I just keep onions and potatoes at room temperature. How many potatoes do you have? I have seen Potato bins, but I don't understand how they work. Depending on the veggies I would think your fridge would have to be alot cooler. Like a normal fridge. Or learn how to freeze them. I have never had enough to freeze, so I can't offer advice, Sorry! Potatoes are planted on Feb 14th here. I never had luck with onions. I need to amend my soil better to grow them. Lettuce, S
wiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, collards are the cool weather veggies I try to grow. Had bad luck with spinach two years in a row. It needs cold stratification. I did mine in the fridge for two weeks. It still won't germinate.

zackey,

The fridge is not cold enough, the seeds need to go in the freezer for proper cold stratification. The same applies for onion seeds, 4 to 6 weeks. I pop the whole onion & garlic seed heads in the freezer and clean them later when they come out.

Lou

Unlike Zackey I'm going to say that storing potatoes and onions, garlic, etc around here is nearly impossible. This may be because as a native I'm setting my inside temp around 78* I don't like the dang cold and the stuff doesn't store well at those temps. Now my husband would prefer 62* where they would probably store just fine, but I'm not wearing long johns and mittens!

Anyway I guess what I'm saying is that unless you keep your A/C excessively cool I don't know that storing in your regular pantry is an option. It seems to me that things tend to sprout in just a month - 6 weeks. Store bought seems to just rot. *shudder*

My solution has been to grow things that are eaten when I harvest them. I will harvest white/red potatoes for about 6 weeks - 2 months and thus be able to eat them fresh for about 3 months of the year. The rest of the year I eat them either from frozen stash or I switch to what is in my garden (perpetually growing sweets) Most of my vegggies are eaten this way. I only eat from the store what i cannot grow (bananas are one for my region) or what I need for a specific recipe, etc.

If anyone has a great answer I'd love to hear it. Maybe we'll all have giant humidors next year. ;-)

I have been challenged with sweet potatoes. I did try using a refrigerator but refrigerators dry the air. The perfect solution is a cellar. Not many cellars in Florida. I've read that in the old days they would create an elaborate underground stash. More than I want to do. I'll be watching this thread to see if anybody has a solution.

yes, I'm trying to come up with a long term solution even if it means putting out the extra cash to build something more elaborate. I didn't think about lack of air circulation, so yes I guess the old refrigerator idea is not going to work. I'll keep checking back here too in case any one if the Southern climates has come up with a solution.

Try a mini-fridge that doesn't use forced air cooling (you know, the ones with the tiny, useless freezer at the top). The cold plate in the freezer is the only thing that cools the unit, and condensation forms and freezes on the plate, creating a moist rather than wet environment. These units have to be defrosted from time-to-time.

I've never actually tried this with veggies, but if the problem with a regular fridge is that it dries out the food, this should solve that problem.

I read a book recently on old-time cooking methods that call for that "cool place" to store food. The writer said in modern times, a small wine refrigerator is very similar to the conditions of a root cellar.

FWIW, I always put my store-bought potatoes in the fridge vegetable bin (which has adjustable moisture level) & they keep for months there w/o sprouting.

Sweet potatoes do not keep as long - they tend to get moldy spots after a couple of weeks; I guess you could precook & freeze them....?

P.S. there is a Harvest forum w/ discussions & advice on stuff like this.

I'm going to toss this idea in Lou's direction.

Would laying the old 'fridge on it's back in a hole deep enoughto contain it plus a layer of canvas or gunny sacks, a layer of straw and a layer of dirt, work the same way as the old timey way my grandfather stored turnips in ground during the winter?

I also livening Florida and im wanting a cellar like option to store rooted veggies in.. I found this and I'm thinking its the only solution for us Floridians or anyone who lives in warmer climates.

https://commonsensehome.com/build-walk-in-cooler/