How to Store Carrots Over Winter

There is something special about being able to eat crunchy, sweet garden carrots all winter long. Although my kids love having garden carrots in their school lunches, they start to ask for something different by about mid-February.

Raw carrots make a wonderful snack and homegrown carrots taste a hundred times better than grocery store carrots.

I have tried storing carrots several ways and feel I have finally come up with the best way to store carrots over winter. Follow these tips for the best success.

Best Carrot Varieties for Storage

The first thing you want to do is to make sure you are growing a carrot variety that is listed as good for storage. We love Nantes carrots for eating and have found the bolero (a Nantes variety) carrots taste and store the best. This year I grew only bolero carrots because we have grown to love them the best, both for their taste and for their superior storage qualities.

Disclosure:  This website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.ca.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When to Harvest Carrots

Carrots can be left in the ground until mid-October. In warmer zones carrots can even be overwintered in the ground, by covering them with a thick layer of straw or leaves. I have tried this myself but unfortunately, my carrots rotted. This makes sense as the ground freezes up to 3 feet down here in southern Alberta.

Frost causes carrots to become sweeter as starches turn to sugars, so it can be beneficial to wait until after a few light frosts to do your big carrot harvest.

Harvesting carrots into a bucket of cool water with a splash of vinegar can help to precool carrots and the vinegar can help kill bacteria on the surface of the carrots.

Preparing Carrots for Storage

I have tried both washing and not washing carrots for storage to see what worked best and have found I prefer to wash my carrots. The thought with not washing them was that by keeping them dry with a lower moisture content, less bacteria would grow, allowing them to last longer.

It IS important not to scrub them when you wash carrots for storage. Scrubbing would break the skin, allowing bacteria growth in the carrot and causing them to rot or mold quicker. Instead of scrubbing, I wipe carrots with a damp cloth. If you notice any carrots with marks breaking through the skin, set those aside to use soonest.

Once they are washed allow the outside of the carrots to fully dry before placing them in storage. It is best if they can dry off in a cool place. Outdoors in the shade on a cool day is preferable to inside a warm house. Keeping them cool helps prevent carrot wilt.

Storing Carrots

Carrots will wilt if they do not have enough humidity. The ideal humidity for storing carrots is 95 - 100%. The issue is high humidity also allows for more bacteria growth. The higher the humidity the more important air flow is. I like these moisture control Ziplock bags for storing carrots. Because the humidity of the carrots themselves is so high I add in a folded paper towel or I have used the food fresh bags from Hempalta (with great success for my best storage year ever).

According to the government of Australia Postharvest Handling of Carrots | Agriculture and Food, carrots should be stored between 0 and 2 degrees Celsius.

If you have a cold room, carrots can be stored in slightly moistened sand or wood shavings. Without a cold room, it is necessary to store carrots in a fridge.

How Long Do Carrots Last in Storage?

My best year for carrot storage I had crunchy carrots until the end of April and then carrots that were slightly less crunchy but still wonderful for cooking all the way into July! This means my carrots lasted 9 months in storage. I could have kept them longer but by that time I had fresh carrots in my garden.

I hope this post has given you some practical ideas of what you can do so that you can eat your own homegrown carrots year-round.

Find tips on when to plant and growing carrots here. You may also want to check out my blog post on harvesting and storing potatoes.

If you have found this article helpful and would like to see more gardening tips and tricks for gardening in Calgary and the surrounding area, please subscribe to my blog (the bottom of the home page) and follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and/or YouTube!