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Storing Veggies Overwinter Problem
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Posted by Octoberwinds none (My Page) on Fri, Feb 3, 12 at 6:07
Hi, I'm new here with a question about a problem I'm having this year keeping veggies over the winter. In the fall I bought my usual bunch of pumpkins and winter squash. Within two weeks of getting them home they all started to rot. I was able to keep one pumpkin until December, but when I picked it up, I found out that it was full of water. You could hear it sloshing around inside the pumpkin. This was one of the cheese varieties and was supposed to be a very good keeper.
I'm not new at storing veggies. The squashes were kept in a cool, dry place. The stems were on, and there was no damage to the skin. I would blame this on bad curing or picking them too early, but I purchased them from several places and they all did this. Did anyone else have this problem this year? Is there a new mold out there?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Storing Veggies Overwinter Problem
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| I had that problem last year with a couple of the large squashes, but so far the two I have are doing fine. I have Triamble and Jaradale, both large green ones. |
RE: Storing Veggies Overwinter Problem
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| Thanks for the reply. Now the problem is including onions and sweet potatoes. The onions are coming from the store with at least 3 per bag rotten on the inside. Different stores, different brands. Perhaps the major growers had a harvest or curing problem and they are passing the mistake on to the consumer? I hate to sound tinhat like, but this is starting to concern me when I buy something and can't use it. Is there a new mold out there? |
RE: Storing Veggies Overwinter Problem
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| For the squash, I suspect that they were either harvested too soon, and/or weren't cured properly. I've had much better luck storing squash in a bright, dry, airy room on newspaper/card board where the temps vary anywhere from 55 at night up to 80 during the day, depending on solar gain. Its the same with onions. Much better luck when they're kept in a dry, airy place. I still lose a few, but 95% generally make it until March. At that point, I'll process the remaining squash by cooking and freezing, chop the onions and dry them. |
RE: Storing Veggies Overwinter Problem
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| David, I think you're right. Two that rotted on me last year were harvested before they were really ripe - the attached stem was still green and limber. They didn't last long. October, how about buying onions by the pound instead of in a bag? I'm always suspicious of produce in bags because they can put some in those bags that aren't any good and you don't know it until it's too late. They've been very cheap this year, I've seen them for around 50 cents/pound. |
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