How do you store your fruit and veg

[rary]

With prices of power as well as fruit and veg increasing, its now more important to be able to keep your garden produce over the winter and ofcourse at the minimal cost, so other than freezing what would you recommend for growing and storing for next year, I was considering growing late carrots, some brasicas and parsnips which I could lift when required, but with how wet it is just now, it makes me wonder just what would really withstand such wet and cold conditions

[Bren In Pots]

Rary I'm doing the same as last year I've got kale, chard, parsnips then some lettuce in the GH, that should keep us going until the spring.

For storing I've got dehydrated apples, then the usual jams, chutney and pickles.

[bramble]

Rary, I haven't got a very big garden so I only grow chard and lettuce in the greenhouse over the winter.
I also start onion setts and garlic there.
Whatever fruit I grow I use to make jam.
Tomatoes and any other veg I grow all go to make soup for the freezer.
We eat all types of soups so nothing I grow is wasted.
I would just love yo have a bigger garden.

[annie8]

I am growing cavolo Nero, cauliflowers, garlic, onions and purple sprouting broccoli over the winter. Still have carrots, beetroot, parsnips and red cabbages in the beds that I am gradually harvesting. Might lift my carrots and beetroot and store in sand in the garage but will leave parsnips in the ground. I still have tomatoes and chillis in the green house, but will clear soon. I also have some peas that I’ve started in there for next year and herbs that I grow there through the winter. Things like tha cauliflowers and cavolo Nero work well as they don’t go in until other crops are cleared. I also find that potatoes, garlic squash and pumpkin store well.

[Ger-annie-um]

We're storing potatoes, bns, onions, garlic and shallots. Frozen down raspberries, strawberries, black/red currants, rhubarb, blueberries, bramleys, sweetcorn, peas, broad beans and 5 different soups. In the garden/allotment we have spring onions, swede, parsnips, turnip, kale, cabbage, beetroot, carrots, leeks, cauliflower, calabrese and sprouts. Greenhouse has lettuce and salad greens. We've estimated we should be virtually self sufficient (apart from salad stuff) until around April 🤞

[Chippy Minton]

We're mainly soup people we make soup with the produce and freeze in foil trays ready for taking to work for lunches, usual just about defrosts by lunchtime and can be tipped in to a bowl and microwaved. We also freeze fruit so have a bag full of alpine strawberries and a bag full of blackberries for smoothies (kids) and crumbles. Brassicas stay in the ground so fresh kale and sprouts and cabbages are still available. Onions and garlic are in mushroom trays in the garage, as are pumpkins, herbs are dried. hanging from the garage ceiling.

Actually it sounds like we have a lot but really we don't have that much, there's relatively little we have in excess and it'll all be gone by early in the New Year

[rary]

As I don't have a very big garden I never have a lot to store, but what I do have is like Chippy, mostly made into soups and frozen, though I do have onions and garlic dried and stored in the hut, potatoes stored in tubs of soil and still in the garden 3 red cabbage plants 4 a.y.r cauliflower and some beetroots, though those are normally out by this time of year to avoid frost damage, most of my excess produce go to my son and daughter who don't have any large garden space nor time for working one. I doubt if I will be growing cucumber next year, those were grown for the family as I don't like cucumber, the excess of those were made into soup along with some apples (though the jury's still out on whither that was worth doing as OH is a bit dubious about it) instead I will try tomboncino which store well and as it self seals when cut can last well without being in a fridge where by the way I still have several apples waiting to be eaten

[Nicos]

I mostly freeze mine.
Some apples, onions, nit’s and spuds are usually stored in a metal mouse proof cupboard

I used to do a lot of preserving in jars but haven’t for the past couple of years
Jams, jellies, pickles too.
I prefer to make ready meals with some of the crop - quiches, soups, cakes

This year we juiced over 50kg of our apples. The fiddly little ones. All the others are cooked down and frozen in 500g bags.
OH is now making cider and apple cider vinegar with some of the apples and juice.

Every year we get a bumper crop of something. Usually it’s courgettes needing storing/ preserving - this year it’s apple.

[Penellype]

I like to be self sufficient in veg, so storage is important over winter. Aside from the freezer, this is what I do:

Grow crops that can be harvested from outside during mild spells in winter - leeks, parsnips, PSB, kale
Grow small crops under lights, mainly for sandwiches, including microgreens, pea shoots and baby lettuce/brassica salads
Tomatoes and peppers, grown on windowsills through the summer, may continue to fruit into the new year in some years.
I have had success growing dwarf french beans and Half Pint peas in winter under lights.
Build a hotbed in January to grow early salad crops, spinach and beetroot to fill the "hungry gap"
Another hungry gap crop is overwintered broad beans, but I don't grow these as I don't like them.

