Best Storage: A How to Guide

Temperature and humidity are key great storage. Fresh produce, whether a beet, potato, or bunch of kale, is actually still alive and cold temperatures put your produce on pause. Almost everything we have stores best in the fridge. Some exceptions would be basil, tomatoes, sweet potato and winter squash. These will get cold damage in the fridge, so are best kept out on the counter.

Once your produce is stored at the right temperature, the next step is to minimize dehydration. Most often this is achieved with a plastic bag, but any airtight container will keep produce from dehydrating. Your fridge is designed to be very low humidity, less mold and mildew, so it’s essential to create small humid spaces, say inside a plastic bag, to store produce well.

For baked goods, breads, coffee, cider, and applesauce, the freezer is a fantastic tool for weeks of storage. We keep stockpiles of all these on the farm here to help us through late March and April when we are not buying in fresh for markets

How long can I store it?

Eggs: 6 weeks in fridge

Root Crops(carrots, parsnips, radish, turnip, beet, and friends): months in fridge

Winter Squash: 3-4 weeks on the counter or pantry

Sweet Potatoes: 3-4 weeks on the counter or pantry

Apples and Pears: 4-6 weeks in fridge

Citrus: 3 weeks in fridge

Onions: 3-4 weeks in fridge

Cabbage: 4-6 weeks in fridge

Brussels Sprouts: 3-4 weeks in the fridge

Kohlrabi: a year or more in the fridge (though we encourage you to enjoy it before we harvest the next kohlrabi crop)

Kale and Leafy Greens: 2 weeks in the fridge, only wash what you need in the next day or two

Broccoli and Cauliflower: 2 weeks in the fridge

Potatoes: months in the fridge, 2-3 weeks in dark pantry

Applesauce: 3 weeks in fridge, months in freezer

Apple Cider: 3 weeks in fridge, months in freezer

Coffee: 3 weeks in fridge, months in freezer

Cheese: 2-4 weeks in the coldest part of your fridge

Baked Goods: a week in the fridge, or month or two in the freezer. But don’t freeze your holiday pies, keep them in the fridge, set them out in the morning, and reheat them for 10 minutes in preheated 400F oven before serving.

Keys to Great Storage

PRODUCE MUST BE IN PLASTIC BAGS(or airtight container)

Never store apples or pears with carrots or parsnips

Cider, Applesauce, & Baked Goods can be frozen