Storage vegetables for off season sales 2017 90min Pam Dawling

Storage Vegetables
for Off-Season Sales
Here’s the information to succeed - tables of cold-
hardiness, details of four ranges of storable crops;
weather prediction and protection; hoophouse
growing; vegetable storage.
©Pam Dawling 2017
Twin Oaks Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming

• Why would you sell in winter?
• Tables of cold-hardiness
• Four ranges of storable crops
• DIY weather forecasting
• Crop protection including hoophouse growing
• Maturity indicators
• Storage conditions and methods for different
vegetables
• Resources
• My contact info
What’s in this presentation

Why sell stored vegetables in winter?
People eat all year long!
Winter share CSAs are more in demand as the
locavore movement grows
There is a year-round demand for local foods in
stores, markets and restaurants
Keep your customers by providing all year
By planning storage crops, have some slow time,
rather than working really hard all 12 months
Have some reprieve from outdoor work. Don’t
fight the elements too much!

Before taking the plunge into winter
sales
know your climate,
know your resources,
know your market,
know your crops (the main focus of this
presentation),
when you don’t know, experiment on a small
scale.

Winter Hardiness Table –
Frosty Weather, 35°-25°F
Here are some starting numbers of killing temperatures, although your
own experience with your soils, microclimates and rain levels may lead
you to use different temperatures. See the handout for variety names.
• 35°F (2°C): Basil.
• 32°F (0°C): Bush beans, cauliflower curds, corn, cowpeas, cucumbers,
eggplant, limas, melons, okra, some pak choy, peanuts, peppers,
potato vines, squash vines, sweet potato vines, tomatoes.
• 27°F (–3°C): Some cabbage, Sugarloaf chicory (takes only light frosts).
• 25°F (–4°C): Some cabbage, chervil, chicory roots for chicons and
hearts, Chinese Napa cabbage, dill, endive (hardier than lettuce,
Escarole more frost-hardy than Frisée), annual fennel, some
mustards and Asian greens (Maruba Santoh, mizuna,
most pak choy, Tokyo Bekana), onion scallions,
radicchio.

Colder (from 22°F down to 15°F)
• 22°F (–6°C): Arugula, (may survive colder than this),
large leaves of lettuce (protected hearts and small plants
will survive even colder temperatures).
• 20°F (–7°C): Some beets, broccoli heads (maybe OK to 15°F, -9.5°C),
Brussels sprouts, some cabbage heads (the insides may still be good
even if the outer leaves are damaged), celeriac, celtuce (stem
lettuce), some head lettuce, some mustards/Asian greens
(Tendergreen, Tyfon Holland greens), flat-leafed parsley, radishes,
unprotected rutabagas, most turnips with mulch to protect them.
• 15°F (–9.5°C): Some beets, beet leaves, broccoli leaves, some
cabbage, celery with rowcover, red chard, cilantro, endive, some fava
beans, Russian kales, kohlrabi, some lettuce, especially small and
medium-sized plants, curly parsley, large leaves of broad leaf sorrel,
turnip leaves, winter cress.

Colder still (down to 10°F)
• 12°F (–11°C): Some beets, some cabbage, carrots, most
collards, some fava beans, garlic tops if fairly large, most
fall or summer varieties of leeks, large tops of potato onions,
mulched rutabagas, Senposai leaves (the core of the plant may
survive 10F), some turnips, winter radish (including some daikon).
• 10°F (–12°C): Beets with rowcover, purple sprouting broccoli for
spring harvest, Brussels sprouts, chard (green chard is hardier than
multi-colored types), Deadon cabbage, some collards, upland cress,
some endive, young stalks of bronze fennel, probably Komatsuna,
some leeks, some head lettuce under row cover, protected Asian
winter radish (including daikon), large leaves of savoyed spinach
(more hardy than flat leafed varieties), tatsoi, Yukina Savoy.

Coldest (down to 0°F)
• 5°F (–15°C): Garlic tops if still small, some kale, some leeks, some
bulb onions, potato onions and other multiplier onions, smaller
leaves of savoyed spinach and broad leaf sorrel, many of the Even’
Star Ice Bred greens varieties are hardy down to 6°F (-14°C), a few
unprotected lettuces if small.
• 0°F (–18°C): Chives, some collards (Blue Max, Winner), corn salad,
garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, Vates kale (although some
leaves may be too damaged to use), Even’ Star Ice-Bred Smooth Leaf
kale, a few leeks (Alaska, Durabel), some onion scallions (Evergreen
Winter Hardy White, White Lisbon), parsnips, salad burnet, salsify,
some spinach (Bloomsdale Savoy, Olympia, Tyee).

Colder than coldest
• 0°F (-18°C), Vates kale survives although
some leaves may be too damaged to use.
• -5°F (-19°C).Leaves of overwintering varieties of
cauliflower
• -10°F (-23°C) Walla Walla onions sown in late summer
• -30°F to -40°F (-34°C to -40°C) Narrow leaf sorrel,
Claytonia and some cabbage (January King?) are said to
be hardy in zone 3
Use this table to decide what to grow and when to
harvest it.

Four ranges of storable crops
1. Fall crops to harvest before 25°F (-4°C) cold
weather and store indoors
2. Crops to keep alive in the ground into winter to
22°-15°F (-6°C to -9°C), then harvest and store
3. Hardy crops to store in the ground and harvest
during the winter. In zone 7, hardy to 0°-10°F
(-17.8°C to -12.3°C)
See my slideshow Cold hardy Winter Vegetables
on www.slideshare.net for more on these crops
4. Overwinter crops for spring harvests before the
main season. In zone 7, hardy to 0°-10°F
(-17.8°C to -12.3°C)
See my slideshow Fall Vegetable Production on www.slideshare.net
for more on these crops

Range 1. Fall crops to harvest before
cold weather (32°-25°F)
Winter squash and pumpkins
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Peanuts
Crosnes/Chinese artichokes
Dry beans
Seed crops
Heading chicory
Sugarloaf chicory
Chicory for chicons
Napa Chinese cabbage
Sweet potato harvest
Photo Nina Gentle

• High yields without a lot
of work!
• Direct sow (or transplant)
in late spring (5/25 at
Twin Oaks)
• Consider bio-degradable
plastic mulch, rowcover,
insect nets
• Thin and hoe or weed as
needed
• Harvest once a week in
fall until too frosty
• Store dry and warm
• Photo Seminole pumpkin. Kathryn
Simmons

– Cucurbita pepo
Pumpkins are squashes!
Different types of squash store for different lengths of time
Acorn Squash
Photo Small Farm Central
• Cucurbita pepo includes acorn
squash, delicata, dumplings,
spaghetti squash and some pumpkins
(New England Pie, Winter Luxury Pie
and Connecticut Field), as well as
summer squash, zucchini, pattypans
• The plants have prickly leaves and
hard, angular (non-flaring) five-sided
stems.
• The fruits are often ribbed and have
a mild flavor.
• Pepos are susceptible to vine borers.
• Pepo squash mature fast and store
for only a few months

