A tip, put the carrots in a cotton bag and bury them in the ground during winter, about 30 cm deep, and take a few out as you need them they should last well into early spring. Mark the spot for snow. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
It's intriguing how long some vegetables and fruit can actually last. I'm so used to everything growing fuzz within a week of buying it from the supermarket.
I love your channel and the way you teach. Excellent teacher! Watching your garden makes me feel relaxed. I'm from the north of Spain, Galicia, and we have different varieties of turnips but we mainly eat the leaves and save the rest for the animals. Strong plants for the winter.
Nice of you to say Teresa, thankyou. And that is interesting about eating the turnip leaves, we tend to eat kale and cabbage, partly it's habit and custom as I know how tasty the turnip leaves are.
There is something so satisfying, even just viewing on YT, seeing all those lovely veg and fruit stored away and ready to use in the winter. The deep orange squash is a beauty.
I always go to Charles’ YT page for information on everything! Even in Arizona he has sparked my inspiration and thanks to you my first ever garden is doing very well! Thank you, Charles
Hi Charles, I just wanted to said thanks for all your knowledge given and also for the fantastic passion way of teaching. I have watch most of all your videos that I have save on my messenger, specially to put it on practise on our new adventure very soon in our little country house in Chile, so keep safe and warm this lovely UK winter. Regards
I'm so glad I found Dowdings methods before I started my allotment. It worked great last season and now once again he has pulled it out the bag with information I haven't heard anywhere, else that will save me time and effort on storing. Thanks again Charles. Everyone at my allotment think in nuts and lazy but I think they are slowly coming around
Yes you can Joyce, and it is often advised. Here I am explaining simpler, quicker and cheaper methods whose results are very nearly as good! The carrots for example have some soil and compost on them, from harvest, which helps to keep them fresh. Plus the cardboard lining around the crate.
It seems than when fruit and vegetables are grown in a proper organic method they last and last; contrarily with the new agricultural industria/chemical products (GMO). I'm still reading your book "Organic Vegetables", awesome piece of literature, I can't wait to put in action your methods. Great video! Cheers!!
That's not even close to true. First off it's not even the same plants when comparing variants grown commercially with salt ferts and gmo seed than those grown organically. In other words allot more than the method is different when comparing organic produce and commercial grocery store sources produce.
"No frills, no fuss. Yum"! Thanks for the tips Charles, I am stoked for the approaching growing season, here in US zone 6b 37 North, as I install six raised beds using your No Dig method based on your books "How to Create a New Vegetable Garden: Producing a Beautiful and a Fruitful Garden from Scratch" and the classic, "Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way".
Charles Dowding Do you mind if I ask what zone you are? Just so I can see how closely I can follow what you do throughout the year. I am zone 6 in Pennsylvania, USA.
I am in zone 8, and with mild winters so perhaps 8/9. Check my website updates for ideas on sowing, planting, picking www.charlesdowding.co.uk/february-2017-salads-slow-sow-kew-gardens-qa-wikihow/
I store root crops, apples, cabbages etc. in crates filled with layers of soaking wet wood shaving and veg. I don't wash them, just shake off most of the soil, and layer them into the shavings. I am careful to make sure the veg don't touch. I think that the acidic pine shavings and physical isolation keeps any rot at bay. The wet conditions keep the veg in great shape until May. I live in the US near the Canadian border.
Very good info, Charles. Thank you. I have shared you videos on "Off Grid with Doug and Stacy" homestead here in Missouri. When I did, I was surprised to find out just how many people already knew of your site. Many commented on my post saying that they love your site. Some even said that they had already started the "No Dig" method, as I have, and is great. Take care.
Thanks Bev and Bill, Missouri feels a long way away yet it's lovely to hear of growing success with no dig. Great that you are swapping notes and it's nice for me to hear the feedback.
We love in an old house that still had a root cellar. I harvested some sweet potatoes last year around Sept - Oct. Placed them in the cellar, covered then with some dirt until I couldn't see them anymore. I just now finished the last of them and they were delicious. I only had 2 or 3 go bad but that was out of 50 or so with a family of 10.
Such an interesting topic and so many different variables of how to store veg. In my climate we have very hard, prolonged freezes so that leaves us to deal with indoor storage which is of course...heated for this climate. Thus, I've never been able to store much and just this year purchased a pressurized steam canner to bottle the harvest for good, safe storage. (Unfortunately hubby and I cannot create a frost-safe root cellar, or that would be a really good alternative.)
I actually used the last of our Red Kuri squash in late May. Whether nutritious content decreases from early April to May I do not know, but the soup we made from it was still delicious. You could give squirrels lessons on storing food, even they probably have less food caches than you!
Really enjoyed this video Charles. I had no idea that carrots & beetroot would keep so long out of soil & in boxes. Its will save a lot of my time freezing later this year! Great ideas to follow on the other veggies too.
Hopefully people will think twice now before throwing out fruit and veg from the supermarket which has gone past the sell-by date but is still perfectly good to eat.
