WINTER STORAGE
It is in the late days of fall that one begins to realize substantially
on the summer's investment of seed, time and labor in the garden.
Previous to this one has watched the maturing of the summer vegetables
with an eye to their immediate use; now one sees before one rich
stores of food that shall tide one safely through many lean days when
the price of food goes soaring and the visible supply temporarily
disappears. If one is putting into cellar storage an abundance of
such sugar producing vegetables as beets, squashes, carrots, parsnips
and the like one need not fear any injury to the health of the family
from a lack of sugar if these are used freely, for they will convert
themselves into the needed sweet and although they may not be quite so
palatable as cake and candy will supply their place in the economy of
the physical system.
Most winter vegetables need to be kept in cold storage, not in a warm,
dry place; for this reason a furnace-heated cellar is not satisfactory,
but an adjoining room that is connected by a door that can be opened
to admit warm air in a severe spell of winter weather is desirable.
For certain roots that are not injured by a low temperature, or even
slight freezing, an earth cellar is satisfactory. A cellar of this
sort usually admits of piling vegetables on the floor or in pens on
the floor and throwing dirt over them to exclude the air and prevent
evaporation, and as the vegetables are used the surplus earth can be
thrown out on the floor and the labor of storing is much lessened, for
it is no small task to carry heavy baskets of earth into the vegetable
cellar and to remove it again in the spring. If a small room can be
arranged adjoining the cellar proper and bins divided off around the
sides and the earth allowed to remain from year to year the task of
winter storage will be slight. Beets, carrots, turnips, cabbage,
parsnips, salsify, celery, all these things belong in the earth cellar
and apples, too, may be stored in baskets, barrels or boxes here and
will not be injured by light freezing, as it is heat and dry atmosphere
that most militate against the successful keeping of winter apples.
A few other vegetables call for dry, rather warm quarters, like the
winter squash, onion, sweet and Irish potato, but good ventilation
is indispensable for all. The chief merit of the root-cellar lies in
the fact that it can be well ventilated, the windows being opened at
times when it would be untenable to open them in rooms devoted to the
storage of canned fruit and like perishable things. The windows in the
vegetable cellar should not be permanently closed until severe winter
weather, though they may be closed during storms and sharp falls of
temperature. I have found that the losses from frost were less in
direct proportion to the amount of fresh air admitted and in some mild
winters the windows have remained open the entire time, the covering of
earth being sufficient to preserve the vegetables in excellent shape
until spring. Even when such things as are usually stored in the earth
cellar are frozen stiff, they will be quite usable if thawed out in
cold water. The water will draw the ice to the surface and it should
be allowed to thaw, when the vegetables will be found entirely usable,
but any vegetable that thaws out soft is beyond redemption and should
at once be discarded. Also any vegetables found decaying in the cellar
should at once be removed and the cause also removed. Usually it will
be found that too much heat and too little fresh air are the trouble;
opening a window will rectify both troubles.
POTATOES
Being our most important winter vegetables should be stored with great
care. Practically their storage begins in the field when they are dug;
they should be dug on a bright, dry day, preferably in the morning that
the tubers should have time to dry off if at all damp, before being
picked up and carried in. It will pay to sort in the field as they are
gathered, throwing the culls—small potatoes and any that have been
injured in digging—by themselves. These will be of value for feeding
poultry, rabbits, goats and any stock on the place; they are excellent
for horses, keeping the skin and coat in fine shape. Potatoes may
lie on the ground in the sun long enough to dry off thoroughly, but
not longer; left exposed to the light they will turn green and this
discoloration is poisonous. They should be turned over once so that the
under side of the potatoes may dry equally.
[Illustration: _The advantage of having your garden near the home is
clearly shown here_]
The best equipment for storing potatoes in the cellar consists of long
bins divided into compartments that will hold from one to two bushels;
these bins should have holes bored in the bottom for ventilation and
they should be raised somewhat from the floor. Never store potatoes
directly on the floor as this is the coldest part of the cellar and
also the dampest; heat rises and cold falls so what heat there may be
in the cellar will circulate beneath the bins and if, for any reason,
it is necessary to supply artificial heat in the way of oil-stoves or
lamps during a spell of zero weather the heat can get under the
potatoes and raise the temperature in the bottom of the bins as well as
on the top.
When the potatoes are in the bins they must be covered to exclude
light and prevent their turning green. The potatoes should be examined
occasionally during winter to be sure that none are decaying or being
affected by frost. As a general thing potatoes are not frosted if the
skin crackles when the finger nail is pressed into it, but slight
touches of frost sometimes do not affect the crispness of the skin but
is shown by the potatoes becoming wet after lying for a while in a warm
room, or by a sweetish taste when cooked. At that stage they are not
injured for food but are less palatable and are liable to develop a
queer fungus blight in the center. As spring approaches the potatoes
will begin growth at the eyes-sprout, as it is called, and should be
looked over and all growth rubbed off. This will probably have to be
done more than once as the season advances.
