Storing winter squash...in the fridge?

[RyNJ]

Thankfully I've got a good amount of winter squash growing. Most of the spaghetti squash seem to have matured sufficiently before the vines got zapped to death by SVBs, and they're curing now. Long Island cheeses are still growing, plus some candy roasters.

Next thing is to figure out how to store them, and I'm asking your advice on what to do! I don't figure my actual cellar to be the right place since it's really, really, REALLY moldy, and the furnace seems to keep it kind of hot in the winter.

From what I'm reading about root cellars, if 33 to 40 F and 90-95 percent relative humidity are ideal conditions, the most likely spot I can figure in which to maintain that is the fridge. I'm shooting in the dark on this, do you think that will work? I have an enclosed but poorly insulated porch which might be another option. I can build an insulated chest and keep it out there, but then I risk a full-on freeze and it would be hard to maintain humidity. Or if mold isn't the biggest deal I can use the cellar.

What do you think? I appreciate your advice.

[tomc]

I set mine on a cool window sill on north side of the house. When that sill was in frosty NH (and it was december), I moved them a foot away from the window.

But I rarely kept more than a dozen hard squash a winter...

[Lindsaylew82]

They do well here on the counter or in a tote with holes in our shed.

Just make sure that they are well cured and DRY when you put them up. One year I had a bumper crop of butternut, and they were cool from the fridge when I put them in storage. The warm air condensated on the skin and rotted every dang one....

[RyNJ]

That all sounds good! Looks like it's easier than I was making it out to be. My living room is on the north side, and this one corner seems to miss all the heat. I'll put them on a little shelf over there.

Thanks for the heads up, Lindsay. I'd be crushed to lose them all so I'll certainly try to keep them dry!