Storage:
I presume that everyone knows about making jams and chutneys - I don't tend to do this as I don't grow enough fruit for jam and I don't eat chutney.
Variety is everything when it comes to storage. Some varieties simply won't keep whatever you do.
Onions, easy to store on a string hanging from the garage roof, the right variety (I grow Sturon) will keep pretty much until the next crop is ready. Do not try to store anything with any damage and check regularly for signs of mould, especially round the necks. Garlic can probably be stored in a similar way - I don't like it so I don't grow it. I have never had much success with shallots (they tend to rot between the bulbs) and I no longer grow them.
Main crop potatoes, dried (covered with brown paper to prevent greening) for a day or 2 after harvesting and stored in the garage in thick brown paper sacks, have been known to keep until June. Sarpo Mira stores exceptionally well. Check carefully for any signs of damage and keep checking regularly for signs of anything rotting. Mashed potato freezes well to fill the gap between stored and new potatoes.
Squashes store well providing they are not damaged - cut the stems a couple of inches from the fruit. I don't grow these as I am not keen on them.
Tomatoes, picked green before blight arrives will ripen slowly indoors in a tray in a single layer. They don't need light, but keep checking for any that start rotting. I have had them last into January stored this way, particularly Sungold. They need to be at least at the bright green stage - the bluish-green young fruits will not ripen.
Carrots will normally struggle to overwinter outside, but Nantes Frubund (sadly not currently available) will overwinter outdoors at a push. The next best variety I have found is Eskimo. If left uncovered the tops will be damaged by frost and the carrots will slowly rot. I always grow my carrots in 30 litre buckets of sieved compost, which helps to prevent forking and reduces slug damage, and I find the best way to keep eating carrots over winter is to simply move the buckets under cover, either into the garage or a greenhouse. If it gets really cold a covering of bubble wrap helps. They don't need much if any light, and little to no water, as they are dormant - the last thing you want is for them to start growing. Carrots grown this way are my main winter vegetable.
Runner beans can be salted in a large pot with an airtight lid. This is an old-fashioned method of preserving crisp vegetables, but it works best for beans (the formation of lactic acid, which acts as a preservative, changes the flavour of most vegetables stored this way). Choose young beans that are not tough or stringy. Put a layer of cooking salt in the bottom of a very clean pot and put a layer of shredded beans on top. Press them into the salt with the bottom of a jar. Continue adding layers of salt and beans - you can add them later as more become available. The ratio of beans to salt should roughly be 3 to 1 by weight but there is no need to be very accurate. Cover with an airtight lid and leave in a cool place. Liquid will form as the salt draws water out of the beans. Check from time to time and remove any scum. The beans should remain edible all winter. To use, rinse well and soak for a couple of hours in plenty of water to remove the salt and re-hydrate the beans. I tried this years ago and the beans kept well, but I found the result a little too salty for my taste even after soaking.
Apples can be stored over winter providing that they are late varieties. Early apples will just go brown and rot. Check carefully for insect damage - even the tiniest hole or bruise will cause the apple to rot. Wrap individually in newspaper and store in single layers - ideas and method here https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-t...-store-apples/. Check regularly as one rotten apple will send the whole lot off if you don't remove it.
Pears are a little fussier than apples, but can be stored in a similar way. Again late varieties store best and they must not be damaged at all. Detailed advice on picking and storing pears and the best varieties here https://www.nature-and-garden.com/ga...ing-pears.html.

[Snoop Puss]

My main preserving method is the freezer. I also store winter squash, potatoes and onions down in our cellar, where it gets a bit cold but is OK.

This year, I decided not to grow onions suitable for long storage as I inevitably lose a lot to rot. So instead I've got loads of leeks, which will stay in the ground, plus I'm growing calçots which, at a pinch, will do for onions next spring.

I grow a lot of brassicas over winter and this saves us a lot of money. In fact, the veg I grow over winter saves us considerably more than the veg I grow in summer.

I really should get some cold frames in use for overwintering salads. Next year...

[ameno]

This year, I decided not to grow onions suitable for long storage as I inevitably lose a lot to rot.

Might it be too damp in your cellar?
Onions store best somewhere dry, and will do better somewhere warm-ish and dry than they will somewhere cold and damp (although obviously cold and dry is best). I just store mine in my understairs cupboard, and I've never had any rot on me.

[Snoop Puss]

Might it be too damp in your cellar?

Quite possibly, ameno. The lowest temperature in the cellar last year was 9 ºC, but I didn't keep a record of the humidity. I might do that this year. My squash survived very well, but I didn't grow any onions at all last year.

In any event, the cellar is the only possible place here. Certainly at the moment, anyway. Hoping to get a bit more building work done next year, which might free up a bit of storage space elsewhere.

[rary]

Penellype what variety of peas do you use for the pea shoots and do you add heat with the lights when growing them? I have never tried PSB. I have always felt that they take up too much room for the returns, I find growing over winter is a bit of a gamble due to high rainfall and low temperatures, leeks are fine, but chard has been a bit funny over the last 2 winters, as they have run to seed a bit earlier than hoped, caused I think, by the changing temperatures where it has been frost then turned mild I might give it a go again next year

[Penellype]

Any variety of peas will do for pea shoots. I tend to use up opened packets, particularly if germination has been poor for the main sowings. The last lot I sowed were saved seed from Hurst Greenshaft, something I have not tried before, and I wanted to test the seed for viability. I have the lights in my utility room, which is currently at about 15C and would probably stay above 10 most of the winter, except perhaps on very cold nights.

[peanut]

Penellype what variety of peas do you use for the pea shoots

For pea shoots, I've bought the boxes of dried peas you get from the supermarket, really cheap!