I used to think it was impossible to do back in the UK with a much longer growing season, and yet here in PEI (even with the harsh winter) we are able to do it with a bit of effort. We can't grow anything at all outdoors for many months of the year here, so I think that the necessity of the situation focused us a lot more on preserving the harvest.   Despite an extremely short growing season, the garden is very productive and with a little thought we can easily eat home grown fruit and vegetables all year round.

ROOT CELLAR

The root cellar is great for storing vegetables and fruits with little or no preparation.  We've been amazed at how long things have stored for us, although we've had a few losses and are learning by our mistakes.

There are rules about keeping some produce separate from others and about the temperatures and humidity of storage.  I will be adding to this information in the near future, but there are some excellent links on the following website:

PANTRY 

Dried Peas, Pulses, Beans Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax) Dehydrated Foods (berries, vegetables, pumpkin seeds, onion powder, celery powder, garlic powder, spinach powder) Roasted Seeds Nuts Canned fruits (berry mixes, spiced apples, stewed rhubarb) Canned Vegetables (tomatoes, ratatouille) Wheat and other grains

FREEZER

We do use our freezer, although I try to keep it to a minimum because of the energy input required to keep things frozen. There's nothing like your own garden peas in January though! We also freeze young zucchini, corn, peppers, berries and snap beans.

REFRIGERATOR

Raw food dehydrated items, such as "Onion bread", "Pizza Bread", "Breakfast Bread" or "Buckwheat Cereal" are great ways to preserve seeds, fruits and vegetables in a very delicious way that preserves all the enzymes of the raw foods. These can be dried using an electric or solar dehydrator.

HOW TO HAVE FRESH GREENS IN THE WINTER

Forcing is when you bring some of your vegetables in from the root cellar and plant then in compost indoors to produce fresh winter greens.  Keep the compost moist and snip off the green growth for salads.  In the case of Endive, keep in a dark cupboard, the rest should be grown in the light.  This is a method of using the energy stored in the root to provide new growth.

Cabbages in the root cellar need to be stored with their roots intact.  When you decide to use a cabbage, however, don't throw the root away.  Just pot it up and new tender growth will appear.

SOME TIPS

• Keep root vegetables in the ground as long as possible but harvest before the ground freezes.  This way they will store longer.  Hill up the soil over them and pile straw over that for additional insulation.  Then dig when the ground starts to freeze.  Be careful if there is any danger of snow so you don't lose where they are located!

• Parsnips can actually be left in the ground over the winter as they convert starches into sugars and become very sweet.  It doesn't matter if the ground freezes!  Or, if you want to dig some up before the winter they can be stored outside.

• Onions should be harvested as soon as the tops fall over.  If you leave it too long the tops will shrivel and you can lose sight of where the onions are!  Then let then cure (dry) before putting them into storage.

• Leave pumpkins and winter squash on the plants until the plants die.  Leave a stem on the fruit.

• Celery will keep a short while in the root cellar, but extend it's shelf-life by harvesting it and storing it upright in a trench covered with straw or paper and earth.  They will root and become tender.  You can remove them before snow and ice and then put them in the root cellar.

• Dry bush or pole beans (and pea) provide a fantastic food source over the winter. They can be used in bakes, soups or stews and can be sprouted indoors over the winter months for fresh salads and sandwiches. Once dried in the pods they can be easily collected and stored without needing any energy inputs. We grow loads of different heirloom varieties and always have enough left to plant again next year (and spares to swap or give away to friends).

• Don't throw out old leek roots, re-plant them and they will produce fresh, new growth.  Try this with leeks purchased from the greengrocers as well!

• When you cut into a squash or pumpkin in the middle of winter, you can roast the seeds for snacks or sprout them. It's nice that none of the root cellar crops need processing in any way during the Autumn when we are already busy dealing with the rest of the harvest. We use a cool part of the cellar underneath the house, although there are lots of ingenious ways of constructing a root cellar

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