Greetings all you CSA Shareholders–By now most of you have your last share, and the letter of instruction on the potatoes. I wanted to take this BRIEF moment (brevity is not my strong suit) and correct some information on the storage of potatoes. Last week, in talking with The Farmer, I understood him to mean that potatoes liked it 32-36 degrees for storage. He has since corrected me, and so I want to make sure you have the correct information on storing those root items…and squashes…from your last share. (According to info from Cool-bot web-site–the cooler unit in our ‘new’ cooler.)
Potatoes–remove from plastic and dry off, then bag in a porous bag that will breath–I’ve also used brown paper bags in the past. Be sure and remove any blemished potatoes and eat them first. Generally whites are your best keepers. Ideal temperature for long-term storage is 40-50 degrees; they should keep 56-140 days.
Carrots and Onions–Carrots can be stored in plastic bags in the fridge; onions do pretty good in a gunny sack or other porous bag. Yellow and red onions are dried, but if they start to sprout, eat them. White onions are fresh and not dried at all. They will not keep as long and should be in the fridge in a bag. Ideal temp for storing onions is 32 degrees, but not frozen–they should keep 28-180 days.
Winter Squash–Ideal storage temp is 50-55…a cool storage room in a basement or garage works. Generally they keep 84-150 days. Specifically, the Hubbards will keep the longest. Acorns will keep about 30-45 days. Butternut and Buttercup and Pumpkins will keep longer than the Acorn Squash, but generally not as long as the Hubbards. We have left all the stems in tact–if one brakes off, you will want to eat it sooner.
Hope this helps–We want you to enjoy your fresh produce into the cold winter months! The Farmer’s Wife
Posted by Kim Douglas on October 14, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Thanks Terri, good info and nice to have directions to read with just the right amount of info!. The Yukon Gold potatoes are so delicious as I’m sure the rest are. Can’t wait to try the squash & pumpkin. What a fun harvest day it was for me on Sat and, I’m sure, a huge relief to you all. Congratulations for having a very successful CSA
Posted by lloydcraftfarms on October 14, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Kim– So glad you were a part of the CSA this year–Hope you can continue next year, too. If you are short on money in 2014, we do have the mini share for around $200 which gives you a share and access to the CSA– AND yes! It is a relief to be done with most of the deliveries…we had 11 no shows that we are trying to deliver or send to Apple apartment…and mucho beaucoup clean up! (Which will have to wait now for the mud to dry…removing trellis and plastic in the snow??) Thanks for the Congrats! You can not imagine how good it is to hear some positive re-enforcement! Thanks!! Terri