Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-11-04
Storing Vegetables.
Prom the American Garden.

Storing Vegetables.
Prom the American Garden.
To enjoy palatable and wholesome
vegetables during the winter months,
proper care and attention are just as
essential in harvesting and storing as
in cultivation. Roots and vegetables,
as they are often promiscuously
thrown in heaps about the cellar, do
soon lose their freshness and flavor.
Most of our house cellars are too
warm for the best preservation Of
vegetables, and it is therefore advisa-
bic to store only limited quantity,
for immediate use, in the house, while
the main stock should be kept in a
cool barn cellar or in an outdoor pit.
Such n pit, for family use, is easily
made by digging n trench about
three or four feet wide and of the
same depth and as long as necessary,
taking care to select a situation
where water cannot stand. At the
approach of winter the pit is filled
up to the level of the ground with
the roots TO be wintered-beets, tur-
nips, carrots, etc. Narrow partitions
Of soil may be placed longitudinally
between the different kinds, SO that
each may be taken out separately.
This dividing Of the pit into several
sections has the additional advantage
of making the bulk of each smaller.
The roots are then covered with
enough soil, say six inches, TO protect
them against the frosts of early win
ter.
When severe cold sets in, about
the middle Of December, more soil is
thrown on, not less than two feet,
over every part Of the pit, sloping off
towards the sides, and the surface
firmly packed down with the back of
a spade. With heavy soil this will be
sufficient TO turn off the rain and the
snow water, but in sandy soil, it is
better TO add an additional protection
of straw, cornstalks or boards.
Where n pit is not practicable and
the entire crop has TO be stored in the
cellar, the roots intended for late
keeping should be carefully selected.
Only sound, solid roots keep well.
These should be laid loosely in thin
layers into bins or barrels and each
layer covered with sand so that none
of the roots are exposed TO the light.
The purer the air can be kept in the
cellar, and the cooler, without freez-
ing, the better will the vegetables
keep in it.
Onions bear n considerable degree
of cold without injury provided they
are kept dry and not handled while
frozen. Packed in sawdust, chaf or
cut straw, they may be kept all win
ter in an clubhouse or barn.
Squashes are injured by the light
est frosts, and should be kept in a
warm, dry store-room, rather than in
cellar.
The sweet potatoes we find in the
markets are kept in houses expressly
built for the purpose. The necessary
conditions for their keeping are that
the tubers are entirely dry before
storing and that the temperature of
the room does not fall below 60 de-
grees. We have kept them in good
condition till spring in a kitchen
closet, packed with sawdust, in
barrel.
Common or "Irish potatoes" are
not injured by few degrees of cold,
provided the cellar in which they are
kept is dry. In very dry storage
rooms, potatoes should be covered
with soil or sand, as directed for
roots, to prevent them from shrivel.
ing and early sprouting. In ordin-
airy cellars they may be kept loose in
barrels or bins. When the cellar
floor is damp or wet at times, as is
unfortunately too often the case in
farm houses, the bins or barrels
should be raised n few inches from
the ground, so as to admit free cir
culation of air.