Winter squash, pumpkins - C. maxima
• C. maxima includes many large squash,
some of which store quite well - a few
months up to a year
• This group includes buttercups/kabochas,
hubbards, bananas, Jarrahdale, Candy
Roaster, Galeux d’Eysines and Rouge Vif
d’Etampes
• The plants have soft, round stems; huge,
hairy leaves
• Fruits have thick, round stems, fine-
textured and good-flavored flesh
• Maxima plants are very susceptible to
wilts, borers and squash bug damage
• Jarrahdale and a hybrid kabocha, Cha-
Cha, have relatively high resistance to
squash bugs
Sweet Meat Squash.
Photo Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Winter squash, pumpkins
- C. moschata
• The species that stores the longest
• Butternuts and similar tan-colored
squash, such as Seminole, Cheese and
the large Tahitian Butternut and Lunga
di Napoli, are in this species.
• The plants have large hairy leaves and
fruits with flared angular stems.
• They usually have bright orange flesh
that is sweet and tasty.
• Focus on this type if you want trouble-
free squash, with no damage from
borers or cucumber beetles. The
tougher stems are more able to repel
invaders.
• They need warm growing
temperatures above 60°F (16°C).
Butternut squash
Photo Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange

Cucurbita argyrosperma or
C. mixta
• This species includes many old-
time Southern varieties.
• Cushaws are mixta species.
• Plants are rampant; leaves are
large and hairy.
• Fruit stems are slightly flared,
slightly angular and hairy.
• The flesh is often yellow rather
than orange, and low in sugars,
so these squash are often
cooked with sweeteners.
• This group has the best
drought-resistance
• Good resistance to borers and
beetles.
• Medium-term storage.
Green striped Cushaw squash.
Photo by Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange

Potatoes
• Potatoes provide more carbohydrates
per area than any other temperate
crop, and more protein per area than
all other crops except legumes.
• A 2,000-calorie all-potato diet contains
considerably more protein than a
2,000-calorie all-rice diet.
• Potatoes contain 10.4 grams of protein
per 100 grams dry weight
• Good source of vitamin C and
carbohydrates
• Yields are likely to be 150 lbs/ac (168
kg/ha); 200 lbs/ac (224 kg/ha) is a good
yield
Potato harvest with Cecchi &
Magli SP100 machine.
Photo Kathryn Simmons

Potatoes
• Crop rotation is important.
• A cool-weather crop, we
plant 3/15-6/25
• Potatoes have flexibility
about planting dates
• The tops are not frost
tolerant.
• Guideline for suitable spring
planting: 3 consecutive days
with a soil temperature at a
depth of 4”(10 cm) > 43°F
(6°C).
• Traditional phenology sign –
blooming daffodils.
June-planted potatoes hilled and
mulched immediately after planting.

Potatoes
• Be less dependent on the weather
• Enable cover crops or food crops to
grow longer before the land is
needed for the potatoes
• Or bring harvest forward 10-14
days
• Make cutting of seed potato pieces
easier for new people (the sprouts
are more obvious than eyes)
• Optimize the number of sprouts
• Give the potatoes more ideal
growing conditions early on and so
increasing final emergence rate
Cut pieces of potatoes sprouted for 2-4
weeks in spring, 1-2 weeks in summer.
Photo Kati Falger
Pre-sprouting (chitting or greensprouting) encourages seed
potatoes to start growing sprouts before you plant them.

Potatoes
Potatoes stored in plastic crates in
our root cellar.
Photo McCune Porter
• To harvest for storage, wait until the tops
are completely dead
• You can bring about an early vine death
by mowing or flaming.
• This will also remove weeds that could
interfere with your digging equipment.
• Wait 2 weeks to let the skins toughen up.
• Test for skin maturity - dig up a few
potatoes and try rubbing the skin off
with your thumb. If the skin abrades wait
a little longer.
• Avoid irrigating at the end of the growing
period or the potatoes may develop
hollow heart, make knobbly secondary
growths or even crack.

Sweet potatoes
• Sweet potatoes are an ideal storage
crop, high yields for low labor.
• Frost-sensitive vining crop.
• Grow from slips (vine cuttings),
purchased or home-grown.
• Harvest sweet potatoes in the week in
which the first frost typically occurs.
• Aim to harvest on a mild day, above
50°F (10°C), to avoid chilling injury
• Don’t wait till soil temperatures get
below 55°F.
• If frost strikes, waste no time – get
them harvested within a few days.
Photo Nina Gentle
For details, see my slideshow
Growing Sweet Potatoes from start to
finish on www.slideshare.net

When to harvest sweet potatoes
• Usually sweet potatoes are harvested in the week that the first frost
typically occurs in your region.
• Aim to harvest on a mild day, above 50°F (10°C), to avoid chilling injury
• Don’t wait till soil temperatures get below 55°F.
• If frost strikes, waste no time – get them harvested within a few days.
• If the days are warm, a couple of light frosts will not harm your crop.
Despite myths, there is no toxin in frozen leaves going down into the roots.
• Cold wet soil can quickly rot sweet potatoes. Cold injury can ruin the crop -
roots without leaf cover are exposed to cold air temperatures, and have lost
their method of pulling water up out of the soil.
• In drought, irrigate the field before harvest, to avoid scratching the skin with
chunks of dry soil.
Photo Kathryn
Simmons

Let damp tubers dry
Let the tubers dry in the sun for up to an hour, unless the weather is
unsuitable.
Don’t leave roots exposed to temperatures higher than 90°F for more
than ½ hour, or they get sun-scald.
And below 55°F, they’ll get chilling injury.
Photo Nina Gentle
Max 90F
Min 55F

To wash or not to wash?
• We do not wash our potatoes. I expect the need depends on soil type.
We find most of the soil drops off during curing and storage.
• Some growers always wash the roots well before curing. Washing is
easiest when they are freshly dug. It is much easier to wash them on a
sunny September day than in winter.
• Anthony Boutard says “Appearance is not my prime concern. . . Listeria
is a soil borne bacterium. With the recent outbreaks I am making sure
staff and I are careful when handling food and soil together. ”
Washed white sweet potatoes.
Photo Anthony Boutard

Curing
Boxes of sweet potatoes curing with
battens between the layers of boxes.
Photo Nina Gentle
• Curing allows the skin to thicken, cuts
to heal, and some of the starches to
convert to sugars. Uncured “green”
sweet potatoes are not very sweet, and
are best used in dishes with other
foods.
• Ideal conditions are 85-90°F, and 80-
95% humidity for 4-7 days. There also
needs to be some air flow and
ventilation.
• Curing takes longer if conditions are
less than perfect. Reckon on 10-14
days.
• To test if curing is complete, rub two
sweet potatoes together. If the skins
scratch, they need to cure longer.

Storage
• Ideal storage conditions for sweet potatoes are 55-60°F, 85-90%
humidity, with one air change each day. Above 60°F, shrinking and
sprouting may occur, and below 55°F, a permanent chilling injury
(Hard Core) can happen. The potatoes remain hard no matter how
long you cook them, and are useless. Do not ever let the
temperature drop below 50°F.
• Sweet potatoes do not need to be in the dark. Dormancy is
generally broken by moisture and warmth, not daylight. Green
sprouts are not toxic, as are those of white potatoes.
Photo Nina Gentle

Peanuts
• Peanuts need a frost-free period
of at least 110 days.
• They like warm or hot
conditions, with adequate but
not excessive water.
• They can be transplanted, but
they do not germinate well
without soil. Use actual soil, or a
mix containing soil.
• Slow growing at first
• Hill when 12” (30 cm) tall
• Do not disturb the soil during
pegging
Carwiles Virginia Peanut
Exchange

Harvesting and drying peanuts
• Either wait for a light frost to
kill the tops,
• Or harvest when enough
peanuts are mature.
• Dry promptly, indoors or out,
on the vine or off.
• Minimize chances of fungi.
(Moldy peanuts contain toxic
aflatoxin)
• Do not heat the nuts higher
than 85°F (29°C). Drying too
fast causes skin slippage and
kernel splitting.
• Mice really love peanuts, and
will stash them in quantity,
given the chance.
Carwile’s Virginia peanut.