I love that sweater. I literally JUST bought America's test kitchen book on methods for preserving food. I really can't wait to put all these self sustaining practices to the test but this weather's not cooperating!
I watched this video a year ago, and I remember thinking : Wow this is ... hardcore. It was beyond what I would personally go. I am watching this video now and it is totally normal, not only normal but I plan to practice it because we just never know what can happen in the crazy world we live in.
This is so cool! I don't understand why the organic produce I'm buying goes bad so quickly. Organic russet potatoes, for example, go bad if I don't use them within a week and a half... onions, 2 weeks max., apples too.
Something is not right for that to happen Heather. Do ask in the shop or store. Potatoes are programmed to last from harvest to planting, hence their growing sprouts in bags during winter - normally! Root vegetables are living organisms.
I would put swedes, turnips, carrots, and parsnips unwashed, straight into wet sand or the soil that they came out of, in those styrofoam boxes and keep those in rat and bug proof cages made from wire and screen mesh. I just brush off my spuds, dry and store the same way and put them under the house. I store pumpkin in the laundry. Now I'm learning more from you.
I’m heartened you see you have big beetroots and kohl rabi... I have some still in the ground, they look good but they’re massive and I was wondering if they were worth even attempting to use. Now I think I will...
Very good video Charles. A question about potatoes and sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are grown widely here in NZ) - if storing in bags, won’t they rot sooner, or form sprouts? I love the look of the celeriacs and kohl rabi and didn’t know they grow to that size. I’ve never eaten a celeriac, so will try growing them this winter. Your videos are a constant source of valuable information and help. Thanks for that.
Hi Charles Hope you're keeping well. Thank you for the Informative video, I got a question,as I don't have a room like yours neither a cellar,can I store my vegetables and root veges in a outside shed(metal) I found my beets are getting soft when I left it in a box with paper on top in a dark place.what all things can we store like this method and what should go in a freezer. Thank you once again.
Sorry to hear this Jai, maybe too warm, should be better now for beets pulled say from now. My beets go soft when pulled in warm weather, but not too soft. Soft is still ok to eat, better than freezing imo.
Would veg/ fruit store like that in a block built barn with a tin roof, or would it work it I stored them in crates- inside larger crates insulated between with straw. As I will be close to the sea, I am guessing it doesn't drop below zero often.
I have stored apples in a block built garage with a tin roof and that worked fine all winter. Be careful with straw installation because it might encourage rodents, I would not use it
Hello Mr. Dowding. My husband and I absolutely love your videos. This year I talked him into growing swedes here in Alaska and we watched your videos prior to growing them. The season is a bit different here but we adjusted and they did quite well so I must thank you for your instructions. We love the swedes but root cellars and out buildings are not viable for vegetable storage here and the swedes are the only vegetable I am unsure how to store. Other vegetables we have packed in wet sand or peat moss and into a bin and stored in the garage where it is cool but not frozen. If you have any suggestions on how to store the swedes so that we may eat them fresh for the next few months that would be wonderful. I can always can them but they are so delicious fresh cooked we were hoping you might have some storage ideas.
Nice to hear from you. Wow, swedes in Alaska! They stand freezing to even 15F so there is no rush to harvest. To store I would leave some soil and small roots on the large swede, to keep them moist in say a box or crate, then use as desired.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you very much for the reply. We hope to keep them in the ground as long as possible. The weather here is abnormally wet and rainy so if it dries up we will definitely wait until the weather gets down into the teens. If it stays wet we will have to harvest a bit earlier than planned but we have been so blessed with your channel and truly appreciate not only the storing advice but the growing advice. You are the best.
@@tlynn7463 Ah thanks, and yes the weather! Unusually wet and windy here, but better is forecast. I hope yours improves - the US sounds pretty unusual this year.
Really loving your videos! Have you done any videos that go over seasoning things, such as onions, before storing? I don't know much about it yet. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these! It is appreciated.
Glad you like the videos and I do not do much seasoning, Sauce (could not resist that), see the storing video and onion, garlic just want to be pretty dry before being hung up
What is the lowest temps it gets in your building? We are thinking of turning a shed on our property to food storage and live in Maine USA. I'm moatly worried about freezing.
I love your videos and your no dig garden! I realize that you cannot actually store salad greens like root crops and such, but can you tell me the best way to handle salad after picking so it doesn't go bad right away?
Hi Carol and thanks. I use polythene bags, to keep the leaves moist after shaking out the excess water from washing. Best temp. is 7C/45F and they keep several days, alive basically.
Hi Charles as always a wonderful video. Your an inspiration. I was wondering where you get your storage supplies. Also the seed modules. I have looked around many shops but they only seem to have flimsy stuff that may not last very long and I find this not very cost effective. Hope you can help. Liz 🙂
Good afternoon, Charles, I'm just mooching around on YT as it is drizzling out in August, and found this video of yours. How on earth did you get a Khol Rabi that big? What kind is it? I'm lucky to get them tennis ball size. Fabulous subject and video!
