I am trying to figure out how to store my Winter cabbage and squash. I have a hay loft above the barn that I can use. How can I create an area to store them in that doesn't require much work?
How to store Winter vegetables
If it gets below 32 in the winter the barn won't work. Also, when you store food in a barn or outbuilding you have to prevent rodents from getting into it. I store potatoes, squash, and onions in my unheated mudroom. It works fairly well. I've heard about people digging root cellars. Keep it separate from your house. I have a friend that had an attached one and it caused high humidity and rotting in her house. I'm not that familiar with zone 7 to say much more.
It can get tricky here...cold some times and not cold enough others.
It might be a good idea to talk to neighbors or other locals to see what they do.
MGCrystal, I've easily stored cabbages in straw or hay. What you need to do is pull the cabbage up with the roots intact. Then in an area that is not a low area (that would allow water to puddle up) you'll put down a thin layer of straw, pile your cabbages there with the roots facing up, mound straw all around them so that only a tad bit of roots are sticking thru the top. Those cabbages will stay nice and fresh for several months.
If we get into heavy storms or the like you can easily throw a tarp, temporarily, over the pile. Remove it later so the pile can breathe. OR, if you do the pile under a lean-to or barn overhang that would suffice.
The only time I lost my cabbages this way was when my geese got out, discovered there was cabbages under that straw, and ate the dickens out of that fresh green stuff in January. The loved it! Me? I was disgusted!
Hope this helps!
Shoe
I store my winter squash in the root cellar, not touching, layered in straw. The concrete block building is only partially buried, just on the back wall, and not insulated, so I have to be sure nothing touches the block or it can freeze. Of course, it's generally colder here than Fredericksburg. Potatoes go in a wood-slat bin on the floor, covered to keep out light since there's a window in the door.
My step-father over-wintered potatoes in their unheated garage, covered with fiberglas insulation batts while they went to Florida for the winter. Had plenty of taters to eat and plant when they came back at Easter.
Shoe's method for cabbage sounds good; I don't grow enough to store.
So technically I can make a root cellar above ground with straw bales? I would love to build one into the ground but won't happen till next year. Thanks for the tips.
If you think critters may be a problem, use a clean 55 gal. drum (with a lid) on its side and box it in with straw bales. The drum will keep critters out and the straw will keep it from freezing (if it's tight all around the drum, including bales over the top).
Yep, that's a good idea, darius. I've seen plans for drums being buried at an angle into a hill or the like and used as root cellars.
MGCrystal, I didn't use straw bales, just loose straw, like you make a "clamp" for sweet potatoes and such. When I come back in this afternoon I'm sure I can find a pic or more info via Google and post it. If not I'll see if my scanner still works and will scan a picture from a book.
Shoe (who just came home from the mkt with loads of fresh beets and 15 pumpkins (free!); looks like pickled beets and pumpkin pie/bread in my future,eh?