|
Post by handmaid on Jul 11, 2020 23:16:06 GMT -6
So I am hoping to have two plantings of carrots. The first harvest, which will be in the next couple weeks, would be for canning. And my second planting and harvest would be for winter storage. My plan is to try storing them in layers in slightly damp sand. Do any of you do this? We go through a lot of carrots, and keeping them for fresh eating will make a huge difference. I know they can be mulched in the bed and overwintered, but that is my back up plan.
If you do this or have done this, what have your results been? Did they store well? What type of sand would I need? Anything NOT to do?
|
|
|
Post by handmaid on Aug 11, 2020 22:36:08 GMT -6
Well, I got two large plastic storage bins (no lids) at Goodwill for attempting to long term store the carrots. Here's hoping it works. Thinking to do a layer of damp sand, layer of carrots, etc to the top.
|
|
|
Post by DirtDiva Admin on Aug 12, 2020 15:15:58 GMT -6
Well, I got two large plastic storage bins (no lids) at Goodwill for attempting to long term store the carrots. Here's hoping it works. Thinking to do a layer of damp sand, layer of carrots, etc to the top. It should work.
|
|
|
Post by handmaid on Dec 21, 2020 21:04:37 GMT -6
Update: the carrots have been in sand storage for 1 1/2 months now. Just pulled out two from the top layer, and they are perfect!
|
|
|
Post by jonathco on Dec 22, 2020 8:11:45 GMT -6
Update: the carrots have been in sand storage for 1 1/2 months now. Just pulled out two from the top layer, and they are perfect! Wow, that's great! I may have to try this next year; seems like an easy solution.
|
|
|
Post by handmaid on Jan 4, 2021 15:24:00 GMT -6
Well, just dug out some more carrots, and finding some things dont work as well. Some of the carrots were already rotting. I think since I chose such a deep container, it made the dampness of the wet sand soak down to the lower layers, so the ones in the next level down were turning. I will need to check everything and see if the rest are bad or if it was just those few carrots. On the flip side, I got some good carrots out today as well. Will keep giving updates!
|
|
|
Post by handmaid on Jan 7, 2021 9:42:00 GMT -6
I dug through the carrots yesteday. Most on the top two levels were fine. But the bottom two levels were sitting in soaking wet sand. And obviously they were rotting and stunk. So I bagged the good carrots and we disposed of the rest. So two issues I think are choosing too deep of a container (probably 12-14" deep) and using too much water to moisten the sand. I know Elliott Homestead puts theirs in dampened potting soil. So we might try that this next harvest season.
|
|