I am learning so much from your videos, a huge thank you for making this channel. Your the frist UK Channel I have found since starting homestending eight weeks ago in Surrey England. Not a fan of suppermarkets at all. Sorry to ask, im new to this channel can I ask what do you do with all this fruit and veg left over or you don't use, do you replant? Sell on? Can, dry, or freeze. If you do sell on to the public please list a link to your website. Your fruit and Vegetables look amazing. Thanks Rebecca.
Best of luck with homesteading Rebecca and as I say, the produce goes to local shops & restaurants and is for Steph to make into great meals for the courses here, so there is v little surplus
I take it you immediately pull the stalks off carrots before storage? I've got some of my own carrots (almost 4 months growing now and of a medium size) in a plastic crate, but shall now add some cardboard underneath. I might also trial out the sand and buried in cotton bag techniques suggested by your other viewers. Can carrots still grow when the wind has blown their stalks over (but not detached them, of course) ? I find I have a lot of tangled stalks consequently, and combined with thistles & docks, it made for the most troublesome crop to weed this summer. Often I'd forgo weeding for fear of accidentality pulling the stalks. Unfortunately I hadn't discovered you when I sowed in May, thus the traditional ridge, which is unsurprisingly really compacted, with presence of small stones too. Next spring they'll definitely be in a no-dig bed!
Hello Charles, what do you consider an ambient temperature? I've got now 17 degrees Celsius in all rooms of the basement, would that be perfect enough? (ps, can I compost aphid infected plants?) Wish me the best of luck, I'm going to use your written knowledge (there's soooo much in your books!) to transform a 0,42 acre! But it has trees here and there :) (government promised me I could use it for about 4 years, free of fees!).
Hello Maico and thanks for your message. I wish you every success in your new garden. For storing root vegetables, 11C is cellar temperature and would be better than 17C.
Are you using leftover bags from store bought soil and compost? If so, that's a great way to reuse them--and economical, too. Your bags don't look like they're specialty bags made just for storing vegetables in. Do you poke holes in the plastic bags?
Haha love this, thanks Paula. From sowings early July, after their flowering season, they keep growing all autumn. Woodiness happens when sowings of erly spring are allowed to grow too long and begin to flower, in June-early July. It is Kossak F1. This year's Supershmeltz look similar now.
So if I understand you correctly, kohlrabi planted in spring will get woody after flowering, but kohlrabi planted in July will not and will keep growing all autumn? And since I try to avoid hybrid seed just on the off chance that I'll have to save seed, could I use Sweet Vienna kohlrabi seed?
Yes it's a vague word! means same temp. as nearby & outside, so lower in winter than summer, whereas cellar is constant 10-11C/50F or so, good for storing root veg.
Any suggestions for a "cellar" for zone 7B (in NY, where we're currently having hot and very humid temps...)?? Don't have a basement, and not sure that I can do anything for an "in-ground" cellar... Recently pulled up my shallots and garlic, and some of the potatoes... Don't want them to go to waste!! Not home all the time either to keep the AC going while we're not home! :-/ Would love any suggestions since I've tried looking online and can't seem to come across options that would work!!
Sarah onions & garlic store well in warm or in cool, so just in your house. Even potatoes are ok in warmth, in a 2 or 3 ply paper sack, in your house to be frost free in winter.
Thanks for the quick response!! I will try to get some paper sacks and see if that helps! I used the mesh/net sacks and hung them the past few years but it's been really hot and humid (around 30C) and I lost quite a few to mold last year! Can't seem to find the best room/area to store them during the summer! :-(
I currently buy organic veg from riverfords and it doesn't keep this well even in my fridge! Why is this, do you think? Until watching this video I wasn't going to attempt to store anything because I just didn't think it would work.
Debbie this is the most interesting and there are two possible reasons. One is that some of the produce may be less fresh than we would hope. But I suspect the main reason is from soil quality. Even though their produce is organic, it is not No-Dig except in a few cases. I reckon that the microbial quality of No-Dig soil results in stronger healthier produce which stores much better. I receive fantastic comments about my salad leaves for example.
I'm so interested to see how it turns out for me. I actually have a whole bed of beetroots still in the ground because I didn't know what to do with them. So I will chuck them in my shed tomorrow and they can be my first experiment. I only discovered you this year and started my beds in February. Have been so surprised at how much I produced even with the lack of compost due to this year's events! Thank you so much
They are not my choice for freezing. However if your winters are so cold that there are no fresh greens, and yes I would freeze a few of those if you have a glut now. Brussels sprouts are the most hardy of these, down to -15C or lower, 8F
HI Charles, it's great to see how well your produce is storing. Did you build a new shed to do this as well? I am thinking of setting up a shed as I do not have much space in my house for storage, especially for the quantity of produce that I am getting with the community gardens. Would you recommend any particular kind? Love Juliet
Thanks Juliet. My shed is a brick lean to, keeps out more frost than wooden shed. Wood is ok but any extra insulation will attract rodents, so best cool.
