Storing Carrots

I harvested most of my carrots this week. Bumper crop! HOORAY!  Now, what to do with them?

Carrots need love too!

Here are some of the ways we store our carrots:

• We make smoothies with carrots, apples, etc.  But it's difficult in the winter when you don't have any fresh fruit or veg.  So, we juice some of our carrots and make ice cubes with the juice.  We take them out of the trays and put them in freezer bags to later use for smoothies.
• We store whole carrots in wooden boxes filled with sand.   A layer of sand, then a layer of carrots, a layer of sand...  and so on.  They will store this way through the winter in our garage.  (We don't have a root cellar - yet.)

Just a few notes about storing carrots:

• Carrots like to be stored in cool - moist - conditions.  We spray just a bit of water on our carrots as we layer them with sand, and occasionally through the winter we will spritz the top of the sand with a little water.
• Temperature is important - they need to be kept cool.  But more important is even temperature - a fluctuation of even 5-10 degrees can cause carrots to rot or grow - not good.
• Cut the top growth back to 1/2" but don't cut off the tip - that can cause rot too.

Carrots are good and good for you - so store some to use over the winter!

Get your hands dirty!

Saving Geraniums Over the Winter

I am a frugal gardener - I'm cheap.  I have a hard time paying good money for plants that are short-lived.  While geraniums are perennials, they are tender perennials and will  not live through the winter in my climate (Zone 5).  I am also a lazy gardener - a plant has to be a fighter to stay in my yard.  If they are wimpy little things that can't somewhat fend for themselves they will not last, and most likely will not be invited again.  So, lucky for me, and the geraniums, they are easy to care for and easy to save over the winter.
There are several different ways to save your little darlings over the winter so you can have BIG darlings next spring:

1. Take Cuttings
Ok, I know what you are saying, "Taking cuttings is not saving my geranium over the winter - it's making all new plants!"  Well, yes.  It is.  But hey - beggars can't be choosers.  It is easy, and you still have geraniums next spring - in fact you will have more geraniums next spring if you do it right. 
Take a sharp pair of pruners or a sharp knife (be careful not to cut yourself - safety first!) and cut a 3-4" piece off the top of the geraniums - the bendy soft wood, not the hard older parts.  Take all the leaves off of the lower part of the cutting, leaving one or two leaves on the top - no flowers.  I usually cut the leaves in half too - remember, the little plant has no roots to feed the leaves.  You can use a rooting hormone at this point, but with geraniums I usually don't.  Stick the cutting (leaves up) halfway into a small container filled with vermiculite or perlite (both available at the local garden center) making sure the pot drains well.  Put a small amount of water in the pot and place it - pot, plant and all - in a big zip-loc bag, or other type of clear plastic bag. Sit it in an out-of-the-way place, out of direct sunlight.  In 6-8 weeks it will root.  Take it carefully out of the container and re-pot it in potting soil.  Keep it in a cool, sunny spot until spring and pot it back outside.  Woo Hoo free geraniums!

2. Force the Geraniums Into Dormancy
Geraniums can be stored similar to the way you would store bulbs.  They stock up all of the life they need in their stems to help them come back to life next year. 
This is even easier than taking cuttings. 
Carefully dig up your geraniums.  Gently remove the soil from around the roots - you don't want any clods hanging on.  Hang the plants upside down in a cool place, like a garage or basement.  Ideally around 50 degrees.  The leaves will wither and dry.  Remove them if they don't fall off by themselves - you don't want any fungal diseases, etc. to climb back up into the stem.  Every month take them down and soak the roots in luke-cold water for about an hour.  In the spring replant the geranium in your pot on the front porch or directly into your beautiful garden and voila - free geraniums!

3. Keep Them in Their Pots
If they were growing in the garden dig them up carefully and replant them in a pot.  Use a pot that is big enough to fit their root ball.  Nobody likes shoes that pinch their feet!  Cut off the top 1/3 of the geranium along with all of the flowers.  Water the pot thoroughly and place it in a sunny location in your house.  Most of us don't have locations that are sunny enough, so you might have to add some additional light.  Florescent bulbs or bulbs made just for plants are available at the hardware store or the local garden center. 

Note from me:  If I have to buy light bulbs and fixtures and pay for electricity all winter to light the little darlings, I think I can afford a new geranium next year.  Call me crazy.  This is not my favorite method of saving a geranium - remember?  I'm cheap. (and poor)  But, if you like it and it works for you - good on ya!

So, there are three ways for you to save your geraniums from a cold and frightful death while giving you the satisfaction of knowing that you saved a little plant along with a few bucks.

Get your hands dirty!

P.S. They are actually Pelargoniums - but that's a story for another day.

Storing Potatoes for the Winter

Well, the potato plants are dead.  That means the potatoes are done and ready to dig!  So, dig in!

Actually it is not critical that you dig the potatoes immediately, you can leave them for a week or two and they will be just fine.  However, if you are getting a lot of rain you probably don't want to wait.  If the ground is very wet those potatoes you've worked so hard to grow this summer will quickly rot.  I use a garden fork or spade (and my hands) to dig my potatoes.  Dig several inches away from the plants trying not to get too close thus damaging those big beautiful spuds.  As I loosen the soil I stick my hands in the soil and feel around for the potatoes.  Try to get them all - you don't want potato plants coming up in the middle of your peppers next year.  If you do cut or stab a potato - don't fuss - just eat those first, as they will not store well.

Some potatoes store better than others.  If you are growing several different types make sure to eat the ones that don't store well first.

It's important that you prepare your potatoes for storing.  I lay mine out in a single layer on newspaper in a cool dry place and cover them with another sheet of newspaper.  It helps them to Harden Off - their skins will toughen up, allowing them to store longer.  If you can store your potatoes out of light they will also store longer - the light will make them sprout.  When I was growing up we always had a potato bin that we kept our potatoes in.  I recently found a website with plans for a simple Potato Bin.  If you don't have one and are not inclined to make one, just use a container that keeps the light out.  Then keep them in a cool room - not a cold room, just cool.

Occasionally you will want to go through your potatoes and take any that are rotting out as they will make the whole bunch rot in no-time. 

If you follow these simple guidelines your potatoes should store for several months providing you with many delicious and nutritious meals.  Happy potato storing!

Get your hands dirty!

Dried Oregano

Here is the Oregano we cut to dry on the dehydrator.  The dehydrating can be done in an oven or even a microwave, but if you can afford it this is definitely the way to go!

Here it is after it has been dried.  We dry it stem and all and then pull the leaves off to store it.  I used to crush it all now and put it in the container, but I read that if you wait to crush it until you need it you will get better flavor.

And, here it is in the airtight container that we store it in.  Often we will keep old spice containers to put spices in, but this time we didn't have one so we used a small Tupperware type.

That's about it for dehydrating - we'll be doing our Rosemary soon. 

Happy gardening - Get those hands dirty!!