplus of broccoli. What to do? No problem: Process it into freezer bags. Step 1: Harvest it. Ideally, this should happen before the yellow flowerets begin to show in the heads. I had...

www.gardening-forums.com

Very easy to grow in Texas. The Murasaki variety is especially tasty and stores very well.

View attachment 101233


The total garden is about 40 ft by 80 ft give or take but I normally only have less than half of it planted in veggies at any given time and the remainder is planted in cover crops rotated with veggies 365 days a year.

Another great reply! Thank you! I feel like I'm ready to live off the grid now!

Not really, but this is very good info. Again, thank you!

 

[Mike121]

Just to piggie-back off this thread, does anyone here grow radishes? If so, how do you store them? This is my first year with radishes and we have way too many to eat any time soon.

 

[Meadowlark]

Just to piggie-back off this thread, does anyone here grow radishes? If so, how do you store them? This is my first year with radishes and we have way too many to eat any time soon.

Yes, I grow several crops of radishes every year. Red, white, icicle, round, etc. In my hot and humid climate in Texas, they do not store well.

Hence, in order to have a near continuous supply, I stagger plant them, eating the thinning's as we go, and have a pretty continuous supply. Sorry, but mine just do not store well beyond about a month.

 

[Mike121]

It's definitely hot here too, but not much humidity usually. Although, this year we've been hammered with some pretty good rains so it has been here lately. I expect that to move on within the next month, or so, though and leave us with our near desert climate again.

May just have to end up giving all our extras away to friends and family, or taking them to the farmer's market and giving them to someone who wants them there. Now we know for next year...

 

[Tetters]

Now I'm disappointed, I couldn't think of a good way to store radishes, and there are usually a few too many. I hoped there might be a way to include them in pickle or something. Has anyone tried dehydrating them? I imagine they would be all limp and pappy when re hydrated though - and we don't like limp and pappy..... do we