I love your videos. Do you have problems with mice eating your apples in the garage? And if you didn't have the thick walled shed , where would you store your root vegetables?
Hi Charles! I have small bed of beet root that is about ready for harvesting, in terms of the size of the roots. I don't want to eat beet root every day, lol, so can I just leave it in the ground (without it getting woody) until I want more for cooking, or should I harvest it all now and store it somehow so that it doesn't lose its quality. Is the refrigerator the best place to put it, or the basement in a cool spot? What do you recommend? My weather here in the U.S. zone 6 (Michigan) is still warm with daytime highs in the 80's.
No rush John, woodiness is a myth when soil is fertile and moist - roots just grow bigger! So leave the ones you are not ready to eat for more harvests until about October, then pull the rest to store in a shed above about 28F.
That's great! My soil is fertile, so I'll just make sure that they stay moist. Would it help to spread some straw or fresh compost around the rows of beets to help retain moisture?
This is the best garden show.
A tip, put the carrots in a cotton bag and bury them in the ground during winter, about 30 cm deep, and take a few out as you need them they should last well into early spring. Mark the spot for snow. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Wow, I was expecting some funny routine and adding things to them but...
But this is just leave them in a box, basically. How great is that!
Many things are easier than usually presented, once you understand :)
Charles for president!
Gardener in chief
Rand Paul for president of USA and Pierre Pollivier for Canada
It's intriguing how long some vegetables and fruit can actually last. I'm so used to everything growing fuzz within a week of buying it from the supermarket.
Quality! And maybe the microbes too.
I love your channel and the way you teach. Excellent teacher!
Watching your garden makes me feel relaxed.
I'm from the north of Spain, Galicia, and we have different varieties of turnips but we mainly eat the leaves and save the rest for the animals. Strong plants for the winter.
Nice of you to say Teresa, thankyou.
And that is interesting about eating the turnip leaves, we tend to eat kale and cabbage, partly it's habit and custom as I know how tasty the turnip leaves are.
There is something so satisfying, even just viewing on YT, seeing all those lovely veg and fruit stored away and ready to use in the winter. The deep orange squash is a beauty.
Thanks Gayle and the Uchiki Kurd squash would grow well in your maritime climate
Charles Dowding Thank you! I will give it a try.
I always go to Charles’ YT page for information on everything! Even in Arizona he has sparked my inspiration and thanks to you my first ever garden is doing very well! Thank you, Charles
Lovely quote thanks royaltron, I am delighted to be helping in such a different climate - or I should say, the soil life is helping you so well!
Hi Charles, I just wanted to said thanks for all your knowledge given and also for the fantastic passion way of teaching. I have watch most of all your videos that I have save on my messenger, specially to put it on practise on our new adventure very soon in our little country house in Chile, so keep safe and warm this lovely UK winter. Regards
Thanks Christian, and I wish you happiness in your new life
I'm so glad I found Dowdings methods before I started my allotment. It worked great last season and now once again he has pulled it out the bag with information I haven't heard anywhere, else that will save me time and effort on storing. Thanks again Charles. Everyone at my allotment think in nuts and lazy but I think they are slowly coming around
Thanks Roscoe, I am hearing many similar stories. It's not easy for people to change the habits of a lifetime. Your example is clearly helping.
Thankyou so much for all your encouraging films
Beautiful living vegetables are the best kind--healthy food!
I just had an ad for Hot Cross Buns, and I am thinking "hurry up so I can go back to seeing all the wonderful real food Charles is storing"
This was fantastic. I did not know that store veg and fruit over winter was so simple. Have a marvelous day
You can clean root veg and layer them in boxes with Clean Dry sand. It helps keep them quite well for several months.
Yes you can Joyce, and it is often advised.
Here I am explaining simpler, quicker and cheaper methods whose results are very nearly as good! The carrots for example have some soil and compost on them, from harvest, which helps to keep them fresh. Plus the cardboard lining around the crate.
What types of vegetables can you keep like this??
It seems than when fruit and vegetables are grown in a proper organic method they last and last; contrarily with the new agricultural industria/chemical products (GMO). I'm still reading your book "Organic Vegetables", awesome piece of literature, I can't wait to put in action your methods. Great video! Cheers!!
Thanks Oscar and yes, organic veg like these are easier to store, more dense and less water. May your garden prosper.
That's not even close to true. First off it's not even the same plants when comparing variants grown commercially with salt ferts and gmo seed than those grown organically. In other words allot more than the method is different when comparing organic produce and commercial grocery store sources produce.
"No frills, no fuss. Yum"! Thanks for the tips Charles, I am stoked for the approaching growing season, here in US zone 6b 37 North, as I install six raised beds using your No Dig method based on your books "How to Create a New Vegetable Garden: Producing a Beautiful and a Fruitful Garden from Scratch" and the classic, "Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way".
