Storing onions, potatoes and carrots long term.

[miss_thenorth]

Every year I buy my potatoes in 50lb bags from a local farmer (my firends brother). they store quite well in a burlap bag at the base of my stairwell in the garage. It is cool, but doesn't freeze, and it is dark down there. I couldn't tell you the humidity, cuz I don't know. But it works well. I also store onions down there, but have never stored a huge amount. And carrots, I usually buy a bag every now and again as needed.

But.... onions and carrots are on sale at the grocery store. If I bought alot, could I be successful at storing them the same as I do my potatoes?

 

[patandchickens]

Onions need much drier storage than carrots, don't they? (Not sure how they compare to potatoes, and too lazy to look it up) (oh well, I happened to know where my book on root cellars is at the moment, so: carrots want 90-95% rh; 80-90% rh; onions 60-70% rh). I know potatoes and carrots are compatible as I've known people store them together a lot (carrots in buckets of damp sand or other humidifying device, potatoes not).

But I know how fast onions go funky in my kitchen or basement if too humid and too little air movement. At the very least, I'd hang them and check on them Real Frequently. One good thing about onions is that they are not shy about notifying you, via your nasal passages, if one is rotting

Really, as long as you store in smallish separate containers (to limit damage) and check them often, the worst that can happen is you lose a bit of produce before you go "wow, I'd better stop storing these and do something with them right now, even if it's just putting them in the freezer"

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

I'd suggest onions hanging from the ceiling in a chain or in a mesh bag that allows air movement.

I've heard that onions and potatoes stored near each other off gas in a way that causes one or both to bad more quickly.

Potatoes need dark more than anything, and cool down to 40 degrees is good, too.

Carrots need a bit of moisture. I've read about laying them in boxes with damp sand.

Good luck!