Keeping butternut squash fresh

[menumaker]

I have a dozen or so of these wonderful things still to use but my freezer is full to bursting and I don't want to bottle them. I thought i would use the time-honoured method of storing them upright in hay in the shed. Does anyone know of a better way or do you think this is OK? I think they should be alright for several weeks or am I being optimistic?

 

[Aunt Bea]

I think they would be fine as long as the shed does not go below freezing. We used to keep them in an unheated bedroom on newspapers over a wood floor and not touching each other. We kept them into the new year with no real problems. I would use the ones that do not have a couple inches of stem left on them, the ones that have no stem seem to go soft first. I would not store them on a stone or concrete floor.

 

[menumaker]

Thank you Aunt Bea, That's what I needed to check. I have found in the past that the ones with stems do keep better. They will be in a cardboard box filled with straw ( the hens will get it later) on a wood floor in the shed that is raised off the ground anyway. We don't usually get frosts just here until after Christmas. Thanks again for your help

 

[Andy M.]

Any cool, dry, dark location will do.