Brian, thanks for your feedback. Here I am amazed that you are only 37 N (= S. Spain in Europe) yet zone 6b! Best of luck with the new beds.
Charles Dowding Do you mind if I ask what zone you are? Just so I can see how closely I can follow what you do throughout the year. I am zone 6 in Pennsylvania, USA.
I am in zone 8, and with mild winters so perhaps 8/9.
Check my website updates for ideas on sowing, planting, picking www.charlesdowding.co.uk/february-2017-salads-slow-sow-kew-gardens-qa-wikihow/
How did that garden work out for you?
"No frills, no fuss, yum!" :-D
Init to winit
I store root crops, apples, cabbages etc. in crates filled with layers of soaking wet wood shaving and veg. I don't wash them, just shake off most of the soil, and layer them into the shavings. I am careful to make sure the veg don't touch. I think that the acidic pine shavings and physical isolation keeps any rot at bay. The wet conditions keep the veg in great shape until May. I live in the US near the Canadian border.
Wow that is brilliant John
Can you explain how the moisture doesn't introduce mold? Not being sarcastic, I seriously don't understand.
A friend of mine loves beet leaves. I’ve never tried them. I intend to this year.
Thank you! I'm so glad to have found your channel! You break it down so simple to understand!
Your comment heartens me, thank you
Thanks Charles fabulous tips
Very helpful. I thought you had to store everything in sand so your advice makes things so much easier. Thanks
I needed to see this.
Thank you.
Very good info, Charles. Thank you. I have shared you videos on "Off Grid with Doug and Stacy" homestead here in Missouri. When I did, I was surprised to find out just how many people already knew of your site. Many commented on my post saying that they love your site. Some even said that they had already started the "No Dig" method, as I have, and is great. Take care.
Thanks Bev and Bill, Missouri feels a long way away yet it's lovely to hear of growing success with no dig. Great that you are swapping notes and it's nice for me to hear the feedback.
Fabulous tips! Greatly appreciated!
I stored some green tomatoes in aerated cardboard in crates and I ate the last one in December I had harvested them October 1st.
Brilliant video plenty ways to story your harvest how have I not seen this video 👍
Glad you enjoyed it David
Very nice advice Mr. Charles.
Very informative and so practical! I always wondered how we could store our produce.Thank you again!
Thanks you’re helping with Toronto pandemic food storage
Yikes, wish you well and thanks
We love in an old house that still had a root cellar. I harvested some sweet potatoes last year around Sept - Oct. Placed them in the cellar, covered then with some dirt until I couldn't see them anymore. I just now finished the last of them and they were delicious. I only had 2 or 3 go bad but that was out of 50 or so with a family of 10.
Great result
Such an interesting topic and so many different variables of how to store veg. In my climate we have very hard, prolonged freezes so that leaves us to deal with indoor storage which is of course...heated for this climate. Thus, I've never been able to store much and just this year purchased a pressurized steam canner to bottle the harvest for good, safe storage. (Unfortunately hubby and I cannot create a frost-safe root cellar, or that would be a really good alternative.)
Thanks for your comment and yes, your climate is so different! The canner sounds a good option.
I actually used the last of our Red Kuri squash in late May. Whether nutritious content decreases from early April to May I do not know, but the soup we made from it was still delicious.
You could give squirrels lessons on storing food, even they probably have less food caches than you!
Haha cute comment Rhys.
We just ate the last squash today, from a plant Steph gave me, and 8 months after harvest it was delicious.
Really enjoyed this video Charles. I had no idea that carrots & beetroot would keep so long out of soil & in boxes. Its will save a lot of my time freezing later this year! Great ideas to follow on the other veggies too.
Thanks Charles
That was really really helpful.
Enjoying reading your books by the way.
Take care
Mike
Thanks Mike.
Thank you so much for this!
Good advice on storing...Those are very huge pumpkins....You said squashes....Never seen them so big!
Since i went vegan i had a lot of roting veggies, now even my greens keep for two weeks, and still taste fresh, so great!
good to hear
Great video, you are my idol. Love your videos and can't wait to implement a lot of your growing techniques here in my NJ garden.
Many thanks Trudy and I wish you fine harvests.
Very informative like all of your videos. Keep the good work up. Thanks
very handy information
I love You Charles Dawding ARGENTINA 💪
Hopefully people will think twice now before throwing out fruit and veg from the supermarket which has gone past the sell-by date but is still perfectly good to eat.
I love that sweater. I literally JUST bought America's test kitchen book on methods for preserving food. I really can't wait to put all these self sustaining practices to the test but this weather's not cooperating!
Thanks LaAnna and may it warm soon for you :)
I watched this video a year ago, and I remember thinking : Wow this is ... hardcore. It was beyond what I would personally go. I am watching this video now and it is totally normal, not only normal but I plan to practice it because we just never know what can happen in the crazy world we live in.
An interesting change!
