BEETS AND CHARD 87 



to slip off the skins. Use the red blanching water 

 rich in food elements to cover the beets 

 and, in that way, keep them from drying out and 

 becoming tough. 



One caution may be needed concerning all 

 canned greens. They should be used the first win- 

 ter. Left over, they soften and may lose color and 

 flavor. The blanching water makes a most health- 

 ful basis for a cream soup. If there is too much, 

 more than needed at canning time to fill the jars, 

 boil it down or can the surplus in separate jars. 

 Not a bit should be wasted. To use it for soup, 

 press the left-over greens through a sieve, add the 

 beets finely chopped or ground ; season and thicken 

 a little and supper is almost ready. All in all, the 

 very best way to store beets and nearly all vege- 

 tables is in glass jars. Only so is the flavor kept 

 really fresh and the texture tender. Lacking jars, 

 they may be dried, both greens and roots. The 

 roots may be buried in a furrow, with the tops 

 down and the soil packed well above them. In 

 mild seasons the beets might weather the cold, 

 left where they grew; but mild seasons are too 

 uncertain to be at all dependable. Next to can- 

 ning, the best way to store roots is in a cool, moist, 

 dirt-bottomed cellar, laying the roots on the 

 ground. Barrels or boxes of sand will store quite 

 a family supply of beets ; and they will keep fairly 

 firm and crisp, if the sand is moist. 



