10 Easy Vegetables That Store Well Through Winter

A storage garden is the part of a vegetable garden that keeps feeding you after the frost. These are crops you harvest in late summer or fall and then eat through the winter from a cool closet, a basement corner or a cold room. They pair naturally with a pantry, because they add fresh food that does not need a fridge or a working freezer.

I picked these ten because they are common, forgiving for beginners, and have clear storage figures from university extension services. I have not grown and stored them myself; the numbers below come from the sources listed at the end.

The ten

Crop	Storage conditions	How long it keeps
Potatoes	Dark, 32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid	About 6 months (UMN), 5 to 8 months (Iowa State)
Carrots	32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid, tops removed	About 8 months (UMN)
Beets	32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid, tops removed	About 5 months (UMN)
Cabbage	32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid	About 5 months (UMN)
Parsnips	32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid	About 4 months (UMN)
Rutabaga	32 to 40°F (0 to 4°C), very humid	About 4 months (UMN)
Onions	Cold and dry, not frozen	About 4 months (UMN), 5 to 8 months (Iowa State)
Garlic	32 to 35°F (0 to 2°C), 60 to 70% humidity	See the garlic note below
Winter squash	50 to 55°F (10 to 13°C), dry	5 weeks to 6 months, by variety
Dry beans	32 to 50°F (0 to 10°C), 60 to 70% humidity	Kept dry, a long time

The cold, moist figures and storage times are from University of Minnesota (UMN) Extension. The garlic, onion and dry bean conditions are from University of Missouri Extension’s root cellar guide.

Notes on each crop

Potatoes. Iowa State says to cure them for two weeks at 50 to 60°F (10 to 16°C) and 85 to 90% humidity, then store at about 40°F (4°C) in the dark. Light turns them green. Above 50°F (10°C) they may sprout within two or three months, and below 40°F they turn sugary. Iowa State notes that a few days at room temperature brings the flavour back. Missouri lists potatoes at 100 to 120 days from planting.

Carrots and beets. Both store without their tops, cold and very humid. They are direct-sown, which suits beginners: no seedlings to raise indoors. Missouri gives carrots 70 to 85 days and beets 55 to 65 days to harvest.

Cabbage. Cold and moist, about five months in the UMN table. Missouri notes that cabbage is normally planted out as young plants rather than sown directly. Missouri also warns that strong-smelling crops like cabbage and turnips can pass their odour to other food, so store them apart.

Parsnips and rutabaga. Both keep about four months. UMN says parsnips sweeten after two weeks at 32°F (0°C), and that neither should be waxed. Parsnips should not be frozen.

Onions. UMN says to cure them at room temperature for two to four weeks first. Iowa State says to cure until the necks are dry and the outer skins rustle, trim the tops to about 1 inch (2.5 cm), use thick-necked bulbs first because they store poorly, and keep them in a mesh bag or crate where air can move.

Garlic. Garlic is planted in fall, not spring. UMN says to plant it one or two weeks after the first killing frost and harvest the next summer, then cure the whole plants for three to four weeks in a warm, dry, airy place. I cover it in detail in planting garlic in fall.

Winter squash. Iowa State says to cure most winter squash at 80 to 85°F (27 to 29°C) and 80 to 85% humidity, but not acorn squash, which loses quality with curing. Storage life varies a lot: acorn 5 to 8 weeks, butternut 2 to 3 months, Hubbard 5 to 6 months. If you want squash in March, choose a long keeper.

Dry beans. These are the one crop here that goes straight into the pantry. UMN Extension’s seed saving guide describes letting pods dry on the plant until the seeds rattle, which can take as long as a month after normal harvest, then drying them indoors for at least two weeks before shelling. Once dry, Missouri puts them with the cool and dry group. Cooked dry beans fit straight into one-pot rice and beans or pantry chili.

Three storage zones, not one

The table shows the main catch: these crops do not all want the same room.

1. Cold and very moist (near freezing, 90 to 95% humidity): potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, parsnips, rutabaga.
2. Cold and dry (near freezing, 60 to 70% humidity): onions and garlic.
3. Cool and dry (50 to 55°F, 10 to 13°C): winter squash and pumpkins.

Missouri also says to keep apples and pears away from vegetables, because ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas that shortens vegetable storage life and can make potatoes sprout early. My root cellar and cold storage guide covers ways to create these zones in an ordinary house.

Find your frost dates first

Every planting time on a seed packet is counted from your average last spring frost or first fall frost, so look those up before you buy seed.

• United States: NOAA’s Climate.gov last spring freeze map shows the average date for weather stations across the country, based on 1991 to 2020 records. The date it shows is the point where the chance of a later freeze drops below 50%, so in practice there is still an even chance of frost after it.
• Canada: Search Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Climate Normals by station name, province or nearest city. Its technical documentation says the 1981 to 2010 normals include last spring frost and first fall frost dates for stations with enough records.

Use the station closest to you in both distance and elevation. A valley bottom and a hillside a few kilometres apart can differ.

How much to grow

If you are planning for a household, my post on how much to plant to feed a family uses Missouri Extension’s per-person row lengths. A garden adds to a pantry rather than replacing it, so I would still build the basics first with the plan builder and the food section.

If you want seed you can save and replant, choose open-pollinated varieties. Why that matters is in seed saving for beginners.