to separate out any that were starting to form eyes, and those would be used up first for eating. the bins for the root vegetables would also be sorted through to make sure that none of the vegetables were starting to spoil.
winter squash and pumpkins were typically kept inside the house because the root cellar was usually too cold and too humid of an environment for them. it was actually common for squashes to be stored underneath the bed or tucked away in any empty corner that could be found, and during the harvest season, families were often tripping over the abundance of squash they had grown in their gardens. 