Curing and storing peanuts
• If vine-drying, you can also cure the
peanuts on the vine.
• Or pick the good nuts off the plants
once they have dried and cure in the
sun for a few days.
• Peanuts will cure to a storable state
in 2-3 weeks indoors without heat.
• To find out if curing is finished, taste
some. If they still have the watery
crunch of water chestnuts, they are
not ready; once they taste good,
they’re cured.
• For long-term storage, a sealed
container in a freezer works well.
They need to be kept very dry.
Carolina Black peanut.

Crosnes/Chinese artichokes
• Perennial, also known as Japanese
artichoke, chorogi and knotroot
• Trendy tiny spiral-shaped tubers that
come from a member of the mint family.
• Plant in fall or early spring in full sun, 3”
deep, 12” apart (crowding reduces yield,
size)
• Harvest in the fall when the mint-like
leaves die. The ones you miss grow next
year
• Cleaning can be slow so pack size should
be relatively small and price relatively
high
• Store crosnes in plastic bags at a
temperature of 35-40 F
• The flavor is mild and juicy - it can be
eaten raw or cooked, more as a garnish
than a staple. Salads, stir-fries, pickles

Dry beans and peas
• Soup beans, seed beans and
peas
• Grow beans as usual
• Wait until the pods are
drying (no daily harvests!)
• Can collect dry pods every
two days. Or combine when
almost all are dry
• Thresh and winnow – need
the equipment to make this
pay Black Turtle Bush Bean

Seed crops
• Seed growing involves
processing seeds either
immediately (wet process)
or later (dry process)
• Seed crops can be a good
source of off-season income
• Income for seeds often
comes in the winter or early
spring
• You can sell to a local seed
company
• Or sell your own seeds via
Local Harvest, eBay or
directly from your farm or
website.
Orangeglo watermelon seed project
Photo Twin Oaks Seeds

Heading chicories
• Storable chicories include radicchio,
sugarloaf chicory, Belgian endive, and
others, but not frisée, escarole, (the other
main culinary species)
• Chicories develop their peak flavor and
sweetness as temperatures drop in the
fall
• More hardy than lettuce
• Hold well in the cooler, much better than
lettuce, especially when harvested
slightly immature with an inch of root
attached
• 2 main types of radicchio - Chioggia
(round and red), and Treviso (oblong and
red).
• Longer maturing varieties are more cold
tolerant, shorter maturing ones are more
heat tolerant.
Photo www.growitalian.com

Sugarloaf chicory
• A heading chicory between a
Belgian and a radicchio in
looks.
• Easier to grow than Belgian
(Witloof) Endive
• It grows to the size of a small
romaine lettuce
• One of the sweetest, least
bitter chicories
• But also the least cold hardy.
Photo www.growitalian.com

Chicory for chicons
• Belgian Endive (Witloof) –
forcing chicory
• The seeding date is earlier
than other chicories, to get
a large root for harvest
before the ground freezes.
• The harvested roots are
stored (planted) in deep
crates of soil mix
• In late winter the crates are
warmed in a completely
dark space to force leaves to
grow, forming a tight, very
pale head of leaves.
Witloof chicory

Napa Chinese cabbage
• Napa cabbage will store in
the refrigerator for 6 weeks.
• Harvest mature heads in the
morning.
• Remove all soiled and
blemished outer leaves.
• Air dry (it is important that
there is no moisture on the
leaves).
• Store in a perforated plastic
bag in a refrigerator.

Range 2. Crops to keep alive in the
ground into winter to 22°-15°F (-6°C
to -9°C), then store
Many crops can survive
some freezing, so it is worth
experimenting to find how
late you can keep crops
outdoors.
Use the table to get an idea
of what to expect. Celeriac
takes 20°F (–7°C )
Large Smooth Prague celeriac.
Credit Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

Range 2. Crops to keep alive in the ground
as far into winter as possible, then store
Beets
Cabbage
Carrots
Celeriac
Kohlrabi
Winter radish, including
daikon
Rutabagas
Turnips
Bed of young Danvers carrots.
Credit Kathryn Simmons

Beets
• Beets can be grown in
spring and in fall in the
mid-Atlantic
• To grow in the fall, we
sow August 1 or so, and
harvest in late October.
• We like Cylindra
• Beets store very well, and
we have even had spring-
sown beets, sown in
March, harvested in late
June, still be good the
next February
Young beet plants and soil thermometer
Photo Bridget Aleshire

Cabbage
• We sow fall cabbages in
mid-late June, and
transplant them at 4 weeks
old.
• Be sure to choose varieties
noted for long storage.
• We harvest them from
9/25 to 11/30
• Sow late maturing
cabbages (Deadon,
Brunswick and January
King ) earlier, in early JuneCabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.
Photo McCune Porter

Carrots
• We sow carrots for fall at the
beginning of August
• We harvest them in late
November
• Using a pre-emergent flaming is
a great way to deal with weeds
Pre-emergent flame
weeding. Photo
Brittany Lewis
Fall carrots.

Celeriac
Mars celeriac. Photo Johnnys Selected
Seeds
Also known as turnip-rooted
celery, celeriac is an unusual
vegetable, which stores very
well. Only the root is eaten,
the stalks are fibrous. Growing
celeriac is similar to growing
celery, but is somewhat easier.
• Slow-growing - 85 days to grow to
transplant size and at least 95
days from transplanting to
maturity
• The seeds need light to germinate
- can take 3 weeks
• Do not expose seedlings to
temperatures below 55°F/12.7°C
for a period of 10 days or more -
this can cause bolting.
• Transplant once the weather is
settled warm. Plants 6–8” apart in
the row with 18–36” between
rows.
• Keep the soil damp for
uninterrupted growth and good
quality roots.

Kohlrabi
• Kohlrabi can be direct sown or transplanted for fall growing
• Only 58 days from sowing to harvest.
• We have transplanted 3-4 week old starts on August 3, and
harvested at the end of October.
• Kohlrabi is hardy to maybe 15°F (–9.4°C). We could plant mid-
August for early November harvest.
• It stores well in perforated plastic bags under refrigeration
Kohlrabi Photo by McCune
Porter

• We sow winter radish August
4. China Rose and a daikon.
• We harvest in October or
November before
temperatures drop to 20°F (-
7°C)
• Stores well in plastic bags
under refrigeration
• Popular for making Kim Chee,
as well as for salads and stir-
fries.
Frosty daikon. Photo Bridget Aleshire
Winter radish, including daikon

Rutabagas
• Rutabagas are a brassica like turnips
– usually larger.
• Roots with necks and lateral roots
• Slower-growing and more cold-
hardy than turnips
• 90 days to maturity, sow 35 days
before fall turnips (beginning of July
for us)
• Can often be stored in the ground
(unlike turnips, except in mild
climates).
• Can tolerate a spell of temperatures
at 26° F (–3°C), but if a significant
frost occurs over a prolonged period
the root may freeze.
• Mulch over them with loose straw
when the temperatures drop near
20°F (–7°C).
• They really don’t have to be waxed.
American Purple Top Rutabaga Photo
www.orchardhouseheirlooms.com

Turnips
• We sow Purple Top White Globe
outdoors August 6 for storage.
Golden Globe is also cold-hardy
• We harvest in October and
November, before temperatures drop
to 20°F (–7°C).
• Hakurei is popular, but it is also one of
the least cold-tolerant, and does not
survive dips below 10 °F (-12 °C) very
well, even with protection, as almost
the entire root rests on top of the
soil. You could mulch heavily, or grow
in the winter hoophouse, where they
do very well.Purple Top turnip.

