Storing fresh vegetables

Some of our vegetables are starting to ripen in the garden. Knowing when to harvest, how to store them and what their shelf-life is can help us to enjoy the harvest now and down the road.

Harvesting Produce

Harvesting produce correctly is critical to their longevity. The less you handle your vegetables, the longer they will last in storage. Be careful not to break, nick, or bruise vegetables when you harvest them. Only harvest vegetables of high quality. Rotting produce will not last long and can spread diseases to other stored vegetables.

Storing Produce

Each vegetable requires different storage conditions. There are three basic combinations of temperature and humidity that vegetables fall into. Cool and dry, cold and dry, and cold and moist. Regardless of the conditions, good ventilation must be included to reach the ideal shelf-life of your produce.

Cool and Dry

50-60°F and 60 percent relative humidity is cool and dry. Basements generally fit into this category. Because the produce is still respiring, it needs good ventilation. Produce is a tempting treat for rodents, so ensure you have a plan for rodent control around your produce.

Cold and Dry

32-40°F and 65 percent relative humidity is cold and dry. 32°F is the ideal temperature in cold settings. This temperature is hard to reach in most homes. Expect shorter shelf-lives for your vegetables if you cannot reach 32°F. The life span can be reduced up to 25 percent for each increase in 10°F in temperature.

Home refrigerators can reach the ideal temperatures if adjusted properly. This is fine for long-term storage of garlic and onions, but not much else. Putting produce in perforated plastic bags in the refrigerator supplies a cold, moist environment. This is much better than unperforated plastic bags as they create too much humidity, which leads to condensation and the growth of mold or bacteria.

Cold and Moist

32-40°F and 95 percent relative humidity is cold and moist. The best place for cold and moist conditions is a root cellar. As with basements, ventilation and rodent control is necessary. Here in Eastern Idaho, potato cellars are a common landmark. Potato cellars pump air and humidity through the harvested potatoes to lengthen the time they can be sold as fresh produce.

Some vegetables like peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes require cool (55°F) and moist conditions. Although difficult to maintain in a typical home, using perforated plastic bags can help increase the humidity needed for effective storage of produce for a brief period.