HOW TO STORE & PRESERVE YOUR OCTOBER HARVEST
If you’ve been harvesting your garden produce recently, you’ve probably been enjoying the delicious fall flavors of fresh homegrown food. But you might also be wondering how you’re going to store all your extras. October is a season of garden bounty in Indianapolis, but often we get much more from our gardens than we can use right away.
Here are some tips for storing and preserving that delicious garden produce to enjoy it all winter long.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Brussels sprouts can be stored fresh in your refrigerator for about 1 week, though the flavor gets stronger and less sweet. If you have enough to use in a week, keep them unwashed, untrimmed, loose, or on the stalk, in a plastic bag in a crisper drawer. Make sure to remove any yellowed or wilting leaves first. Don’t wash your Brussels sprouts until you’re ready to use them, as moisture can cause them to decay faster.
You can blanch and freeze Brussels sprouts so you have them available all winter, or at least until you use them up for Thanksgiving dinner. You could also roast your Brussels sprouts before freezing. Here are instructions for blanching and freezing.
HOW TO BLANCH AND FREEZE BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Trim off the roots and remove any yellowed or damaged leaves
Wash them in a sink of cold water. If you’re worried about pests, soak them for 1 hour in salt water, 1 tbsp salt to 1 gallon of cold water. Rinse again in clean cold water.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
Fill the sink with ice cold water.
Sort sprouts into similar sized batches, large, medium, and small.
Blanch time varies, but this is a decent guide:
Large sprouts: 5 minutes
Medium sprouts: 4 minutes
Small sprouts: 3 minutes
Blanch your sprouts in batches, and immediately plunge them into the cold water in the sink after removing from the boiling bath.
Leave them in the cold water until they're completely cool, 4-5 minutes.
Scoop out of the water and let drain in a colander for a minute or two.
Spread in a single layer on parchment paper and freeze for about 1 hour, fill freezer bags or containers and store in the freezer for 6-8 months.
GOURDS & PUMPKINS
Gourds and pumpkins generally keep well, but they do need time for the rinds to cure.
Wash the outside and let them dry somewhere well-ventilated away from direct sun.
Keep them out of the sun for about a week. The skins should harden up.
Store gourds and pumpkins somewhere dark, dry, and well ventilated for up to 6 months. (In a single layer on cardboard works well, or you could hang them with twine.)
Do not stack them or let them touch each other.
Turn them every few weeks, so they dry evenly and don’t start to rot.
There are many different theories about how to store root vegetables.
ROOT VEGGIES
Different types of root veggies need slightly different storage requirements. There are many different theories about how to store root vegetables. If you’ve had success storing them one way, then stick with that. There’s not necessarily any best way to store them, besides keep them fairly dry, cool, and dark.
Here are basic storage suggestions for some of the more common root vegetables:
Beets: Cut the tops off, brush off excess soil, store in a bowl with a damp paper towel overtop. Do not refrigerate.
Carrots: Cut the tops off, brush off excess soil, store in a cool place like a crisper drawer. They need some humidity, so a damp paper towel overtop is recommended.
Garlic: Dig up and let them sit out to dry for a few days, brush off extra soil, trim up roots, and store somewhere cool and dark and well-ventilated. Hang in mesh bags, or braid tops together. Check regularly for rot.
Onions: Dig up, brush off excess soil, and let the bulbs cure somewhere dry for several days. Store somewhere well-ventilated, dark, and dry. Hang in a mesh bag, or braid tops together.
Potatoes: Dig up, brush off excess soil, and lay them somewhere well-ventilated to dry for a day or two. Store somewhere cool and dark in baskets, paper bags, or cardboard boxes. Make sure there are ventilation holes. Store potatoes away from onions as onions can make them spoil faster.
Radishes: Cut off the greens, wash off excess soil, store in the fridge crisper, or a bowl with a damp towel over the top.
Sweet potatoes: Dig up and clean off excess soil. Set them out to dry, turning once or twice to make sure all the skin is dry. Store somewhere cool, dark, and well ventilated.
Turnips: Cut off the tops, brush off excess soil, store somewhere cool, and slightly humid, like a crisper in the fridge.
GREEN TOMATOES
It’s not uncommon to get to the end of the growing season and still have green tomatoes on your plants. There are a few different ways people ripen them, and most of them work, so don’t just toss the green tomatoes. And even if you don’t want to wait for them to ripen, you should really try making fried green tomatoes; they’re delicious.
Here are 3 different ways you can harvest and ripen your green tomatoes.
Dig up the whole plant, with some roots, and hang it indoors somewhere, like a shed or garage. This will give the tomatoes a chance to ripen on the vine, and gives them better flavor.
Pick all the tomatoes and lay them out in a single layer somewhere warm, on newspaper, or cardboard. Check every day for ripening or spoiling tomatoes.
Pick all the tomatoes and set them in a paper bag, in a single layer, with a ripe apple. Check daily for ripening or spoiling tomatoes.
Tomatoes can be preserved in several ways. If you have the experience and the equipment, you can blanch and can them. You can also make soups, sauces, or tomato paste and can or freeze it. If you’d prefer the easiest method, you can freeze them whole. If you like the skins off for recipes, you can blanch them and remove the skins before freezing.
However you choose to store your garden produce, congratulations on your awesome harvest this year! Any yield you get from your garden is something to be proud of and to enjoy. Once your harvest is all safely stored, maybe it's time to start thinking about what you want to grow next year!