THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



plest form of winter storage for these vegetables. 

 The earth is right at hand and needs neither to be 

 carried out nor brought in. In storing the beets and 

 carrots, I usually leave the tops on and pile one 

 layer on the floor, the tops all one way, and place 

 over them a layer of earth, then another layer of 

 vegetables and more earth, and so on, until the lot 

 is covered. The presence of the tops make un- 

 covering the roots less difficult, and I think helps 

 to retain a certain amount of freshness in the 

 vegetable. Turnips are always prepared by remov- 

 ing all but about an inch of the tops and piling 

 the earth over them. Treated in this way, they will 

 all keep fresh and crisp until spring. Slightly 

 moistened leaves make admirable covering for vege- 

 tables and are much cleaner than soil and more 

 easily used. 



Celery should be planted in boxes of damp sand 

 or earth, drawing the earth up about the stems, as 

 in the garden. Stored in this way, at a temperature 

 of about 33, it will keep fresh and crisp for a 

 long time and be well blanched. Cauliflowers which 

 have failed to mature their heads in the fall may 

 be taken up and planted in shallow boxes of soil 



in the lightest part of the cellar and watered oc- 



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