Harvesting & Storing Vegetables

The length of time that vegetables may be stored depends on the storage conditions and on the particular vegetable or cultivar.  The main cause for deterioration after harvesting is water loss, so aim to keep this to a minimum.  Do not store damaged or diseased produce, they may rot.  Vegetables usually freeze well; although most need to be blanched either in steam or boiling water and quickly cooled before freezing.  The only exception to this is sweet peppers, which may be frozen without any initial preparation.

Vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers usually have an optimum time for harvesting, although fruits may also be harvested immature.  If you have an immature crop of tomatoes late in the season; before frost, pull the plant up by the roots and hang them upside down indoors to ripen.  If they are to be stored for winter use, they are best made into preserves or deep frozen.  Sweet peppers keep in good condition for many months if whole plants are pulled up and hung in a dry, frost free place.  Certain cultivars of winter squash may be stored for several months.  Leave the fruit on the plant until it is mature, then pick (with as long a stem as possible) and cure it in the sun for about 10 days to harden the skin so that it forms an effective barrier to water loss, and store it in a dry, frost-free environment.

Certain cultivars of onion, shallot, and garlic will keep for many months.  Lift crop when mature or nearing maturity leaving the greens attached, and dry it in the sun for about ten days, either in nets or supported off the ground on an over-turned seed tray to allow for maximum ventilation.  In wet conditions, hang them indoors in a cool place. The outer skins must all be dry (the skins are papery) before the bulbs are put into storage.  Handle the bulbs gently as any bruising will encourage storage rots.  Hang them as braided strings, in nets, or spaced out on trays, in well ventilated, low humidity and frost-free conditions.

Some root vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes, may be either harvested young and eaten immature, or left to mature and lifted and stored at the end of the season.  A few, such as parsnips, are extremely hardy and, except in severe winters, may be left in the ground until required.  Prepare vegetables carefully for storing, removing any foliage since this will rot.  Store only healthy, unbruised specimens.  Potatoes are susceptible to frost;  store them packed in lightproof sacks in a frost-free location.  Root vegetables such as beets and carrots easily lose moisture, so store them in layers in boxes of moist sand or peat in a cool shed or cellar.  They may also be stored in outdoor clamps: Choose a sheltered, well-drained site and stack the roots on an 8 inch layer of straw in a pyramid with their necks facing outward.  Cover with a layer of longer straw.  In very cold climates, protect further with a 12 inch layer of soil.

Referenced from: Practical Guide to Gardening in Canada; 2nd Canadian edition
Copyright 1992 Dorling Kindersley (DK) Limited, London