Which (if any) of my produce choices will keep well in my basement?
October 4, 2023 11:06 AM Subscribe
I'm picking up a bag of produce from a CSA today, and we won't use it soon. Of the CSA's options, will any keep well in the conditions I have? For how long?
The conditions I have: Today our basement is in the low 60s F, and the high 60s % relative humidity. It'll get colder and more humid in the weeks/months to come. (We dehumidify just enough to prevent mold, adjusting the setting in consideration of the temperature.) It's an early 1900's unfinished basement in Massachusetts, with fieldstone walls, and floors that are part concrete and part dirt covered in sheets of EPDM or similar. Also, there have been known to be mice on occasion.
At the CSA, options that I thought might have a chance of longer-term storage include potatoes, delicata squash, garlic, yellow onions, and white onions. Will any of those keep well in the basement without any special handling, and without attracting pests? For how long?
The conditions I have: Today our basement is in the low 60s F, and the high 60s % relative humidity. It'll get colder and more humid in the weeks/months to come. (We dehumidify just enough to prevent mold, adjusting the setting in consideration of the temperature.) It's an early 1900's unfinished basement in Massachusetts, with fieldstone walls, and floors that are part concrete and part dirt covered in sheets of EPDM or similar. Also, there have been known to be mice on occasion.
At the CSA, options that I thought might have a chance of longer-term storage include potatoes, delicata squash, garlic, yellow onions, and white onions. Will any of those keep well in the basement without any special handling, and without attracting pests? For how long?
Best answer: Pretty much any of those options will work well with cool-dark-place storage conditions.
I'd store the potatoes and the onions in separate places, however; I've stored onions and potatoes together in the past and they sort of spoiled each other faster than usual. In fact - best thing to do would be to get a couple of plain paper bags, and put the potatoes in one, and the onions and garlic in another. Loosely roll the tops closed and then just put the bags in the basement (maybe up off the floor if you're in a place where basements flood). You don't have to put them across the room from each other, maybe just like a foot or so between bags.
Potatoes can last a couple months that way, and onions can last about one month.
I actually don't have a basement and store my onions in a basket on a shelf in a dark corner of my pantry, and the potatoes are in a small cardboard box next to them on the shelf. I've had to occasionally throw out a mushy onion, but that was more a function of my simply not cooking that much in the summer.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:29 AM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'd store the potatoes and the onions in separate places, however; I've stored onions and potatoes together in the past and they sort of spoiled each other faster than usual. In fact - best thing to do would be to get a couple of plain paper bags, and put the potatoes in one, and the onions and garlic in another. Loosely roll the tops closed and then just put the bags in the basement (maybe up off the floor if you're in a place where basements flood). You don't have to put them across the room from each other, maybe just like a foot or so between bags.
Potatoes can last a couple months that way, and onions can last about one month.
I actually don't have a basement and store my onions in a basket on a shelf in a dark corner of my pantry, and the potatoes are in a small cardboard box next to them on the shelf. I've had to occasionally throw out a mushy onion, but that was more a function of my simply not cooking that much in the summer.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:29 AM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: If you have a spot that coolest, I'd use that, but balanced against the idea of hanging from overhead to keep pests away.
I'd absolutely put them inside a loosely-sealed wooden box -- anything that will allow some air flow to prevent rotting -- to make sure mice, bugs, etc. can't get at them.
Everything you mention except the delicata squash sounds like it will keep a long time. If you can seal the garlic a little it might help keep it from drying out, though. If you have room to freeze it, or can mince it and jar it, or something, that can help maintain flavor - I've noticed that garlic in the refrigerator dries up a bit over time, even.
posted by amtho at 11:35 AM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'd absolutely put them inside a loosely-sealed wooden box -- anything that will allow some air flow to prevent rotting -- to make sure mice, bugs, etc. can't get at them.
Everything you mention except the delicata squash sounds like it will keep a long time. If you can seal the garlic a little it might help keep it from drying out, though. If you have room to freeze it, or can mince it and jar it, or something, that can help maintain flavor - I've noticed that garlic in the refrigerator dries up a bit over time, even.
posted by amtho at 11:35 AM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We used to have a very similar basement situation in Boston. I agree with hanging potatoes and onions well-separated from each other, and also hang the garlic closer to the onions than the potatoes (mesh bags from hooks screwed into an overhead beam was how we did it). Delicata we found to be a bit less hardy than other squashes like butternut or pumpkin or kabocha, and susceptible to moisture, so I'd keep that in the kitchen and work it into the mix at some point in the next 4-6 weeks or so, but you have some time.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 11:48 AM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Pandora Kouti at 11:48 AM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm in the humid northwest with a house of about the same ago and also an unfinished basement. Early in the pandemic, when I was shopping less often, I stored potatoes, apples, and onions in my basement and was especially surprised by how long the apples lasted. And yes, as EmpressCallipygos noted, you want to store onions and potatoes separately. Onions emit ethylene gas, and should be kept away from produce that ripens more quickly from ethylene. Google for details or see something like this page from the Food Network. That link also talks other recommendations for storing these and other items. You want the potatoes to have some airflow.
The only other thing I recommend is having some sort of dating system so you use the oldest stuff first, in case you add to your storage. A simple system is to get some blue painters tape and sharpie and leave them in the basement and then label things in storage with a date, and try not to intermix older items with newer items.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:20 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
The only other thing I recommend is having some sort of dating system so you use the oldest stuff first, in case you add to your storage. A simple system is to get some blue painters tape and sharpie and leave them in the basement and then label things in storage with a date, and try not to intermix older items with newer items.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:20 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's not zero effort, but it's low effort... Alton Brown (I believe) once filled some bins with playground sand and shoved his storage veggies (onions and garlic) in that. I believe the sand may help create a barrier to the humidity. Yes, keep potatoes away from the onions.
posted by hydra77 at 12:30 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hydra77 at 12:30 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also, if your basement has windows, keeping the potatoes in something opaque will stop them from greening. And onions go to sprouting with light. I just use doubled paper grocery bags, in a dim corner.
Delicata surely would keep longer in the basement, but we keep it in the kitchen so we notice if a spot goes soft so we can cut that out and eat the rest.
posted by away for regrooving at 9:00 PM on October 4, 2023
Delicata surely would keep longer in the basement, but we keep it in the kitchen so we notice if a spot goes soft so we can cut that out and eat the rest.
posted by away for regrooving at 9:00 PM on October 4, 2023
Back in ye olden tymes, the cellar/basement was the storage area for vegetables. The root cellar.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:32 AM on October 5, 2023
posted by Thorzdad at 4:32 AM on October 5, 2023
My parents live in a similar climate and use rolling carts (like this but the 80s plastic version) in their basement to store study vegetables like yours. They've done it my whole life and don't seem to have any problems with spoilage. Some of the carts move to the garage in winter to serve as extra fridge space for my dad's winter citrus stash.
posted by snaw at 2:45 PM on October 5, 2023
posted by snaw at 2:45 PM on October 5, 2023
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posted by mcgsa at 11:08 AM on October 4, 2023