A Few Ways to Store Carrots (or Parsnips) for the Winter

I often get asked the question of how I store my carrots for the winter - so in the video I share a few different techniques to use, depending on how many you have - and how cold your winter gets.
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[@yahushaismyshepherd1179]

Wow cannot believe the difference in climate there to the foothills. By end of November our ground is frozen. Already seeing negative temps.

[@kkiissssiikk]

“They thinking they are growing till the next spring, but off course you will take them and eat them.” 😂 Love it!

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

Thank you! I'm not sure the plastic-covered method would work for us. We're surrounded by wind turbines, so plastic just doesn't stay. 😅

[@maritimegardening4887]

I can see wind turbines from my garden... and we get tropical storms and even hurricanes. They'll work if you secure them

[@lindasands1433]

Hi Greg. I've just pulled up a patch of carrots because they were starting to go to seed. It's summer here in NZ. I'm off-grid and only have a small fridge (solar). My concern is the opposite to yours - keeping them cool enough. I'm going to try the cardboard box method and store them on my shed floor. It's not cold, but it's cooler than anywhere else I have that's indoors. Thanks for showing us how ✔👍

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good luck!

[@idahogardengirl942]

Thank you for the video! I have always opted for the 1) refrigerator 2) box in garage and 3) "leave 'em in the ground" method. I used to do the bale of hay method. However, I don't have access to bales of hay at the moment, so I was going to pile up leaves over the carrot bed, and lay wire fencing over the top of the leaves, to keep the leaves from blowing away. That is my plan. I was going to make some cold frame covers with plastic and wire fencing, but other things happened and so that is not getting done this year! Thanks again for the video! Have a nice day.

[@maritimegardening4887]

That will probably work.

[@sisirakumara6572]

How lone take this methord.

[@maritimegardening4887]

They should be good for up to 6 months

[@maylemom]

Thank you for sharing these ideas. I have carrots in the ground and was wondering how to store them. Also, do you have a video on how to make that dome? I have a couple of raised beds that I would love to have them for... but need some thing that is simple to make. thanks for sharing your garden and helping us "beginners"!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Here's how I made mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIunopR7n9qKn7M

[@denisgoupil7712]

How much snow do you get? Do you shovel it away every time so the cover can see the light?

[@maritimegardening4887]

We get a fair amount of snow in winter, and yes, it has to be pushed off so the light can get through

[@kimberlycobb2956]

What zone are you talking about for outside winter storeage?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I'm in zone 6a

[@aditisanekaundinya3386]

Thanks Greg for the video. This was my first time growing them and needed tips. Would leaving themin the garage in a cardboard box in a single layer without a paper keep them good or layering with paper is required?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes - but the less air space in the box the better. You don't want them to dehydrate.

[@aditisanekaundinya3386]

Thanks Greg!!

[@canadiankabingurl9782]

Great video! That's pretty much how I store my carrots and potatoes. Apples also are stored in a similar way in the root cellar.

[@AudreySmallcombe]

How did you make your root cellar please? X

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

Touchy subject for me after this year. Had the carrots here at the house flattened after my large black Lab decided to make them his bed. It was a few days before I noticed because I was off down the allotment most of the time, and carrots don't take much care. I think he liked laying in the sun with a nice comfy bed of carrot tops. Then they were hit really badly by tons of caterpillars. So I dug them up early with an army of black caterpillars marching off to find something else to eat. The ones down the allotment were a great size overall as they were autumn kings. Or at least they would have been if the dreaded carrot fly hadn't got at them. They all ended up being trench composted on the new half plot for next year. You live and learn eh man lol to be fair I think we all have at least one fail every year. It's making a mental note and being ready for these thing next time round.

[@franksinatra1070]

Thanks Greg. I had trouble getting carrots to germinate late summer this year so don't have too many to store but some years I have a lot so your techniques will come in handy. BTW I'm a bit of a weather nut and I would guess ur cloudy days are due to a S/SE flow off the relative warm ocean making them warmer in fall/winter while cold NW flow from the arctic brings sun and colder temps. As you probably realize clear weather always brings colder nights due to radiational cooling and lack of clouds that act as a blanket.

[@maritimegardening4887]

That makes sense about the clear weather & radiational cool - hand't thought of it that way.

[@AAHomeGardening]

Wow, lovely I could do with some of those carrots

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

Curious, how cold does it get mid winter for you? I am in zone 6b, outside Boston Mass (USA), and we often get periods, down to -10C and an occasional -15C

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

and for those not familiar, Clouds act like a sort of Greenhouse, to hold the sun's warmth in, on cloudy days. Clear days? no cloud cover... no retaining heat.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes, it gets that cold and sometimes a little colder. Of course, being surrounded by the atlantic ocean, it can be unseasonably warm sometimes.

