A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 storing potatoes and carrots

Has anyone stored their carrots in sand like they recommend? I have never harvested carrots before. They are so pretty! I grew orange, yellow and purple! I left a few in the ground to see how big they get. Should I dry and then wash my potatoes I dug up, or wash and then dry? Any storage secrets? Last year I had too many and sort of forgot to eat them and had a lot of seed potatoes! I don't want to waste too many this year, yet I do want seed potatoes.

Hi Tamara,

I usually leave the carrots in the ground until the ground freezes. They seem to get sweeter the longer I leave them. Then I dig and cut the top but leave a stub of green. Wash them and store in plastic bags refrigerated. I have had no luck in the sand as I read it also.
As for potatoes...I leave them in the garden cart or spread out in the sun so some of the dirt can dry off them after I dig. Don't wash them. Then I dump them in a bin in my storage room which keeps pretty cool.
I am in a moderate climate here in Montana and it may be different in Minnesota as far as when the ground freezes however.
Hope I have helped some.
LadyBug9071

Hmm, does the ground have to freeze or just a hard frost? How can you dig if the grouns freezes?

Tamara,

I can usually still have carrots in the ground after several hard frosts. When it starts to get below freezing for about a week in a row maybe then I dig the remainder carrots.
It would be hard to dig if the ground gets very frozen. We have a very dry climate so the ground can be pretty cold but still able to dig. You probably have more humidity so just use you best judgement.
Hope I didn't just confuse you
LadyBug

I am so lucky...as I have a root cellar to keep mine in.

Wish I could help you with your question, all I know it has to be a cool place that gets no frost for potatoes