• Collards
• Horseradish
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Kale
• Leeks
• Parsnips
• Scallions
• Spinach
Fresh harvest; white, pink and brown
Jerusalem artichokes.
Photo courtesy: net_efekt.
Range 3. Hardy crops to store in the
ground, harvest during the winter -
for zone 7, hardy to 0° to 10° F (-17.8°C to -12.3° C)

Hardy crops to store in the ground,
harvest during the winter
Use the cold-hardiness table to
look for crops that will survive your
lowest temperatures, taking any
crop protection into account.
Add some wind protection, if you
can.
Look for the hardiest cultivars. At
our Zone 7 farm, we overwinter
Vates kale without rowcover, but
not Winterbor or Russian kales.
We grow our winter-harvest crops
in our raised bed area, which is
more accessible in winter and
more suited to small quantities.
Vates kale Photo Kathryn Simmons

Collards
Collards survive outdoors
without rowcover at our
farm (Zone 7).
We grow only a few
hundred feet of collards.
We harvest small
amounts throughout the
winter, and when spring
arrives, the plants give us
big harvests sooner than
the new spring-sown
crops.
Immature Morris Heading collards plant

Horseradish
• Horseradish is a perennial, easily
propagated from pieces of root
• It can be hard to get rid of if you
change your mind
• Traditionally harvested
September-April
• Harvested roots can be
refrigerated for several months
until used.
• It can provide value-added
products for out-of-season sales
• When you process it, do it
outdoors, with googles on
• Throw the peelings in the trash,
not the compost pile, as they
easily regrow!

Jerusalem artichokes/Sunchokes
• Simple to grow, 10ft tall sunflower cousins
• Different skin color and root shapes are
available - look for smooth, not knobbly
ones, to save cleaning time
• Better to have a semi-permanent plot, as
any small tubers you miss will regrow
• Plant small, whole tubers from early spring
until last frost.
• To get big roots, give plants the longest
possible growing season.
• Harvest 100 lbs from 25 sq ft.
• Dig them up from late fall to early spring,
depending how cold it gets. Cool weather
improves flavor.
• Store under refrigeration or in a root cellar
• Save small tubers to replant

Kale: direct sown/transplanted mix
Our mixed direct-sow/transplant
method allows for patchy germination,
and requires less watering than if
direct sowing it all.
Three times, (8/4, 8/10, 8/16), we sow
two beds with rows 10" (25 cm) apart
and then carefully thin them, leaving
one plant every foot (30 cm)
We use the carefully dug thinnings
from those beds to fill gaps and to
plant other beds, at the same plant
spacing.
Another reason we use this system is
that we want a lot of kale, and there
isn’t time to transplant it all.
We grow about 2800 row feet of
overwinter Vates kale for 100 people.
Vates kale. Credit Kathryn Simmons

Winter-harvest leeks
Unlike onions, leeks grow
independently of day length and
will stand in the field at
temperatures below what many
other vegetables can handle,
increasing in size until you harvest
them. Leeks are slow growing,
start them in spring.
Overwintered leeks with a scattering of snow.
Leek varieties - 2 main types:
• less hardy, faster-growing
varieties, often with lighter
green leaves, which are not
winter-hardy north of Zone 8,
• blue-green hardier winter
leeks. We like Tadorna (100
days), Bandit, King Sieg (84
days) and Bleu de Solaize (105
days, very hardy).
• Giant Musselburgh (105 days)
is bolt-resistant, for
overwintering in milder
climates.

Parsnips
Root crops that thrive in mild weather,
surprisingly easy to grow in warmer
climates
Similar requirements to carrots and beets
but parsnips are slow growing, start them
in spring only
Need at least 110 days before winter gets
too cold for them to grow any more
Sow March - late April - they are almost
guaranteed to be big enough by the end of
the season
Don’t harvest before frosts
– poor flavor
Hybrids are often smoother,
higher quality than OPs
Hollow Crown parsnips.
Exchange

Scallions
• Evergreen Hardy White and
White Lisbon scallions are hardy
down to 0F (-18C)
• Because the tops will suffer
some damage, it’s better to
harvest before these
temperatures, or trim and wait
till spring
• Can be stored under
refrigeration, with the trimmed
bases in a small amount of
water
Evergreen Hardy White scallions
Photo Nina Gentle

Spinach
We grow about 2800 row feet of overwinter spinach for 100 people.
Optimum germination temperature for spinach is 70°F (21°C) Max
85°F (29°C).
8 weeks before the first fall frost date is a good time to start planting
spinach again, if it’s not too hot.
Wait for soil temperature to drop (dead nettle, chickweed, henbit
germinating).
For earlier planting, pre-sprout seeds one week. We sow sprouted
spinach 9/1 or so.
Rowcovered spinach in
winter. Photo Woody
Kawatski

Spinach
We use double hoops and rowcovers and pick spinach
throughout the winter, whenever leaves are big enough.
We pick one bed each day in October, November, February
and March, when the weather is not too awful.
Spinach makes some growth whenever the temperature is
above about 40°F (5°C), so we can also make occasional
harvests in December and January.
Tyee spinach, our favorite variety. Photo Kathryn Simmons

Range 4. Overwinter crops for spring
harvests before the main season
• Cabbage
• carrots
• chard
• collards
• garlic and garlic scallions
• kale
• multiplier onions (potato
onions)
• scallions
• spinach
Some crops, if kept alive through the
winter, will start to grow again with the
least hint of spring weather and be
harvestable earlier than spring plantings.
In early spring comes the “Hungry
Gap” when the supply of winter
roots and leafy greens dwindles and
people hanker for some fresh
produce with different flavors
Planting garlic.
Photo Brittany
Lewis

Cabbage
Deadon Cabbage
Photo Johnnys
Seeds
We have sometimes overwintered Deadon cabbage. It is
winter-killed at 10°F (-12°C), so we often harvest in mid-
winter

Carrots
• We have also
sometimes
overwintered Danvers
carrots. They are hardy
down to 12°F (-11°C)
• Meadow voles can be a
big problem in our
garden, so we like to
check periodically
Danvers Half-Long Carrots
Exchange

Chard
• Almost all chard is hardy to
15°F(–10°C) without rowcover.
• Green chard is hardier than the
multi-colored types
• To keep chard overwinter, either
use hoops and rowcover (in
mild areas, Zone 6 or warmer),
or else cut off the leaves in
early winter and mulch heavily
right over the plants.
• It germinates best at 85°F (29°C)
- useful as a substitute if the fall
is too hot to sow spinach. Fordhook Giant chard.