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

That Atlantic, @@maritimegardening4887 ? that's why my garden out on CAPE COD does well. The Cape is up into zone 7A, and warming from the oceans really helps

[@michaellippmann4474]

Great video! Of course, because of my Vole invasion I do not have to worry about storing carrots this year!🤣 However my parsnips are still good to go! I use the box method but layer in dry leaves under and around them. And about 2/3 of this years parsnips are still in the ground - just about ready to layed a bunch of leaves over them for winter storage. Ground does not freeze super hard here anymore. How did your duck turn out last week Greg? Have a great rest of the weekend! Mike 👍😁🇨🇦

[@maritimegardening4887]

The duck is on the menu for tomorrow. Duck, parsnips, squash - and probably kale

[@michaellippmann4474]

@@maritimegardening4887 Sounds absolutely awesome...thought it was last week! Let me know how you did it! Have a great day! Mike

[@patassion]

I think your cover looks great. I can't wait til covid is over so I can go to my cabin as cant travel right now here in BC Canada

[@maritimegardening4887]

That's a bummer man. Yes, we've all had just about enough of this virus.

[@janfelshaw8217]

Very helpful. Thank you. 😊

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad it was helpful!

[@grantraynard]

The domes keep the deer out too

[@maritimegardening4887]

The fence keeps the deer out. There would be no carrots without the fence

[@jerialexis5647]

Good video thank you. Try $27. for a bale of straw (not Hay, it is more) in SE Alaska, Sept 2022.

[@jamierpm]

Shediac NB here. Yup sun = cold

[@AudreySmallcombe]

Wonderful! Thank you so much. Subbed. Love fm, London, UK.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks and welcome

[@marygrabill7127]

Enjoyed your video...thanks! Question: I too have an uninsulated garage and was hoping to use straw (shredded) between my carrots and potatoes. Would that be just as effective as the paper?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes it will

[@denisgoupil7712]

If you be sinking your bed into the ground instead of a raise bed then you will not have to pick up that 6" around the bed for frost. Maybe laying hay between the bed be insulating the sides

[@maritimegardening4887]

The beds need to be raise a bit or the soil does not drain properly. We get a lot of rain here.

[@legmyth]

your cover looks like an airfoil

[@williamchamberlin2752]

Just found this great video Greg, excellent! I'm in zone 5a and I mulch my storage carrots with about 18 inches of loose hay and sometimes poly over that to get the snow off when I dig them midwinter. Voles get some but usually only the top inch or two. Trying chicken wire over them under the hay this winter, bit of a pain but not too bad. Gonna try a poly cover next time like yours and store some potatoes as well this way.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Be careful with potatoes - they can't get below freezing - whereas carrots can handle sub-freezing temps to an extent

[@bigal7713]

if you just leave them for the winter under some leaf mulch without a dome, would you be able to harvest them after the spring thaw or would they be mushy after hard freeze?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Where I am they don't make it unless the mulch is a foot high or more

[@rhondasweetman6219]

Is it alright to store them in a plastic container in an old fridge in the shop on a low cool setting

[@maritimegardening4887]

Only if there is a way to ensure airflow in that container, The great thing about a cardboard box is that it's not airtight

[@francesbatycki404]

Great explanation about the logic of storage. Makes sense! Thanks.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You're welcome!

[@kendrayates6891]

Thank you for this!! First time carrot grower here and this will definitely help 😃

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jacquethomson4998]

Just what I needed thankyou

[@shelleyhermary1958]

Can you use news paper instead of brown paper

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes

[@kennethvogt9379]

Would it work to bury them in a box of soil in a root cellar?

[@maritimegardening4887]

It might - I've never tried that

[@pjnelson414]

I have 8 inch timbers for my raised beds. I live in 6a in New Mexico , would I have to pull carrots from edges as you do?? Good guess will do. Plus could I leave potstoes like you do your carrots?? Thanks for the tips

[@maritimegardening4887]

It gets down to -20c here - so that's why I have to do it. Can't seen New Mexico getting that cold :) Hard to see it being 6a there - perhaps the US zones are different?

[@pjnelson414]

@@maritimegardening4887 at 7500 'elevation I get 10 f below here at times. Was 19 last night and will be real cold for next 2 weeks

[@drekfletch]

@@maritimegardening4887 American zones are roughly 1 zone warmer than Canadian. They're calculated slightly differently, but I've forgotten what that difference is.

[@juliewebber2749]

Thank you!

[@FD-qt4tq]

Great advice! Thank you

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pamelashoemaker2622]

So a 17 minute video to tell me to wrap in paper in the fridge(short term), layer with paper in a cardboard box(long term), or keep in the ground (do nothing). So only one is was for long term winter storage. I'm in 4a so not sure how the dome will work. 😅 thanks for the video maybe speed up someparts of the video and edit out empty time, that was too long for only 3 super quick tips.

[@Veronica-nq9kr]

????Good timing! Does this work for beets and turnips?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I don't know - I've never tried it for them. I only do it for things that are underground - so I don't know about T & B since they are often at least 50% above ground. Don't know how they would handle the cold nights. Carrots and parsnips are basically buried - so the ground insulates them at night when the air under the dome gets well below zero.