Hi everyone!
Just looking for advice/solutions here. My farm orders 2 50lb bags of carrots monthly. As we head into the warmer months, they start to mold really quickly. We’ve tried keeping them in a bucket of water but that just makes them slimy.
Does anyone have any advice on how to combat this? The horses don’t mind them but they’re really gnarly to grab out of the bag
Maybe invest in a small dorm-type fridge?
I had one survive nearly 10yrs in my unheated barn.
Or a cooler & ice, but that means dealing with melted ice.
the carrots should be stored at near 32F for long term storage (our guys require no long term to eat 50 pounds) . We buy 50 pound bags of the large carrots for the horses from a produce sales company near by (less than 3 miles) that lets us buy the carrots and apples at standard wholesale pricing.
Is it possible to buy one bag every two weeks instead?
I have heard to keep carrots in sand of all things to help stop them from rotting. I haven’t tried this, but I was told this a little while ago. I have an EMS pony so I don’t tend to keep carrots around at the moment (he gets different kinds of treats instead).
The deliveries are done monthly so no
Okay interesting - now that you say that I think i’ve also heard that. Unsure of how feasible that is but something to explore - thanks!
Yeah we don’t go through them long term (hence 100lbs of carrots every month lol) but they mold faster than we give them - which is actually impressive. The barn is insulated and stays fairly cool - they also sit on a concrete floor which adds to the coolness.
We have a fridge but we can’t fit 100lbs of carrots in it lol! It’s mainly just used for meds and drinks for humans lol. The barn stay fairly cool as well as having them sit on a concrete floor so I don’t think heat is necessarily the issue
Are they in a plastic bag and if so are they stored in the bag? I used to overwinter dahlia tubers in bins filled with shavings, it kept them from rotting. I wonder if that would work for carrots?
We have an old holey metal wheelbarrow that we keep around just for carrots. We find getting them out of the bag right away is key. They get dumped into the barrow and thoroughly hosed off with cold water if they got condensation on them from the bag. Then drained and put somewhere cool where they can continue to dry out (holes in the bottom work like a giant colander).
One bag though, not two. This works for us as long as the temp isn’t too high in the summer.
That’s what my parents did when I was growing up. They were covered in earth in the basement in the farmhouse. Usually made it through to spring without having to buy any, if not later.
Agree with ohmyheck, get them out of the bag. Drier they are, the less they’ll mold.
Yes, this is how all types of root vegetables were stored through seasons before refrigeration. But not really practical; to be effective you’d need it to be cool and dark, too - like a root cellar. 
I mean, there’s really no easy solution for this - of course they will go bad, and definitely don’t put in water because that will just speed it up. Without refrigeration the best way would be cool, dark, and dry to damp, but not airtight. Not a lot of places in a barn that look like that in summer other than maybe an interior feed room.
Maybe layering in a cardboard box with damp newspaper between layers?.
Put part of them, not the full amount, into the refrigerator.
Feed those not in the refrigerator first.
Then hopefully those properly stored in the refrigerator will last a little longer.
In bags on concrete floor is your problem. Get them out of the bags and either into sand or into something like milk crates, get some airflow through them.
I’d say just not give them during the summer months? I can’t keep a 1 lb bag from going slimy/ molding within a day or two during the summer so I imagine doing with a 100lbs would be impossible. Maybe get a huge cooler and switch out ice packs every couple of days?
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