The new normal 🥕
have stored beetrootunwashed in dry sand for 3 months or so and had good results, now trying carrots in dry compost
nice to hear
This is so cool! I don't understand why the organic produce I'm buying goes bad so quickly. Organic russet potatoes, for example, go bad if I don't use them within a week and a half... onions, 2 weeks max., apples too.
Something is not right for that to happen Heather. Do ask in the shop or store. Potatoes are programmed to last from harvest to planting, hence their growing sprouts in bags during winter - normally! Root vegetables are living organisms.
Great video! Thank you!
Thanks for the tips.
The vegetables and fruit do look pretty inside 😍
as usual very interesting very good
Very useful - Thank You
Wrapping apples individually in newspaper also helps them keep well.
thank you for your fantastic informations. hope to use here in Portugal!
May your harvests be good
Very informative video. Thank you.
thank u sir for sharing ur garden.i really appreciated
I would put swedes, turnips, carrots, and parsnips unwashed, straight into wet sand or the soil that they came out of, in those styrofoam boxes and keep those in rat and bug proof cages made from wire and screen mesh. I just brush off my spuds, dry and store the same way and put them under the house. I store pumpkin in the laundry. Now I'm learning more from you.
Nice to hear!
I cannot wait to be able to leave the city.
Hi, can you please tell me what variety of garlic is this hanging on minute 9:30? It looks amazing! Thank you!
No idea Andreea, it's originally from a store and I keep growing it, in a polytunnel mostly, hence larger
Lovely.
i love your channel thank you :)
I’m heartened you see you have big beetroots and kohl rabi... I have some still in the ground, they look good but they’re massive and I was wondering if they were worth even attempting to use. Now I think I will...
Your larder in the soil! 💚
We found that Kerrs Pink, Sarpo Mira and Desiree Potatoes store really well and much better than the Maris Pipers
I don't know how you don't take a bite out of stuff, especially those apples 🍎🍏
Haha yes I love them especially
Lovely man
Very good video Charles. A question about potatoes and sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are grown widely here in NZ) - if storing in bags, won’t they rot sooner, or form sprouts? I love the look of the celeriacs and kohl rabi and didn’t know they grow to that size. I’ve never eaten a celeriac, so will try growing them this winter. Your videos are a constant source of valuable information and help. Thanks for that.
Nice to hear. Sweet potatoes do not sprout as readily as potatoes, in my experience, but I'm not too sure to be honest, they're not a big food for us.
Fantastic tips, thanks so much!
My last harvested sqoush is now 8 months old. I'm keeping it as an experiment to see just how long it will stay alive.
How are you keeping it preserved?
Hi Charles
Hope you're keeping well. Thank you for the Informative video, I got a question,as I don't have a room like yours neither a cellar,can I store my vegetables and root veges in a outside shed(metal) I found my beets are getting soft when I left it in a box with paper on top in a dark place.what all things can we store like this method and what should go in a freezer.
Thank you once again.
Sorry to hear this Jai, maybe too warm, should be better now for beets pulled say from now.
My beets go soft when pulled in warm weather, but not too soft. Soft is still ok to eat, better than freezing imo.
Would veg/ fruit store like that in a block built barn with a tin roof, or would it work it I stored them in crates- inside larger crates insulated between with straw. As I will be close to the sea, I am guessing it doesn't drop below zero often.
I have stored apples in a block built garage with a tin roof and that worked fine all winter. Be careful with straw installation because it might encourage rodents, I would not use it
Hello Mr. Dowding. My husband and I absolutely love your videos. This year I talked him into growing swedes here in Alaska and we watched your videos prior to growing them. The season is a bit different here but we adjusted and they did quite well so I must thank you for your instructions. We love the swedes but root cellars and out buildings are not viable for vegetable storage here and the swedes are the only vegetable I am unsure how to store. Other vegetables we have packed in wet sand or peat moss and into a bin and stored in the garage where it is cool but not frozen. If you have any suggestions on how to store the swedes so that we may eat them fresh for the next few months that would be wonderful. I can always can them but they are so delicious fresh cooked we were hoping you might have some storage ideas.
Nice to hear from you.
Wow, swedes in Alaska!
They stand freezing to even 15F so there is no rush to harvest.
To store I would leave some soil and small roots on the large swede, to keep them moist in say a box or crate, then use as desired.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you very much for the reply. We hope to keep them in the ground as long as possible. The weather here is abnormally wet and rainy so if it dries up we will definitely wait until the weather gets down into the teens. If it stays wet we will have to harvest a bit earlier than planned but we have been so blessed with your channel and truly appreciate not only the storing advice but the growing advice. You are the best.
@@tlynn7463 Ah thanks, and yes the weather! Unusually wet and windy here, but better is forecast. I hope yours improves - the US sounds pretty unusual this year.
Really loving your videos! Have you done any videos that go over seasoning things, such as onions, before storing? I don't know much about it yet. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these! It is appreciated.