Collards
• We regularly succeed in
overwintering our Morris
Heading collards in zone
7 (low 0° to 10°F (-17.8°C
to -12.3°C) outdoors
without rowcover.
• Most collard varieties are
hardy to 12°F (–11°C)
• Some varieties (Blue Max,
Winner), are hardy to 0°F
(–18°C)Collards Photo Raddysh Acorn

Overwinter alliums for harvest before
the main season
• If you’re thinking about over-winter crops to harvest next
year, garlic and multiplier onions are an obvious choice
• You won’t get an earlier harvest by planting earlier!
• With alliums, such as bulb onions, multiplier onions and
garlic, the harvest dates are regulated by day length, so
the harvest cannot be earlier, but the bulbs will be bigger
if you can overwinter the small plants.
• Garlic scallions are a great early spring crop – easy,
flavorful, unusual.
For details, see my slideshow Growing
Great Garlic on www.slideshare.net

When to plant garlic
• Fall-planting is best. Garlic emerges quickly in the fall
• 9 am soil temperature 50°F (10°C) at 4” (10 cm) deep. We plant
in early November. If the fall is unusually warm, wait a week.
• Roots grow whenever the ground is not frozen
• Tops grow whenever the temperature is above 40°F (4.5°C).

Garlic Scallions
• Save small cloves from planting your main crop
• Plant close together in furrows, dropping them
almost end to end, as they fall. Close the furrow
and mulch over the top with spoiled hay or straw.
• We harvest garlic scallions from early March till
May, at about 7-8" (18-20 cm) tall,
• Trim the roots, rinse, bundle, set in a small bucket
with a little water, and you're done!
• Scallions can be sold in small bunches of 3-6.
• Some people cut the greens at 10" (25 cm) tall, and
bunch them, allowing cuts to be made every two or
three weeks. We tried this, but prefer to simply pull
the whole plant. The leaves keep in better condition
if still attached to the clove. Photo Kathryn Simmons
Small whole garlic plants. An attractive early crop.

Overwintered kale - outdoors
We overwinter Vates
kale outdoors and Red
Russian and White
Russian in our
hoophouse
Only Vates survives
outdoors. We’ve tried
many varieties, but not
yet the Ice-Bred ones
Photo of overwintered
Vates kale

Overwintered kale - inside
Harvesting
Russian kales in
the hoophouse in
late winter.
Photo Wren Vile
Russian kales (napus varieties) do better in the hoophouse
than Vates (blue curled Scotch oleracea type) does
Russian kales will make growth at lower temperatures
than Vates will, although they are not as cold –tolerant.
We tried Black Magic Lacinato kale outdoors and in the
hoophouse but it
didn’t do as well

Multiplier Onions
• Potato onions are planted in
September (the largest ones)
• Medium-sized ones are planted in
late October or early November
• Small ones are planted in November
or in early spring (less good)
• Mulch over the top immediately after
planting
• Do nothing all winter
• Weed in spring
• Harvest as the tops fall in June
• Sell the largest ones for eating (but
save back any for planting)
• Cure and store the smaller ones for
replanting or sell for growing
Yellow Potato Onions

Scallions (bunching onions,
spring onions)
• Scallions are a perennial
often grown as an annual
• They never form large bulbs
• Clusters can be dug and
divided periodically and
replanted
• Where the soil does not
freeze solid they can be left
outdoors all year.
• Evergreen Hardy White is
especially cold-tolerantScallions over-wintered in our
hoophouse and interplanted with beans
in mid-March. Photo Bridget Aleshire
Scallions
Photo
Small
Farm
Central

Peas
• Peas can be sown in late
July for a spring crop in
milder areas than ours.
• Sow 1" (2.5 cm) apart to
allow for extra losses.
• Keep the voles away
• Provide some
protection from cold
winds
Sugar Ann snap pea flower.

Spinach
• We sow 2 beds of spinach 9/20-
9/30, 2 weeks later than our last
date for winter harvests - Sowing in
October is also OK
• We hoop and cover for the winter
• Spinach grows every time the air
temperature tops 39°F (4°C).
• It overwinters as adolescents and we
harvest in the spring.
• It bolts later than the ones we
harvest all winter; earlier than
spring-sown beds.
• On 3/1 we sow snap peas in the
center of the bed, benefitting from
the same rowcover.
Over-wintered spinach inter-
planted with snap peas

DIY weather-forecasting
Learn your local weather patterns - keep records, watch what happens.
• Our mid-Atlantic climate is controlled mainly by 3 weather systems:
– moisture from the Gulf of Mexico,
– the Bermuda High Pressure area in summer,
– the recurrent waves of cold Canadian air in winter.
• Rain (fairly evenly distributed throughout the year in our county)
– slight peaks in January, February and March, early June, August.
• Some parts of our area can experience long periods of drought.
• September-November is the drier season but it’s also the hurricane
season, so the net result is very variable.
• We use Wunderground, but subtract 5F° from their forecast night
lows for our nearest town, and mentally downgrade the chance of
rain by 10%, as rain often passes us by as it scoots along the river
valley north of us.

Predicting frost
Frost is more likely at Twin Oaks if:
• The date is after 10/14 or before 4/30.
• The Wunderground forecast low for Louisa Northside is 37°F (3°C) or
less.
• The daytime high temperature was less than 70°F (21°C).
• The temperature at sunset is less than 50°F (10°C).
• The sky is clear.
• The soil is dry and cool.
• The moon is full or new (maybe to do with tides and gravity?).
• If temperatures are falling fast, the wind is from NW and the sky is
clear, then polar air may be moving in, and we'll get a hard freeze.
• The dew point forecast is low, close to freezing. Frost is unlikely if
the dew point is 43°F or more.

Crop Protection
 Rowcover: Lightweight, easy to use, easy to store.
 Edges need to be held down by bags of rocks or
sand, plastic jugs of water, metal or wooden stakes
 To protect against frost, you need a heavyweight
rowcover. Thinner rowcover can be doubled up in
severely cold weather.
 Dupont Xavan 5131 (Typar). 1.25 oz/sq yd fabric, can
last for more than 6 years. Spunbonded
polypropylene, 75% light transmission, provides
about 6 degrees F (3.3 degrees C) of frost
protection.
 Agribon 17 (or 19), spun-bonded polypropylene
0.55 oz/sq yd, transmits 85% of sunlight, offers 4°F
(2.2°C) of frost protection for winter use.
 We think polypropylene rowcover lasts longer and is
tougher than polyester (Reemay).

Avoiding pitfalls of rowcover
 If you are growing on bare soil
rather than plastic mulch, weeds
will grow very well, secretly and
out of sight.
 Rowcover reduces light levels.
 Ventilate covered crops in mild
weather, so they don’t lose their
cold tolerance.
 Hoops keep rowcover from
sticking to frozen leaves and
reduce abrasion. 9- or 10-gauge
wire. In winter we use double
wire hoops — the outer hoops
trap the rowcover so it doesn’t
blow away.
 There are also spring steel
hoops, for setting by machine or
by hand. Easy to store - they
return to a relaxed bow shape
when removed from the soil,
don’t get tangled. Seem to come
in just one length, 64" (1.63 m),
which is fine for a single row of
plants, but less good for our
beds with multiple rows.

