Hi! I just harvested about 20 lbs of carrots from a home garden. Should I blanche them and place them freezer bags, store them in a cool, dark basement area or what? I'd like to be able to use them throughout the winter months. This is the first time I have tried growing carrots and am a little startled (pleasantly though!) at my success. HELP!!! What do I do now??
Traditionally you dig a "clamp" in the garden - a pit large enough to hold the carrots and fill it with damp sand. You bury the carrots in it and make sure they are well covered, then just go and take out however many you need as you need them.
My mother and grandmother always stored them in the basement in a large wooden box filled with garden soil. Make sure each carrot is covered well and they will last forever. Leave an inch of trimmings on the top. They taste fresh out of the garden that way.
I am heading out to dig out my carrots just after I post this to you. I will dig out the carrots, cut off the top 1/4 to 1/2", snap those long stray ends off the root, clean the root of any dirt by just brushing the dirt off, place them into plastic bags, close the bags, punch a few holes in the bags, lay them on my cold garage floor (temperatures here are hovering about 5 degrees about freezing during the day and just below freezing at night) and cover with an old blanket. Once there is a chance that the inside of my garage will freeze then I will put the bags into an old fridge or into the area where my potatoes are (it gets cold but not freezing). They will be fine until well after Christmas. I will be doing the same thing with my beets today. (I do not have room in the freezer for carrots or beets)(besides I do not like frozen carrots). Note...if your garage does not exist or it is not cold where you live then get the carrots into a fridge or area in your house that is just above freezing A.S.A.P. after bagging. Homegrown carrots have a much better taste than the storebought carrots, don't they? And the cool weather we had this year made absolutely wonderful carrots.
Hi Dennis, Sounds like a successful growing experience. You can keep some of them fresh for quite a while in the refrigerator or in a cool storage area. If you wish to freeze them, there are blanching instructions here:
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