How we store ONE year’s worth of homegrown food!

Homestead Food Storage: Our Journey and Methods

Author

Ark
June 11, 2025

Introduction

When it comes to storage crops, your growing is only as good as your storing. This season, we celebrated one of our best harvests yet, bringing in an abundance of winter squash, cabbage, carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and beans. Join us as we share our simple methods for storing the foods that will nourish our family through the winter months and beyond.

Our Homestead Beginnings

About four years ago, we purchased a foreclosed 1950s ranch home that needed extensive renovations. We transformed every square inch into a space that perfectly suits our family of six. Despite its modest size, the ranch came with a decent-sized unfinished basement, which has become the cornerstone of our food storage system.

Our first year on the homestead, we grew a similar amount of storage crops as this year but lacked a clear storage plan. Knowing that most storage crops thrive in cool, dark environments, we turned to our basement, installed storage racks, and filled them with our homegrown produce. That first year, our crops stored remarkably well—some winter squash lasted a full year until the next harvest. Over time, we’ve refined our methods, but our simple basement storage system remains highly effective.

Organizing the Basement

Since moving in, our basement has become cluttered with unpacked boxes, project materials, and random items, turning into an organizational nightmare. Two months ago, with harvest season approaching, we decided to reclaim the space. A looming garage sale hosted by my parents gave us a deadline to declutter. It was overwhelming, but we dedicated several days to sorting, organizing, and donating items. This effort not only restored order but also allowed us to reimagine our food storage area, making it more spacious and functional. It’s now a breath of fresh air every time we go downstairs.

Our Storage System

Our basement storage relies on heavy-duty racks that hold most of our crops. We also use two spare fridges—one in the garage and one in the basement—for storing carrots, beets, and cabbage. The freezers in these fridges store frozen fruits and berries from earlier in the season. Our basement pantry houses canned goods like tomato sauce and applesauce, as well as 5-gallon buckets for beans and corn. Additionally, we have a large and a small stand-up deep freezer for beef from a cow we raise annually or biennially and two small chest freezers for 50–60 meat chickens.

The energy cost of running extra fridges and freezers is a consideration, but we acquired them for free or very little through friends or Facebook Marketplace, with the most expensive being $30.

Harvest Timing and Strategy

We began harvesting most storage crops in mid-September, but a planned family vacation to Hawaii in early October split our harvest into two phases. Before the trip, we harvested half our potatoes, allowing them to cure for three weeks. Upon returning, we prioritized sweet potatoes due to their frost sensitivity, even underground. Fortunately, no frost occurred during our trip, but we harvested them immediately after returning, as a frost was forecasted.

Sweet Potatoes

Our sweet potato harvest in zone 5B yielded 150–200 pounds, including some underdeveloped thin ones and many large, plump ones. To harvest, we located the plant, loosened the soil, and pulled the sweet potatoes while attached to the vine, which minimized damage compared to regular potatoes. We laid them out unwashed in a single layer on tables or wire racks in our cool, dry basement to cure, ensuring good airflow. We snapped off any soft or rubbery ends to prevent spoilage, allowing the exposed flesh to heal during curing. After one to two weeks, we’ll store them in black plastic food storage bins on our racks, which allow airflow unlike plastic bags. We sourced these bins from a farmer friend and found similar ones online for commercial use.

Cabbage

We harvested cabbage from our kitchen garden before the first frost by cutting the heads at the base with a paring knife. Stored in plastic grocery bags in our garage fridge, they stay fresh for about a month. Later, we’ll ferment them into sauerkraut, which stores for months in the fridge after a week or two of counter fermentation. We learned to avoid storing cabbage in the garage fridge during very cold winters to prevent freezing, which makes them slimy.

Carrots and Beets

Harvested in mid-September, carrots and beets are stored unwashed in plastic grocery bags in our basement fridge. This method keeps them crisp and fresh for months, often into spring.

Winter Squash

We harvested nearly 150 butternut squash, our favorite for their sweet taste and creamy texture, ideal for roasting, pureeing, baking, or adding to soups. We cure them unwashed in a single layer on wire mesh racks in our basement for a few weeks, allowing skins to thicken and blemishes to heal. After curing, we keep them on the racks for easy inspection, eating smaller or less ripe ones first. They can store for up to a year.

Beans

We harvested five paper grocery bags of beans, which we shelled using the pillowcase method after learning about it from our community. We filled a pillowcase one-third full, whacked it firmly against a hard surface to split the pods, and stirred occasionally to ensure most pods opened. After about 15 whacks, we poured the contents into a mixing bowl, with kids hunting for stray beans in the shells. A fan helped blow away chaff while pouring beans between bowls, leaving clean beans. This method shelled three gallons of beans in hours, compared to months by hand. We store them in a food-grade 5-gallon bucket with gamma lids and oxygen absorbers in our basement pantry.

Corn

We harvested Wakan Green Dent corn a month ago but delayed shucking due to travel. Most ears dried sufficiently in the husk, but some needed extra drying time. We shucked and shelled the corn using a hand-crank corn sheller, filling a 5-gallon bucket in a couple of hours—a vast improvement over hand-shelling. The cornmeal will last us a couple of years. The husks and bean shells were added to our chicken bedding, providing extra material for them to scratch through.

Potatoes

Our Elba potatoes, a white variety, are our best storage crop, staying firm for months. We harvested them last, curing them unwashed in a single layer on old doors placed on storage totes in our basement. To prevent greening from light exposure, which produces toxic solanine, we cover them with old bedsheets. While our basement’s 55–60°F is adequate, potatoes prefer 40–45°F, so we’re considering a cold storage room with a CoolBot for optimal storage.

Storage Infrastructure

Our heavy-duty Gladiator storage racks, roughly 6 feet long with 2-foot-deep shelves, handle heavy loads like 50–100-pound bins of potatoes. They’re an investment but built to last. We store onions separately in the garage during fall and move them to the mudroom in winter to avoid freezing, as onions and potatoes emit gases that hasten ripening.

Addressing Common Questions

  • Backup Generator: We don’t have one but are considering off-grid solutions to protect our stored food. We’d love to hear about your experiences with generators, especially fuel-free options.

  • Rodents: We’ve had minimal rodent issues, using bait stations in the basement and attic. Regular checks help us spot problems early.

  • No Basement?: Without a basement, consider a cold storage room, extra fridges, a root cellar, or preserving methods like canning, dehydrating, freeze-drying, or freezing.

Conclusion

We’re incredibly grateful for this lifestyle and how our year-round food storage sustains our family. To quote Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead, “Some people buy lottery tickets; I plant potatoes.” Our simple basement system, refined over years, keeps our harvest fresh and accessible, ensuring we enjoy the fruits of our labor all year round.

#Innovation #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #DigitalMarketing #Technology #Career #Networking #Business #Motivation #FutureOfWork

From Rent to Freedom: How to Build Your Tiny Home & Live Off-Grid, Paperback, Large Print, March 14, 2025

Looking for the perfect gifts or a little something special for yourself this season? Discover amazing products that will make your holidays unforgettable! Click here to explore now!

Your Closet Might Be Holding You Back—Fix It Now, Hardcover, Large Print, March 13, 2025

Affiliate Disclaimer:
This article may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase. As an affiliate, I only recommend products and services that I genuinely believe will add value to your holiday season. Your support helps me continue to create helpful content—thank you!