[Rowan]

Hi All

Luckily i pulled my remaining carrots earlier as i now have 3 inches of snow in the garden, i want to use them for Christmas, how to you think i should store them? If i put them in a box with shredded newspaper would they last the week till Christmas.

I don't want to wash and put them in the fridge as i know this will cause them to start to go off.

Also are swede snow hardy? i only have swede and leeks left but i'm worried they will freeze and die.

Thanks

[Kristen]

I would put the carrots in a pot / box of sand somewhere cool.

[lacewing]

I wrap mine in newspaper and put then in the garage, they keep fresh for weeks!

[stompy]

I was asking one of the older guys about this on my site.
We can't leave anythig other than leeks and sprouts in the ground over winter as it gets very waterlogged, we have a high water table, only got about 12 inch's of top soil.

So he said lift carrots parsnips and sweeds etc as they will rot.
I asked how he stores them, he said just rub them clean "but don't wash them" then place them in a cardboard box with layers of torn up newspaper covering them.
(He said, that way the whole lot can breath lad, you wouldn't want sweaty carrots would you)
At this point i started to laugh, he just looked at me as if i was crazy

Anyhow, i found out that this is what most of the guys do on my site, then they just compost the box and news paper when it's empty.
Apparently They have been doing it like this for years with no problems.

[Kristen]

I would have thought they would transpire more with just paper around them ... but if it works then I'm all for it

[stompy]

They will give off vapour no matter what medium they are stored in.
But like the guy on my site said, the news paper and carboard box allows them to breath so as not to allow a moisture build up, thus spoiling the stored crop.

[Salmo]

If you only need them for Christmas you just need to put them somewhere cool. For longer term put them in a box of damp sand or peat.

The commercial growers wash them and place them in a chiller. Apparently this removes most of the rotting bacteria and the low temperature stops them from multiplying. If they are in the fridge do not wrap them in polythene, put them in an open box.

[JayG]

Easiest and cleanest way is to remove foliage, scrub clean, dry, and store in the salad box in your fridge (have to stand mine on a low plastic box otherwise the bottom gets frosted which will damage the carrots).

Will keep for weeks in good condition in my experience.

[Rowan]

Thanks all

the swedes are now under the snow, so lets see what happens, we had carrots in sand for the last few months and they have been fine, but i wanted something a little easier.

Our annex is unheated and is currently around 2-4 degrees, so will box them up in newspapaer and leave in there till next week.

Merry Christmas!!

[DavidT]

As long as the veg is dry, and it is stored in dry paper, peat or sand , it will be fine. The same applies if you want to store new potatoes for Christmas. 

[cob nut]

We store our carrots the same as Lacewing & last year our carrots lasted us around to March 


We have tried storing in a box of dried sand but found that the carrots started to sprout tiny white roots.

[DavidT]

[We have tried storing in a box of dried sand but found that the carrots started to sprout tiny white roots.
[/quote]

Probably because the sand or the carrots weren`t dried properly.

[cob nut]

[We have tried storing in a box of dried sand but found that the carrots started to sprout tiny white roots.

Probably because the sand or the carrots weren`t dried properly.
[/quote]

Thanks David, might give that method another go next year making sure that both are thoroughly dry then we can see which is the best method for us.

[DavidT]

The sand or peat must be dried to dust. The same if you want to store spuds.

[shaun]

feezer