Glad you like the videos and I do not do much seasoning, Sauce (could not resist that), see the storing video and onion, garlic just want to be pretty dry before being hung up
Excellent, thanks for the reply!
What is the lowest temps it gets in your building? We are thinking of turning a shed on our property to food storage and live in Maine USA. I'm moatly worried about freezing.
We are less cold than you in winter, 33F is lowest in 10 years inside the building
Very nice. Thank you
The leaves of carrots, beets, kohlrabi, turnips, celeriac,
are EDIBLE, cooked or raw in a salad.
I love your videos and your no dig garden! I realize that you cannot actually store salad greens like root crops and such, but can you tell me the best way to handle salad after picking so it doesn't go bad right away?
Hi Carol and thanks. I use polythene bags, to keep the leaves moist after shaking out the excess water from washing.
Best temp. is 7C/45F and they keep several days, alive basically.
Hi Charles as always a wonderful video. Your an inspiration. I was wondering where you get your storage supplies. Also the seed modules. I have looked around many shops but they only seem to have flimsy stuff that may not last very long and I find this not very cost effective. Hope you can help. Liz 🙂
Liz thanks, and the module trays in polystyrene are hard to buy but these are good containerwise.co.uk/product/40l-propagation-tray/
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks very much. 🙂
Good afternoon, Charles, I'm just mooching around on YT as it is drizzling out in August, and found this video of yours. How on earth did you get a Khol Rabi that big? What kind is it? I'm lucky to get them tennis ball size. Fabulous subject and video!
I had a lucky year Jayne! Kossak F1 is good
@@CharlesDowding1nodig haha, bless you, Charles. We all need a lucky year. I'll give that a go for great sputnik veg :) Thanks again!
I am learning so much from your videos, a huge thank you for making this channel. Your the frist UK Channel I have found since starting homestending eight weeks ago in Surrey England. Not a fan of suppermarkets at all. Sorry to ask, im new to this channel can I ask what do you do with all this fruit and veg left over or you don't use, do you replant? Sell on? Can, dry, or freeze.
If you do sell on to the public please list a link to your website. Your fruit and Vegetables look amazing.
Thanks Rebecca.
Best of luck with homesteading Rebecca and as I say, the produce goes to local shops & restaurants and is for Steph to make into great meals for the courses here, so there is v little surplus
I take it you immediately pull the stalks off carrots before storage? I've got some of my own carrots (almost 4 months growing now and of a medium size) in a plastic crate, but shall now add some cardboard underneath. I might also trial out the sand and buried in cotton bag techniques suggested by your other viewers.
Can carrots still grow when the wind has blown their stalks over (but not detached them, of course) ? I find I have a lot of tangled stalks consequently, and combined with thistles & docks, it made for the most troublesome crop to weed this summer. Often I'd forgo weeding for fear of accidentality pulling the stalks. Unfortunately I hadn't discovered you when I sowed in May, thus the traditional ridge, which is unsurprisingly really compacted, with presence of small stones too. Next spring they'll definitely be in a no-dig bed!
Yes they can grow more, and good luck with no dig
Excellent video. I have started fermenting some vegetables for storing. Do you do any fermenting for any of your harvest?
I want to, it's about finding some time to do that because it's a brilliant way to store food, and improve it often
I put a box of store-bought apples that have been treated. The gas from them puts everything I have in my cold room "to sleep" Works like a charm!
That is funny
Hello Charles, what do you consider an ambient temperature? I've got now 17 degrees Celsius in all rooms of the basement, would that be perfect enough? (ps, can I compost aphid infected plants?) Wish me the best of luck, I'm going to use your written knowledge (there's soooo much in your books!) to transform a 0,42 acre! But it has trees here and there :) (government promised me I could use it for about 4 years, free of fees!).
Hello Maico and thanks for your message.
I wish you every success in your new garden.
For storing root vegetables, 11C is cellar temperature and would be better than 17C.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig okay thank you. I haven't checked the cellar temperature last winter, but I assume it might drop.
Are you using leftover bags from store bought soil and compost? If so, that's a great way to reuse them--and economical, too. Your bags don't look like they're specialty bags made just for storing vegetables in. Do you poke holes in the plastic bags?
I use paper sacks for storing potatoes, all reused, some given by others.
Plastic bags would sweat when weather alternates between cool and warmer.
Thanks for answering my question so quickly. I appreciate it very much.
Hi Charles- I have never seen kohlrabi that large- I didn't know they could 1) get that big and 2) still be edible- what variety did you grow?
Haha love this, thanks Paula.
From sowings early July, after their flowering season, they keep growing all autumn.
Woodiness happens when sowings of erly spring are allowed to grow too long and begin to flower, in June-early July.
It is Kossak F1. This year's Supershmeltz look similar now.
So if I understand you correctly, kohlrabi planted in spring will get woody after flowering, but kohlrabi planted in July will not and will keep growing all autumn? And since I try to avoid hybrid seed just on the off chance that I'll have to save seed, could I use Sweet Vienna kohlrabi seed?