SWEET POTATOES
Are far more difficult to carry through the winter than the Irish
potatoes. They require more warmth and a dryer atmosphere, and should
be stored in boxes of dry sand and set on some support away from the
floor. The furnace cellar, if not too warm is the best place for them
and it is well to use them freely so as to lessen the loss from decay
as much as possible.
WINTER ONIONS
Should be stored in a dry place, a little above freezing. Slight
frost does not injure onions, but repeated freezing and thawing does,
while too much heat will start them to growing. An upstairs room that
receives sufficient heat to keep it from freezing will do nicely and
it is a good plan to use the best onions first so that those which are
unfit for use towards spring will not be so much of a loss; however, as
these onions make the very best of green onions they are by no means
a total loss, but the small and inferior ones will do quite as well
for this purpose, for it is the live germ only that is important,
all the onion body is formed anew. Where there is a hanging shelf in
a cellar that is dry and warm the onions can often be wintered there
successfully.
WINTER SQUASH
Require a rather warm and dry situation; the cellar rarely affords the
right conditions for wintering them successfully. An upstairs room
or garret where a chimney passes through is often just the thing for
them as they may be piled in a heap near the chimney, with layers of
excelsior or straw between, and protected with blankets or quilts and
so pass the winter in good condition. From such a storage I have taken
perfectly sound, dry Hubbards in mid-June and March squash are by no
means a rarity.
BEETS
May be dug any time before the ground freezes up; the shorter time any
vegetable has to remain in cold storage the better for it, so if not
brought in until about Thanksgiving the delay is all to the good. If
the beets are to be stored in a root cellar covered with earth it is
not material whether they are topped or not. I have sometimes thought
that they kept rather better if the tops were allowed to remain;
certainly there is, then, no loss from bleeding, and if piled in heaps
with the tops all one way overlapping each other, but the tops free, it
is far easier to find and remove them when wanted. Slight freezing does
not injure beets if thawed out in cold water, but severe freezing does,
so that sufficient earth should be used to cover them and the earth may
be protected with blankets if necessary. If no root cellar is available
the beets should be topped and packed with earth in bins or boxes in
the vegetable cellar. If necessary to store in furnace cellar place as
far from the furnace as possible. Where no other place for storage is
available running a partition across one end or corner of the cellar
will provide a place that will keep most vegetables in good shape and
the expense will be covered by the saving in stock. The various wall
boards advertised are excellent material with which to construct these
little storage places and any handy man, or woman, for that matter, can
put up something that will answer the purpose by the aid of a hammer
and saw, a sheet or two of board and a few pieces of two-by-four to
nail to.
CABBAGE
Are best stored in the root cellar, they may be pulled and stood up in
the corner of the cellar and the roots buried in somewhat damp earth
or they may be cut, the roughest leaves trimmed and the heads buried
in earth, setting them upside down so that the earth will not work
inside the leaves; handled in this way they should come out sound and
good in spring. Wrapping in newspapers, where the supply is limited
is sometimes successful, the main thing being to protect from the air
and too great cold and to prevent the spread of decay which may attack
individual heads.
CAULIFLOWER
May be pulled at the approach of severe weather, the lower leaves
removed and the plants put root down, buried in soil, in boxes or pens
in the root cellar and will be available for some time, but do not keep
through the winter like cabbage.
CELERY
Should be dug, with the roots intact and placed roots down in boxes
of wet soil or sand in the dark cellar, packing the plants close
together to exclude air. If the cellar is necessarily light, the plants
should be shaded or a corner of the cellar may be enclosed to afford
protection from light. A movable partition made from wall board is a
very handy thing to have in the root cellar as it makes possible the
providing of special conditions as needed.
PARSNIPS
Although parsnips are better for remaining in the ground until spring a
supply for winter use should be dug in the fall, topped and buried in
boxes of sand or earth in the cellar. This may be done in either the
root or the kitchen cellar, as freezing does not injure the parsnip
providing they thaw out in the ground or in water.
SALSIFY
Requires the same treatment as parsnips—leaving the main crop in the
ground until spring but bringing in a supply for winter use. The main
thing in the storing of all root vegetables is to prevent wilting
more than freezing. Vegetables stored under any conditions, without
the protective covering of earth to exclude air, soon become soft and
wilted and unfit for food.
TURNIPS
Are especially sensitive to a dry atmosphere and must always be buried
in sand or earth if they are to retain their crispness and flavor. They
should not be dug until a touch of frost has sweetened them, then they
should be topped, reserving the tops for the pig or rabbits and the
roots stored as directed.