86 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 191! 



the 



Handling Various Crops 



DOOT CROPS: {Beets, 

 -*-*- carrots, kohlrabi, tur- 

 nips, and winter radishes.) 

 Select the best roots avail- 

 able, pull before killing 

 frost, remove tops leaving 

 1 5 inches of leaf stems at- 

 tached to prevent bleed- 

 ing. Place on a well- 

 drained site and cover 

 with tops removed from 

 roots, leaves, straw, or gar- 

 den refuse until danger of 

 freezing makes storing ad- 

 visable. If the roots are 

 to be kept in cellar storage 

 arrange them in a cone- 

 shaped heap in one corner 

 or along one side, each 

 kind separately, and cover 

 with sand, loose soil, or 

 clean leaves raked from 

 the lawn or woods. If 

 desired, space may be 

 saved by placing each 

 kind of roots in an old 

 box or an old tub rather than in heaps on 

 floor. 



To store roots out of doors choose a well-drained 

 sloping spot as sheltered as possible. Dig out a 

 pit six or eight inches deep opening the same with 

 the slope to facilitate drainage. Govern size and 

 shape of the pit or trench by the amount of pro- 

 duce to be stored. Several kinds of vegetables 

 may be placed in a long trench, one kind being 

 separated from the other by a layer of clean 

 straw. 



Line the pit or trench to a depth of 6 or 8 inches 

 with a layer of straw or marsh hay, placing an 

 exceptionally large tuft in the drainage outlet. 

 Heap the roots in the lined pit in a cone-shaped 

 fashion and cover them with a 6 or 8 inch layer 

 of straw, marsh hay, or leaves. Cover the mound 

 with a layer of earth several inches deep allowing 

 a tuft of straw or an inverted hamper filled loosely 

 with straw to protrude at the top. As cold 

 weather advances place on a layer of strawy 

 manure of sufficient depth to prevent freezing. 



Cabbage. Choose firm heads. For storing 

 in the cellar cut heads from the stalks leaving 

 several loose leaves attached to each. Invert 

 the heads on boards suspended from joists over- 

 head or laid on the floor of the storeroom. 



For storing out of doors in the orchard or woods 

 remove heads from stalks as for placing in cellar 

 and invert each shingle-fashion on a layer of 

 straw marsh hay or leaves raked up on a well- 

 drained spot. Cover inverted heads with suf- 

 ficient straw or leaves to prevent freezing or plan 



Storing cabbage in a trench three heads across, roots upward. Packed shinglewise 



to take heads while frozen and thaw them out 

 gradually before they are used. Once frozen 

 they should be given additional covering to pre- 

 vent alternate thawing and freezing which causes 

 them to become soft and sponge like. To store 

 cabbage in trenches pull each head with stalk 

 attached. Invert heads in a trench dug and 

 lined as directed with the pit or trench for root 

 crops. Plan the width of the trench to accom- 

 modate three heads crosswise with two and one 

 respectively fitted in alternately on top. Cover 

 as directed with root crops. 



Lining pit with Beveral inches of straw or leaves before crops are 

 put in 



Covered with straw and ready for the soil. Note ventilating pipe 



Potatoes may be handled as are root crops 

 except that the}'' need not be covered with soil 

 or sand in cellar storages. Store in shallow boxes 

 or crates away from the light to prevent greening 

 of the tubers. Allow the newly dug potatoes to 

 cool at least overnight before placing them in 

 storage. 



Apples. Pick when properly matured and 

 allow the fruit picked one day to remain in the 

 orchard overnight to become sufficiently cooled 

 for storing the following morning. Store in the 

 cellar or cave in boxes or in bin where the temper- 

 ature may be held as uniformly near 32° as 

 possible. Plan to maintain the desired temper- 

 ature by opening the outside windows at night, 

 only, during the fall of the year. If stored in 

 boxes air spaces must be left between the rows of 

 boxes. Stored in bulk or bins the fruit must be 

 protected from the dirt floor and walls. Clean 

 straw or raised slats will suffice as a floor covering. 



To store apples in pits as root crops caution 



is needed that only clean 

 straw and soil are used 

 since apples absorb odors 

 easily thus becoming 

 tainted. 



Celery and Endive may 

 be easily blanched for 

 use in cellar or coldframe 

 storage. Remove the 

 stalks of celery from the 

 plot where grown, each 

 with a clump of soil at- 

 tached. Place stalks up- 

 right as close to each 

 other as possible on the 

 cellar floor working suffi- 

 cient loose soil or sand 

 among the stalks to cover 

 the roots well. Water 

 as needed to prevent 

 wilting, taking care that 

 water is poured in between 

 the stalks rather than 

 over them. Leaves must 

 be kept dry. Celery 

 stored in this way in 

 late fall blanches quickly 

 and holds in good condition until February or 

 March. Where cellar space is not available the 

 coldframe will answer provided sufficient cover- 

 ing is placed over the sash to keep out light and to 

 prevent freezing. 



Endive handles well similarly if care is taken 

 that less soil is shaken from the roots in moving 

 the crop from garden to storeroom. Excellent 

 blanched endive may be had for Christmas dinner 

 from plants taken in before the first killing frost 

 of autumn. Parsley may be handled in the 

 same way. 



Onions. Since onions keep best at a temper- 

 ature of 33 to 40 where the air is fairly dry it is 

 best to arrange for storing any surplus of this crop 

 in the attic where the temperature does not go 

 below freezing. In case space in the attic is not 

 available place the bulbs in ordinary market 

 baskets suspended from nails driven in the joists 

 of the ordinary storeroom in a cool place where 

 the air circulates readily and is as dry as possible. 



Tomatoes. While tomatoes cannot be kept 

 for winter and spring use, their season may be 

 lengthened into late fall by giving attention to 

 several methods of temporary storage. Pick 

 partially ripened fruits before killing frost, pack 

 them on a layer of clean straw in the coldframe, 

 cover with an additional layer of straw, one or 

 two inches thick under the coldframe sash. 

 Where frame enclosure and sash are not avail- 

 able expose partially ripened fruit in the base- 

 ment, kitchen or workshop windows to the sun's 

 rays or pull the vines containing fruits and sus- 



Beets now ready for winter storage. They have been piled here 

 in preparation 