Yes, and woody before flowering too, say from mid June depending on weather etc.
Supershmeltz is not hybrid.
Yes Sweet Vienna is nice.
What do you call ambient temp? I have a celler in my house and it would be good to know.
Yes it's a vague word! means same temp. as nearby & outside, so lower in winter than summer, whereas cellar is constant 10-11C/50F or so, good for storing root veg.
Any suggestions for a "cellar" for zone 7B (in NY, where we're currently having hot and very humid temps...)?? Don't have a basement, and not sure that I can do anything for an "in-ground" cellar... Recently pulled up my shallots and garlic, and some of the potatoes... Don't want them to go to waste!! Not home all the time either to keep the AC going while we're not home! :-/ Would love any suggestions since I've tried looking online and can't seem to come across options that would work!!
Sarah onions & garlic store well in warm or in cool, so just in your house.
Even potatoes are ok in warmth, in a 2 or 3 ply paper sack, in your house to be frost free in winter.
Thanks for the quick response!! I will try to get some paper sacks and see if that helps! I used the mesh/net sacks and hung them the past few years but it's been really hot and humid (around 30C) and I lost quite a few to mold last year! Can't seem to find the best room/area to store them during the summer! :-(
I like your videos, they are rearly helpfull! And I love your greenhouse may I have the plans?☺
Thanks, and no! It's one I bought from Woodpecker Joinery in Staffs, google them to see more.
I recently learned of your channel and am binge watching your videos. Can you spell out the name of the cabbage at 5:08 please?
Nice to hear, and the long pointed one is Filderkraut
Thank you, I was way off trying to figure it out phonetically.
I currently buy organic veg from riverfords and it doesn't keep this well even in my fridge! Why is this, do you think? Until watching this video I wasn't going to attempt to store anything because I just didn't think it would work.
Debbie this is the most interesting and there are two possible reasons.
One is that some of the produce may be less fresh than we would hope.
But I suspect the main reason is from soil quality. Even though their produce is organic, it is not No-Dig except in a few cases. I reckon that the microbial quality of No-Dig soil results in stronger healthier produce which stores much better. I receive fantastic comments about my salad leaves for example.
I'm so interested to see how it turns out for me. I actually have a whole bed of beetroots still in the ground because I didn't know what to do with them. So I will chuck them in my shed tomorrow and they can be my first experiment. I only discovered you this year and started my beds in February. Have been so surprised at how much I produced even with the lack of compost due to this year's events!
Thank you so much
Không hiểu nói gì , nhưng xem trang trại râu rất là thích
Bạn làm tôi cười! 😀
Tôi Ước sau này sẽ có một trang trại như bạn. Cố gắng 💪💪💪
Brilliant!
What do you do about mice and rats? Dont they eat the vegetables kept in the outside house/garage?
I set mousetraps Kare because otherwise they do eat a lot. Usually I catch most in the autumn when they are coming in for winter shelter and food.
Charles Dowding Thank you for your reply!
👍🏻….Would you recommend freezing vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts?
They are not my choice for freezing. However if your winters are so cold that there are no fresh greens, and yes I would freeze a few of those if you have a glut now. Brussels sprouts are the most hardy of these, down to -15C or lower, 8F
HI Charles, it's great to see how well your produce is storing. Did you build a new shed to do this as well? I am thinking of setting up a shed as I do not have much space in my house for storage, especially for the quantity of produce that I am getting with the community gardens. Would you recommend any particular kind? Love Juliet
Thanks Juliet. My shed is a brick lean to, keeps out more frost than wooden shed.
Wood is ok but any extra insulation will attract rodents, so best cool.
What precautions do you take against rodents which would also love your fruit and vegetables!
Would small vacuum bags have any affect on preservation?
Funny idea :) you could try it
If you keep the cabbage with the root, it will keep for longer. My experience
Thanks and yes I did that last year
I love your videos. Do you have problems with mice eating your apples in the garage? And if you didn't have the thick walled shed , where would you store your root vegetables?
Yes I set mousetraps.
Not sure!
Hi Charles! I have small bed of beet root that is about ready for harvesting, in terms of the size of the roots. I don't want to eat beet root every day, lol, so can I just leave it in the ground (without it getting woody) until I want more for cooking, or should I harvest it all now and store it somehow so that it doesn't lose its quality. Is the refrigerator the best place to put it, or the basement in a cool spot? What do you recommend? My weather here in the U.S. zone 6 (Michigan) is still warm with daytime highs in the 80's.
No rush John, woodiness is a myth when soil is fertile and moist - roots just grow bigger! So leave the ones you are not ready to eat for more harvests until about October, then pull the rest to store in a shed above about 28F.
That's great! My soil is fertile, so I'll just make sure that they stay moist. Would it help to spread some straw or fresh compost around the rows of beets to help retain moisture?
Compost mulch holds moisture, straw risks slugs here at least