For those of us who look forward to growing and eating our vegetables each summer, we know it’s a depressing thought when the winter is around the corner and our fresh vegetables are no more. Did you know that properly storing your home-grown vegetables can increase the lifespan on those vegetables for close to a year? Yes, it’s true, and that means you don’t have to go all winter without your vegetables any longer. The first step to enjoying these fresh delights year round is knowing how to properly store them.

If you’re looking to store garlic and onions, an in home freezer will do the trick. While you may think it’s fine to put all of your vegetables in there for storage, this is not true. While vegetables are considered ‘dead’ upon picking, many of them still require oxygen in order to stay fresh.

For the other vegetables that need to stay in oxygen, you’ll benefit from keeping them in a cool, moist area; such as the basement. Beets, brussel sprouts, cabbage, potatoes, rutabagas, squash and turnips can all last never months and well into last summer if kept in a cool, moist area. When packing the vegetables for storage in the basement, you want to use a small crate, fill it with hay and place the vegetables within the hay. This method will keep the vegetables fresh and keep rodents from eating the vegetables should they access the area. Unfortunately, other types of home-grown vegetables only stay fresh for a couple days to a week and are best if used within the summer months.