Storing Winter Squash
A while ago Meghan asked me how to store winter squash. I kept meaning to write a post about how I do it, but I kept forgetting (sorry Meghan). It really couldn’t be simpler to keep these lovely veggies around all winter.
I’ve heard that some people store their winter squashes under a bed, others in a pile in the living room. I simply put mine on top of a dresser that acts as a sideboard in my dining room. They are lovely to look at and since they’re in plain sight, I remember to check them often to make sure none of them are going bad.
Different kinds of squash store for different lengths of time. That’s one thing I love about butternuts, they seem to last forever. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of squash, what they taste like and how long they keep check out this site.
Where do you store your winter squash? Any great tips & tricks for the rest of us?
Filed under Harvest Keepers Challenge, Local, Squash | Comments (6)
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I just recently started eating squash and love it. When I do store it, it has been in the bottom of my pantry where it’s cool and dark. Not sure if that’s good or not… certainly not as pretty as your pic either :)
to Bridgett's comment
I stored some squash on some dark shelves in the garage. This worked really well until January and our temperatures dropped so cold that they froze. Solid. Rock hard. They were ruined. We lost three of the twelve we stored, so it wasn’t terrible.
Next year, basement shelves.
Need to work on the humidity control.
Chicago Mike
to Chicago Mike's comment
I would like to add that Mr Chiots and I keep our home at about 60 during the day in the winter and 55 at night. So our home is fairly cool. We also keep the humidity at around 50-60%.
The basement would probably work well for storing if you have one. I’ll have to put a few down there next year and see how they do (in case I have too many to fit on my dresser).
to Susy's comment
We grew cushaw squash like that green beauty in your top picture and we still have 4 in our kitchen. We have a poorly designed area that is plain goofy…so we have our squash on it so we can watch for it going bad…so far, so good!
to warren's comment
I have tons of winter squash in my cool temp garage (about 45-50*) with no humidity. The butternuts have hardly been touched, as you mentioned, they last forever. I found the acorn goes quickly, so they were first up to eat. Pumpkins next. The rest (buttercup, hubbard, kuri, turban, carnival) are all holding up well, so I am slowly working through them.
One thing I make sure to do is watch them well – earlier this winter I had a pumpkin go from perfect to “non-pumpkin” in just 2 days. So now I am diligent about checking. I recently switched from keeping them all together to separating by type, so I can better see what needs to be eaten and isolate the ones that keep well.
I don’t know where I’d be this winter without them – even though it looked crazy in the fall when I was acquiring all of them (I even took more than I was supposed to get off the hands of my CSA farmer), I am thankful I did.
to Mangochild's comment
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