Green vegetables always are at their best when cheapest and most
plentiful. Out of season they never have the same flavor, however well
they may be grown. Excepting artichokes, all summer vegetables,
as lettuce, peas, beans, and asparagus should be cooked as soon as
possible after gathering. The freshness of most vegetables may be
ascertained easily by taking a leaf or a pod between the fingers. If
fresh this will snap off short and crisp, while if stale it will be
limp and soft. It is an economy to buy winter vegetables, such as
carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, celery, and potatoes in large
quantities, if you have storage room, as if buried in sand and kept
from the frost they may be kept a considerable time. Onions should
be kept hung up in a cool, dry place. If allowed to sprout the flavor
becomes rank and coarse.