Protection from pests
• For nursery seedbeds we use
rowcover or ProtekNet (from Purple
Mountain Organics) on wire hoops.
• Overly thick rowcover or rowcover
resting directly on the plants can make
the seedlings more likely to die of
fungal diseases in hot weather —
good airflow is vital.
• For transplanted crops, an 84" (2.1 m)
width rowcover or net can form a
tunnel over 2 crop rows 34” apart,
giving good airflow.
Photo credit Dubois Engineering

The hoophouse in winter
We are amazed at how incredibly productive hoophouses are.
• Rate of growth of cold-weather crops is much faster inside
• Crop quality, especially leafy greens, is superb.
• Plants can tolerate lower temperatures than outdoors; they have
the pleasant daytime conditions in which to recover. Salad greens
in a hoophouse can survive nights with outdoor lows of 14°F
(–10°C) without inner covers.
• Much more pleasant than dealing with frozen rowcovers and
hoops outdoors.
• Greenhouses and coldframes also offer opportunities for cold-
weather cropping, but get a hoophouse if you can.
For details, see my slideshow Fall and Winter
Hoophouses on www.slideshare.net

Winter hoophouse crop overview
Store crops in the ground for
winter and early spring harvest
• Salad crops
• Cooking greens
• Turnips
• Radishes
• Scallions
• We aim to harvest greens in the
hoophouse after the outdoor
crops slow down, and turnips
after the stored outdoor fall
turnips have all been eaten, or
as an occasional delectable
alternative.

Persephone days and
scheduling winter
hoophouse crops
• When the daylight is shorter than 10 hours a day not much growth
happens. It depends on your latitude.
• In Central Virginia, latitude 38° North, this period lasts 2 months,
from November 21 to January 21. Soil temperature also matters.
December 15 - February 15 is the slowest growing time for us.
• Be aware of the increase in days to maturity in winter.
• To harvest in the darkest days of winter you’ll need to plan a good
supply of mature crops to take you through. What has already grown
before this period will provide most of your harvests.
• For most of the winter, our hoophouse plants are actively growing,
not merely being stored for harvest (as happens in colder climate
zones and outdoors), so we can continue sowing new hoophouse
crops even in December.

Nitrate accumulation
• When daylight is short, there is a health risk associated with nitrate
accumulation in leafy greens. Nitrates are converted in the body
into toxic nitrites, which reduce the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen.
Also, nitrites can form carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Plants make nitrates during the night, and convert them into leaf
material during the day. It takes about 6 hours of sunlight to use up
a night’s worth of nitrates.
• In winter, a small handful of leafy vegetables can exceed the
acceptable daily intake level of nitrate for an adult, unless special
efforts have been made to reduce the levels. For details, see my
slideshow Fall and Winter Hoophouses on www.slideshare.net
• Spinach, mustard greens and collards contain about twice as much
as lettuce; radishes, kale and beets often have two and a half times
as much. Turnip greens are especially high, at 3 times lettuce levels.

To keep nitrate levels as low as possible
 Grow varieties best suited for winter;
 Avoid fertilizing with blood meal or feather meal; use organic
compost.
 Ensure soil has sufficient P, K, Mg and Mo
 Water enough but not excessively;
 Provide fresh air as soon as temperatures reach 68°F (20°C), so
that carbon dioxide levels are high enough;
 Harvest after at least four (preferably six) hours of bright
sunlight in winter;
 Avoid harvesting on very overcast days; Consider lighting.
 Avoid over-mature crops and discard the outer leaves. Harvest
crops a little under-mature, rather than over-mature;
 Use crops soon after harvest;
 Refrigerate immediately after harvest, store harvested greens
at temperatures close to freezing;
 Mix your salads; don’t just eat turnip greens.

Days to maturity
Find the number of days to maturity (from the catalog).
Is that number from seeding to harvest or transplant to
harvest?
Work back from each target harvest date, subtracting days
to maturity, to give the planting date.
Days to maturity in catalogs are generally for spring planting
once conditions have warmed to the usual range for that
crop.
When growing late into the fall, add about 14 days for the
slowdown.
“Days to Maturity” usually means “Days to First Harvest”
which may not be the same as “Days to Full Harvest”.
With carrots it doesn’t matter exactly what size they are,
but an immature cabbage is just no good.

Maturity Indicators
• Size: Cow Horn okra at 5” (others shorter), green beans a bit thinner
than a pencil, carrots at whatever size you like, 7” asparagus, 6” zucchini
• Color: Garden Peach tomatoes with a pink flush. The “ground spot” of a
watermelon turns from greenish white to buttery yellow at maturity,
and the curly tendrils where the stem meets the melon turn brown and
dry. For market you may harvest “fruit” crops a bit under-ripe
• Shape: cucumbers that are rounded out, not triangular in cross-section,
but not blimps. Sugar Ann snap peas completely round
• Softness or texture: eggplants that “bounce back” when lightly
squeezed, snap beans that are crisp with pliable tips. Harvest most
muskmelons when the stem separates easily from the fruit (“Full slip”).
• Skin toughness: storage potatoes when the skins don’t rub off, usually
two weeks after the tops die, whether naturally or because of mowing.
• Sound: watermelons sound like your chest not your head or your belly
when thumped. Try the “Scrunch Test” - press down firmly on the melon

Cabbageswhen the
head is firm and the outer
leaf on the head is curling
back.
To keep mature cabbage in
the ground a bit longer,
twist the heads to break off
some of the feeder roots
and limit water uptake, and
they will be less likely to
split.
Maturity Indicators

Maturity
Indicators -
Garlic
• Garlic is ready to harvest when the sixth leaf down is starting to brown on
50% of the crop. See Ron Engeland's Growing Great Garlic.
• Harvesting too early means smaller bulbs (harvesting way too early means
an undifferentiated bulb and lots of wrappers that then shrivel up).
• Harvesting too late means the bulbs may "shatter" or have an exploded
look, and not store well.
• Cut across hardneck garlic – airspaces around stem show maturity
See my slide show
Growing Great Garlic
on SlideShare.net

Maturity Indicators - Onions
Wait until the tops fall over to harvest, then gently dig up the whole
plant and dry.
Leave the dry, papery outer skin on the onion.
Photos by Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange

Winter harvesting techniques
With fall sown crops the aim is often to keep the
same plants alive through the winter. November -
January is not a good time to sow replacements.
Don’t harvest frozen crops — wait till they
thaw. Except for kale.
With leafy vegetables, highest productivity is
from “Cut and Come Again” crops — the tops
of the plants above the growing point are cut
with scissors or shears every 10–35 days.
Leaf-by-leaf is the method we use for kale,
collards, chard and spinach. Never remove
more than 40 percent of the total leaf area -
don’t take too many leaves - save “8 for later”.
Whole plant harvesting works well for small
plants like tatsoi and corn salad. A direct-
seeded row can be thinned over time by
harvesting out the biggest plants on each visit.
Tatsoi. Credit Wren Vile

Post-harvest Handling
Each crop has specific post-harvest handling and storage
needs. Knowing proper storage techniques can extend the
shelf life of products and, in some cases, improve quality.
Photo Carolina Farm Stewardships Association

Vegetable Storage
We store bulk roots and cabbages
in 50 pound bags in a walk-in
cooler. Step-by-step instructions:
Harvest the vegetables,
ensuring gentle treatment, no
bruising.
Trim. Use scissors or a knife for
a clean cut, and leave about ¼”
of leaf-stems attached to roots.
It might be quicker to tear the
leaves off, but this doesn’t give
such good results and can cause
the crop to need extra storage
space. With cabbages, remove
the loose wrapper leaves.
Carrot washing and storing.
Photo Wren Vile

Washing Roots – machines
See Atina Diffley
Wholesale Success
Photo Kelly Wood www.hobbyfarms.com

Washing Roots – by hand
 As you cut, gently drop the roots into
water - the dirt partly washes off as you
cut more.
 Sometimes it’s OK to use wash water
twice, but once it’s grubby it needs to
go.
 When the wash container is full, switch
from trimming to washing: rub each
root with your hands and drop it gently
into a container of clean rinse water.
 Depending on the cleanliness, it may be
possible to reuse rinse water. Or else
make it be wash water for the next
round. Rinsing needs clean water.
 When the rinse container is full, get 2
clean holey buckets to sort into. Take
the roots one at a time out of the rinse
water (don’t rub them any more).

