Storing Beets

[Mackay]

Last fall I stored my carrots in a box of sand in the root cellar and they are still good. Would this work for beets too? Im wanting them to last for a good 9 or 10 months like the carrots.

thanks

 

[digitS']

I only tried storing carrots in sand once. However, since my soil is so rocky, using a storage pit in my yard is almost the same. The carrot pit is my method for storing and it works fine until the soil really begins to warm in April.

The sand I lugged down the basement stairs (and lugged out in the spring). Never again! Too heavy, too much.

I have added both parsnips and celeriac to the carrot pit with good results. Another gardener has shown that beets looked fine using a pit in his high elevation, Utah garden.

Steve

 

[journey11]

If I could find my copy of Root Cellaring, I'd look that up for you. But I believe it would work. I do know they need some humidity to keep them from withering up. And cool temps too, like 40-50 degrees. What kind of root cellar do you have? I'd love to have an old fashioned, dug-out, dirt floor cellar, but I don't have a good location here. My DH keeps promising me a cold closet in the basement...

 

[buckabucka]

We stored beets in sand last winter (carrots also) and had good luck with it. They were in our old tiny basement, which was always full of water and mold.
This year, we will have a new giant basement and we're planning on a cold room for storing vegetables and a warmer room for things like sweet potatoes. In the past, I've stored my sweet potatoes in the kiln at school (sshhh....don't tell). It vents to the outdoors and is in a closet area with less heat, so it stays around 60 degrees all winter.

 

[lesa]

I have not had much luck with long term storage of beets...However, canning them is perfect. I do them pickled and plain. For the non-pickled you do need a pressure canner.