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What Do You Grow For Winter Storage?

Robert James

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posted 11 years ago

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What are some of your favourite things to grow, that will keep over winter?

Judith Browning

Posts: 9701

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 11 years ago

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If you mean 'keep' without any canning, drying, refrigeration, etc...for us it would be sweet potatoes, squash and pumpkins. I always thought it interesting that a lot of our fall harvest was orange...a great source of nutrition for the winter.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Su Ba

pollinator

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Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)

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posted 11 years ago

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I don't have winter to deal with but I do "keep" crop excesses until the next harvest. Those that I don't freeze or dry include potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes and pumpkin, carrots, turnips, beets, and onions.

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

Robert James

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posted 11 years ago

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Thanks, I am also looking for stuff to freeze or dry. I love squash, I have a some plants getting ready, I need to add some more.

Judith Browning

Posts: 9701

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2906

posted 11 years ago

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well, besides sweet potatoes and squash, we dehydrate persimmons, pears, peaches, sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes....lacto ferment cucumbers, green tomatoes, salsa; can muscadine juice, tomatoes, more fruit. Some of it varies year to year how and what is kept for winter. We dry lots of herbs both medicinal and culinary.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Su Ba

pollinator

Posts: 2168

Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)

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posted 11 years ago

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Things that I dry:
Assorted fruits (rambutan, jackfruit, bananas, coconut, pineapple)
Tomatoes
Peas
Beans
Corn
Assorted greens
Assorted herbs
Some peppers
Grains
Things I Freeze:
Soup assortments - vegs & broth & herbs that I can modify later
Green beans
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kale
Collards
Cauliflower
Assorted herbs
Sweet peppers
Tomatoes
Fruit juices
Bananas
Summer squashes
Asparagus
This list is off the top of my head, so there's most likely more. On my storage list I forgot to list taro and daikon, though the daikon I usually pickle. I also pickle assorted veggies, another way to store them. I don't can much because I don't have a long winter to deal with, so I don't find canning to be worth the effort.

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

Renate Howard

pollinator

Posts: 755

Location: zone 6b

posted 11 years ago

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Grow a variety of squash. Last year the butternut was really good a few weeks after harvest to a few months after harvest. After that it got kind of dry and the flavor started to be a little "off" and the cushaw was just coming into its own - very moist and sweet with a delicious "dessert" flavor. Cushaws are huge but you can cut off a hunk and let the rest just sit at room temperature for a week or so and the cut end will just dry out a little. Then cut off another hunk and keep doing that until you can fit it in the refrigerator or finish it.

I grew Indian corn last summer for hominy, which is wonderful in bean soups. Also popcorn for snacking.

I froze sliced apples from the tree for pies, crumbles, and fried apples, too.

Robert James

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Thank you very much for all the ideas, I need to get some more seeds and plants.

Chris Badgett

pollinator

Posts: 289

Location: Whitefish, Montana

posted 11 years ago

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Squash and potatoes.

Chris Badgett
Cocreator of Organic Life Guru. Have you seen what's happening over there?

Robert James

Posts: 44

posted 11 years ago

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Chris Badgett wrote:Squash and potatoes.

I eat lots of potatoes, and I love winter and summer Squash.

Now I want to make some Zucchini noodles.

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5695132949/zucchini-spaghetti-zoodles-meatballs

Ann Torrence

steward

Posts: 1202

Location: Torrey, UT; 6,840'/2085m; 7.5" precip; 125 frost-free days

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posted 11 years ago

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Shout out for parsnips!

Pears and apples if you have cold storage. Some don't begin to get optimal flavor until after a couple months off the tree.

Owner, Etta Place Cider

Robert James

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posted 11 years ago

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Ann Torrence wrote:Shout out for parsnips!

Pears and apples if you have cold storage. Some don't begin to get optimal flavor until after a couple months off the tree.

I am kicking myself in the butt for not planting fruit trees.

Leila Rich

steward

Posts: 3999

Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Temperate, coastal, sandy, windy,

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posted 11 years ago

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I grow runner beans on my fences and eat young green beans all summer/autumn,
freeze, give away and ferment lots,
and there's still loads on the plants.
I leave them on till the pods are brown, then pod them, leave the beans to dry thoroughly and store in jars.
The roots are perennial in my climate, but production is supposed to go down as the plants age.
I poke in more beans every year to make sure that's not a problem

John Suavecito

gardener

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posted 11 years ago

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In my climate, fruit store best in the winter. I put more energy into fruit than anything else. You can eat apples you grow every month of the year here. Korean Giant Asian pears store well too. Some Euro pears. fuzzy kiwis. Flowering quince fruit. I freeze a lot of quince fruit because it is so tasty and productive.
John S
PDX OR

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Amy Woodhouse

Posts: 48

Location: NC, Zone 7

posted 11 years ago

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Robert, what zone are you in?

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Robert James

Posts: 44

posted 11 years ago

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Amy Woodhouse wrote:Robert, what zone are you in?

Northern Washington/Idaho, but really that does not tell you much, my ~~neighbour~~ friend about 8 miles away, higher elevation, and her growing times are different. She is always a week or more ahead of me, she is panting and my place is still freezing.

Amy Woodhouse

Posts: 48

Location: NC, Zone 7

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You should be able to grow chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans which are all good storage staples.

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