Decide if roots are storable
 Put the Storable roots in one holey
bucket and the Cull in the other. Err on
the side of culling doubtful ones, but it’s
even better to learn good sorting.
 Make a measure from a bucket lid - Cull
roots may be small (carrots less than ¾”
diameter, less than 3” long, maybe).
Small roots may be usable.
 Storable roots are sound. Open dry
cracks or snapped-in-half roots may heal
over and store just fine.
 Use damaged roots (deep holes, soft
spots, complex cracks) for livestock?
 Set full buckets aside to drain before
bagging. Do not confuse categories.
Bucket lid with holes to measure
storable roots. Photo Wren Vile

Perforated plastic bags
Buy pre-perforated plastic bags if possible
Are the holes plentiful and big enough?
If you need more holes, the safest method is to lay
the empty bag on the grass, stand on diagonally
opposite corners, then stab the bag with a largish
knife. Make about 3 cuts across the width of the
bag and about 6? 7? 8? down the length.
Or make holes with paper punch after folding the
bag a few times

Bagging roots
 When the Storable roots have drained,
gently pour the Storable roots into the
perforated plastic bag. Tie the neck with
a short length of rope and make a label
with the date and the type of vegetable.
 When all the bags of storers have been
gathered up, record the number going
into storage.
 Use pallets for better airflow under the
bags.
 Start a new pallet for each different type
of vegetable and for a substantially
different sort, eg short-storage cabbage
from long-storage cabbage.
 Keep Inventory. Once a month, take stock
of what you have and update the list

Sorting cabbage
 Use a separate green net bag for
each variety of cabbage.
 Store only firm heads without much
insect damage. Cabbages smaller
than 5” diameter will not store well.
 Tie the neck of the bag and label
with the date, variety and “Long
storage” “medium storage” or “short
storage” Perhaps use red marker for
short storage labels, blue for
medium storage, black for long
storage.
 When all the bags of storers have
been gathered up, record the
number going into storage. You’ll be
glad later that you wrote it down.
Frosty fall cabbage. Photo
Lori Katz

Winter Vegetable Storage
Drawing credit WSU Storing
Vegetables and Fruits at Home
Washington State University
Extension’s Storing Vegetables
and Fruits at Home, is a good
introduction to alternatives to
refrigerated storage, using pits,
clamps and root cellars.
Also USDA Agriculture Handbook
66.
• Meeting the storage requirements of various crops helps maximize
their season of availability
• Some vegetables need to cure before storage and the curing
conditions are different from those needed for storage. Curing allows
skins to harden and some of the starches to convert to sugars.
• Many crops may be stored without electricity, perhaps in buildings
that serve other uses at the height of the growing season.

Four Sets of Storage Conditions
In my chart on the next slide, the Summary column indicates the
general conditions needed for each crop, and allocates each crop to
one of 4 groups:
A= Cold and Moist : 32°F–40°F (0°C–5°C), 80%–95% humidity —
refrigerator or winter root cellar conditions. Most roots, greens, leeks
B= Cool and Fairly Moist: 40°F–50°F (5°C–10°C), 85%–90% humidity —
root cellar. Potatoes
C= Cool and Dry: 32°F–50°F (0°C–10°C), 60%–70% humidity — cooler
basements and barns. Garlic and onions
D= Warm and Dry to Fairly Moist: 50°F–60°F (10°C–15°C), 60%–70%
humidity — basements. Sweet potatoes and winter squash.
By providing storage spaces with these 4 types of conditions, 25 crops
can be stored.

Table of
Storage
Conditions
See the
handout or
my book
Sustainable
Market
Farming, for
the
complete
chart

Winter squash and pumpkins - storage
We built a rodent-proof cage
with wood shelves. You could
use shallow crates to avoid
handling each individual
squash.
Exchange

In-ground storage
 Depending on the severity of your winter, some cold-hardy root crops
(turnips, rutabagas, beets, carrots, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes and
horseradish) and also leeks can be left in place in the ground, with about
12” (30 cm) of insulation (straw, dry leaves, chopped corn stalks, or wood
shavings) added after the soil cools to “refrigerator temperatures.”
 Hooped rowcovers or polyethylene low tunnels can keep the worst of the
weather off. There could be some losses to rodents, so experiment on a
small scale the first winter to see what works for you. We have too many
voles to do this with carrots or turnips, but horseradish survives without
protection, as do some winter-hardy leek varieties.
 Besides being used as a method for storage of hardy crops deep into
winter, this can be a useful method of season extension into early winter
for less hardy crops such as beets, celery and cabbage, which would not
survive all-winter storage this way. Access to crops stored in the ground is
limited in colder regions — plan to remove them all before the soil
becomes frozen, or else wait for a thaw.
Drawing credit WSU Storing Vegetables and Fruits at Home

Storage clamps (mounds)
Cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, parsnips, horseradish, Jerusalem
artichokes, salsify and winter radishes (and any root vegetables that can survive
cold temperatures) can be stored with no electricity use at all, by making
temporary insulated outdoor storage mounds (clamps).
• Mark a circular or oval pad of soil, lay down straw, pile the roots up, cover them
with straw and then with soil, digging a drainage ditch round the pile. For
ventilation, leave a tuft of straw poking out. Slap the damp soil in place to
protect the straw and shed rainwater.
• For the backyarder, various roots can be mixed, or sections of the clamp can be
for different crops. Those growing on a large scale would probably want a
separate clamp for each crop. It is possible to open one end of a clamp or pit,
remove some vegetables, then reseal it.
• There is a balance to be found between the
thermal buffering of one large clamp and the reduced
risk of rot that numerous smaller clamps
provide.
Drawing credit WSU Storing
Vegetables and Fruits at Home

Pits and trenches
• Dig a deep, wide pit (3+ feet deep) in a dry area where water will
not stand, lining it with heavy plastic and straw. Alternate layers of
vegetables with layers of straw, finishing with straw. Put a loose
sheet of plastic on top, (not sealed down). Cover with more soil.
• To deter rodents, bury large bins such as (clean) metal trash cans,
layer the vegetables inside with straw, and cover the lid with a
mound of more insulation and soil.
• Or bury insulated boxes in the ground inside a dirt-floored shed or
breezeway. A new life for discarded chest freezers! Insulated boxes
stored in unheated areas need 6-8” (15–20 cm) of insulation on the
bottom, sides and top.
Drawing credit WSU Storing Vegetables and Fruits at Home

Root Cellars
• A sustainable alternative to refrigeration for crops
needing cool, damp conditions.
• Potatoes do best in a dark cellar, at 40° - 50°F (5° -
10°C). With a good in-ground root cellar, potatoes
store for 5-8 months. Ventilate as needed, to
maintain the cellar in the ideal range.
• Below 40°F (5°C) the starches convert to sugars,
giving potatoes an unpleasant flavor and causing
them to blacken if fried.
• Root cellars can also be used for apples, cabbage,
or root vegetables, but be careful what you mix.
• Some people pack the unwashed roots in boxes of
sand, wood ash, sawdust or wood chips.
Perforated plastic bags or crates are easier.
• Pepper plants can be hung upside down in a cellar
to ripen, or store. Cabbage can also be hung
upside down.
• Cabbage, celery, leeks can be replanted side by
side in boxes or tubs of soil.
Twin Oaks root cellar. Photo
McCune Porter

Ethylene
Ethylene is generally associated with ripening, sprouting and rotting. Some
crops produce ethylene gas while in storage — apples, cantaloupes and
ripening tomatoes all produce higher than average amounts. Environmental
stresses such as chilling, wounding and pathogen attack can all induce
ethylene formation in damaged crops. Some crops, including most cut greens,
are not very sensitive to ethylene and so can be stored in the same space as
ethylene-producing crops. Other vegetables, however, are very sensitive to
the gas and will deteriorate in a high-ethylene environment. Potatoes will
sprout, ripe fruits will go over the top, carrots lose their sweetness and
become bitter.

