Onion Storage Ideas in Carolinas

17 years ago

Hi All,

If all goes well this year, I'll be harvesting a heap'n vat-o-onions. Growing up in Oklahoma we would dry the bounty then store them under the house where it was cool all summer yet wouldn't freeze in the winter.

After planting all these onions I realized summers here are a heck of a lot hotter and I doubt the crawl space under my house will be cool enough.

Given few of us in NC have basements due to being so close to sea level, what do other folks do to store their onions? I'm in the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). I'm mostly concerned about the heat.

I'm also wondering how long your onions will keep when properly dried and stored. I'm growing Georgia Sweet, Texas Sweet, yellow/white/red from the little bulbs that can be purchased by the pound from Southern States and other nurseries.

As a note, refrigerator and freezer space is a premium for our family of 5. So, storing them in those areas just won't work for us.

Any recommendations would very, very welcome!

Thanks!!

Erin

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Comments (3)

trianglejohn
17 years ago
Hi Erin - the crawlspace to my house stays cool enough for me to store things in the summer. My house is shaded by mature oaks but I imagine the coolness down there is from the HVAC unit that seems to run constantly all summer long.

I am also from OK. Don't miss the wind at all.
zigzag
17 years ago
Erin, I've been watching your query post from the start, but didn't have any ideas. Glad that trianglejohn put in his 2 cents - worth way more! I'm on a slab, don't even have a crawlspace, but my son does and, in his limited experience, it does stay pretty cool thru the summer so that'll be your best bet here in the Triangle.

Let us know how it works, please!
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nancyofnc
17 years ago
No matter where you live in the South, sweet onions are not storage onions and do not keep well at all.

May have to consider the crawl space or another freezer. With a family of 5 it really pays off when veggie prices are low in the summer and high in the winter and shipped in from who knows where. Besides, cooking with your homegrown frozen-fresh veggies is a taste you can't duplicate from store-bought. Next bet is local farmers markets for those who don't have enough room to grow all they want.

Nancy the nancedar