Who stores their grain in the (Gasp!) GARAGE?

To date I have always kept my grain stores in bins. In a closet. Indoors.

But soon I will have yet another addition to my family and the spare bedroom will become my boys room. Furthermore, the closet in this room will also serve it's design purpose and no longer be a place to keep things like sacks of Malted Barley. While it is physically possible to keep the bins there I don't think it wise as 2 year olds and growing infants have a keen eye for the unusual things and take great joy in re-distributing the little bits EVERYWHERE.

So, I find myself in a dilemma. The next best, or atleast most secure, place for my bins to go is in the non-conditioned garage, where all the bugs (that take great joy in populating all the dark spots) live.

Now, these bins are lockable and I can add a weatherseal to the rims to further "prevent" a colonization of them but, I fear it will be futile as bugs are keen at finding the smallest crevices and infiltrating the most tightly sealed of containers.

Anyone here in HBT store their grain in the garage without issue?

Howdyadoit?

I store grain in metal garbage cans in the garage. I live on the coast, so most of the time the weather is mild.

I also put glue traps in every corner for mice, but they also trap anything that crawls.

So far....so good.

I think your biggest worry insect wise would be weevils, which conveniently, are edible.

get airtight containers and your good to go.

I use dog food containers from Wally world.

They seal water tight, and are on wheels!

Used them for years in my unheated garage in Michigan with no problem.

jma99 said:

I use dog food containers from Wally world.

They seal water tight, and are on wheels!

Used them for years in my unheated garage in Michigan with no problem.

Click to expand...

Awesome call! They're really designed for everything you want in a grain storage container.... Watertight, keeps out bugs, animals can't gnaw through them.... at least without difficulty. Never thought of them before, but Great idea!

My garage gets 100F in the summers. If it were me I'd worry about the long term exposure to that heat.

Are you talking about this? Walmart.com: Suncast 80 Quart Food Storage Bin: Dogs

or this? Walmart.com: Suncast 72 Quart Food Storage Bin: Dogs

I don't think either of those has wheels but the one would be nice to stack and still be able to get into it.

Or check this out Walmart.com: Gam Vittle Vault: Dogs

One problem is that excessive heat causes weevil eggs to hatch. You might want to keep your supply a little lower than before. Maybe you could sneak some bags in shoe boxes and hide them in SWMBO's closet to keep them cooler.

This is the one that I use:

Large Food Storage Container w/ Wheels

I never had a weevil problem, or any other critters in my grain.

I use totes and keep it in the basement. The basement part is prolly not an option in your area, though.

I recommend airtight containers, like the Vittles Vault (mentioned earlier in the Walmart.com link).

The ones they sell at Walmart (expect for the Vittles Vault series) are NOT air tight. As proof, put some water in it and turn it upside down. Be prepared with a towel.

Personally, I went with the flexible Vittles Vault for $35.

I keep bulk grain in the garage but I keep it in a tote and use it up quickly. I wouldn't attempt longer term storage without a cool place. Up north, the garage is probably fine most of the year. Down here it's dern hot in there in the summer.

Costco sells a dog food container that I use for…...well, dog and cat food. But they claim its air and water tight. They hold 60# of dog and cat food w/ no problem. They cost 25 bones and have a BIG screw on lid they are stackable. I haven’t tried them to see IF they are water tight but I would bet they are. I can take pictures and post later, maybe tomorrow if you would like to see. I WILL buy another one of these for grain in the future. For now I burn through a 50# sack of grain to fast to worry about it.
JJ

Stackables
see if that works. This is what I bought