Resources – books and articles
 Root Cellaring, Nancy and Mike Bubel (for construction details and advice)
 The New Seed Starter’s Handbook, Nancy Bubel, Rodale Books
 Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers, Maynard and Hochmuth
 The Complete Know and Grow Vegetables, J K A Bleasdale, P J Salter et al.
 The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall, Chelsea Green
 Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market, Vern Grubinger,
 The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman, Chelsea Green
 Gardening When it Counts, Steve Solomon
 The Market Gardener, Jean-Martin Fortier, New Society Publishers
 Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers, Daniel Brisebois & Frédéric
Thériault (Canadian Organic Growers www.cog.ca)
 Growing Great Garlic, Ron Engeland, 1991, Filaree
 Wholesale Success, Atina Diffley, Jim Slama
http://www.familyfarmed.org/publications/wholesalesuccess/
 Growing for Market Nov/Dec 2016 “How to grow heading chicories” Josh
Volk SlowHandFarm.com

Resources – websites
 ATTRA attra.ncat.org:
Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for a Continuous Harvest,
Season Extension Techniques for Market Farmers.
Organic Pumpkin and Winter Squash Production.
 SARE www.sare.org A searchable database of research findings.
Season Extension Topic Room www.sare.org
 extension.org/organic_production The organic agriculture community with
eXtension. Publications, webinars, videos, trainings and support. An
expanding, accessible source of reliable information.
 Growing Small Farms: growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/ Debbie Roos keeps
this site up to the minute. Click Farmer Resources
 2012 Production Guide for Storage of Organic Fruits and Vegetables, Cornell
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/42885/organic-
stored-fruit-veg-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1

Resources - season extension
 www.hightunnels.org
 Penn State Center for Plasticulture
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/plasticulture
 U of MN High Tunnel Production
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/fruit-vegetable/#high-tunnel
 The Hoophouse Handbook, Lynn Byczinski
 Extending the Season: Six Strategies for Improving Cash Flow Year-Round
on the Market Farm a free e-book for online subscribers to Growing for
Market magazine
 The Winter Harvest Manual, Eliot Coleman
 Walking to Spring, Paul & Alison Weidiger
http://aunaturelfarm.homestead.com/
 The Northlands Winter Greenhouse Manual, Carol Ford & Chuck Waibe
 Cold Climate Greenhouse Resource
www.extension.umn.edu/rsdp/community-and-local-food/production-
resources/docs/cold-climate-greenhouse-resource.pdf

Resources - post-harvest, storage engineering
 NCSU Guide to Postharvest Handling and Cooling of Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers for
Small Farms. https://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/post-harvest-handling-practices/
 Part I: Quality Maintenance,
 Part II: Cooling,
 Part III: Handling,
 Part IV: Mixed Loads, Packaging Requirements For Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
 ATTRA Postharvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetables https://attra.ncat.org/attra-
pub/download.php?id=378
 University of California Post-Harvest Handling for Organic Crops
http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/7254.pdf
 Center for Environmental Farming Systems Resources for Small Farm Post-Harvest
Handling https://cefs.ncsu.edu/portfolio_tags/postharvest-handling/
 Small-Scale Postharvest Handling Practices: A Manual - UC Davis
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/234-1450.pdf
 Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture Winter Crop Storage Resources 2010
 Walk-in Cooler: New Construction, Stand-alone Cold Storage with Free Air Case Study
http://www.buylocalfood.org/upload/resource/WinterCropStorage.gds.final.pdf
 Walk-in Cooler & Squash Storage: Existing Structure Retrofit Case Study
http://www.buylocalfood.org/upload/resource/WinterCropStorage.intervalefinal.pdf

Resources - storage Johnnys Storage Recommendations http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-storage-crops.aspx
 Washington State University Extension, Storing Vegetables and Fruits at Home
pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EB1326E
 USDA Agriculture Handbook 66: The Commercial Storage of Fruits, Vegetables, and Florist and
Nursery Stocks.
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/np/CommercialStorage/CommercialStorage.pdf
Revised Feb 2016
 UMass Extension Post-harvest and Storage Resources
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/resources/winter-production-storage/storage
 UMass Extension Harvest, curing and storage conditions for fall and winter
vegetables. https://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/pdf-doc-
ppt/harvest_and_storage_chart_winter_sare_project.pdf
 Vegetable Harvest and Storage. http://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6226
 Garlic Harvest, Curing and Storage https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/garlic-harvest-
curing-storage
 Onion Harvest and Storage https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/onions-harvest-curing
 Alliums, Post Harvest and Storage Diseases https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/alliums-
post-harvest-storage-diseases
 Potato Harvest and Storage https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/potato-harvest-storage
 Sweet Potato Harvest and Storage https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/sweet-potato-
harvest-storage
 Pumpkin and Winter Squash Harvest and Storage https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-
sheets/pumpkin-winter-squash-harvest-storage
 UMass Carrot Storage Trials https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/resources/winter-production-
storage/storage/2010-2011-storage-carrot-trials and
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/resources/winter-production-storage/storage/2011-2012-
storage-carrot-trials

Resources - slideshows
Many of my presentations are available at www.Slideshare.net. Search: Pam Dawling.
 Cold-hardy Winter Vegetables
 Crop Planning for Sustainable Vegetable Production
 Crop Rotations
 Fall and Winter Hoophouses
 Fall Vegetable Production
 Growing Great Garlic
 Growing Sweet Potatoes from Start to Finish
 Producing Asian Greens
 Succession Planting for Continuous Vegetable Harvests
Other slide shows I recommend:
 Mark Cain Planning for Your CSA: www.Slideshare.net (search for Crop Planning)
 Tom Peterson Farm Planning for a Full Market Season
vabf.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/tom-peterson-farm-planning-for-a-full-market-
season.pdf
 Brad Burgefurd, Cultural Practices And Cultivar Selections for Commercial
Vegetable Growers. www.slideshare.net/guest6e1a8d60/vegetable-cultural-
practices-and-variety-selection

Here’s the information to succeed - tables of
cold-hardiness, details of four ranges of storable
crops; weather prediction and protection;
hoophouse growing; vegetable storage.
©Pam Dawling 2016
Twin Oaks Community, Virginia
Author of Sustainable Market Farming
Published by New Society Publishers
SustainableMarketFarming.com
facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming
Storage Vegetables for
Off-Season Sales

Storage vegetables for off season sales 2017 90min Pam Dawling

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Storage vegetables for off season sales 2017 90min Pam Dawling

Similar to Storage vegetables for off season sales 2017 90min Pam Dawling (20)

More from Pam Dawling

More from Pam Dawling (6)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Storage vegetables for off season sales 2017 90min Pam Dawling