— 
can help win the 
world battle of food in your 
own garden,kitchenand pantry! 
* 
Vegetables and fruits grown 
and preserved at home help 
free scarce cereals for our 
friends overseas, help 
stretch meat supplies, help 
block inflation, help reduce 
your own cost of living. 
get 
more 
from 
your 
FREEDOM GARDEN 
preserve more for later use 
Office for Food and Feed Conservation, 
USDA 


Vine Crops need 
organic matter 
Most folks don't realize how hungry 
their vine crops are for organic matter. 
Probably it’s the extra moisture they 
crave rather than the actual food in the 
organic matter. 
Whatever the reason, it’s a fact that 
melons and cukes never grow as well 
elsewhere as they do in shallow holes 
scooped out in the compost pile. 
That doesn’t mean that you can’t have 
these vegetables without a compost pile, 
but it does tell you what to do to grow 
them better. Plenty of moisture and rich 
soil are important. 
Remember, too, that melons never de- 
velop good sweet flavor unless they 
grow entirely during warm or hot 
weather. If grown cool, they will prob- 
ably survive, but will not develop 
sugar. Also, melons grown so dry that 
they wilt during the middle of the day 
cannot manufacture sugar in the leaves. 
Your refrigerator... 
a garden tool? 
Have you ever used your refrigerator 
as a garden tool? In hot weather, it's 
the perfect place to start certain seeds 
that ordinarily won't sprout except in 
cool weather. Take lettuce and annual 
larkspur for instance. These won't grow 
if you plant them in mid-summer heat 
out of doors. But mix the seed with 
a little sand, vermiculite, or peat moss, 
stand it under the ice cube compartment 
for a week, and it will sprout in a hur- 
ry. Then plant in the regular way and 
it will grow normally. The ideal tem- 
perature for germination of most cool- 
weather plants is 42 degrees. 
Containers should be covered to hold 
back loss of moisture, 

¢ 
GARDEN-FRESH VEGETABLES 
THE YEAR ROUND—BY FREEZING 
Freezing is one of the best, simplest 
and easiest methods of preserving 
foods. When properly handled, their 
natural color, flavor and nutritive 
values are retained to a high degree. 
Essentials for success with frozen 
foods are: 
1. Freeze only foods of high quality. 
Freezing protects the original appear- 
ance and flavor of foods but does not 
improve quality. 
2. Select varieties suitable for freez- 
ing and process them at the right 
stage of maturity. Generally this is 
GUIDE FOR PREPARING VEGETABLES 
FOR FREEZING 


VEGETABLE 
ASPARAGUS 
BEANS, green shell {| Shell 
BEANS, lima Shell 
BEANS, snap or 
stringless pole 
HOW TO PREPARE 
Cut spears in 6” lengths 
Snip, then cut in %4” lengths 
when they are ready for immediate 
table use. 
3. Prepare and freeze vegetables as 
soon after they are gathered as 
possible. Loss of quality begins the 
moment of harvest. 
4, Even when frozen, foods will dry 
out if not properly wrapped or 
packaged. Always use wrapping 
materials especially designed for 
this purpose. 
5. Scald or blanch most vegetables 
before freezing. This helps to main- 
tain the original taste, quality and ap- 
pearance, See table below. 
SCALDING PERIOD 
3 to 4 min. 

1 min. 

1 to 2 min. 

Ze ‘aaa 








BEETS Top. Cook mature beets, then rub} 1% to 2% min. 
off skins, slice. 
BROCCOLI Cut head lengthwise 1” thick. 3 to 5 min. 
CARROTS Scrape, slice %4” thick. 3 min. 
CAULIFLOWER Cut into 1” flowerets. 3 to 4 min. 
EGG PLANT Peel, slice 1/3” thick. 4 min.* 
KOHLRABI Top, peel, cut into %” in cubes, |1 min. 
PEAS Shell, discard starchy peas. 45 to 60 sec, 
SPINACH Cut and discard thick stems. 2¥2 min. 
SQUASH, summer V2" slices 3% min. 
1” cubes. Cook until soft, mash. _| none 
SQUASH, winter 
Eliminate over and under-mature 



6 to 10% min. 





CORN, on cob 
ears. 
CORN, cut Cut whole kernels from cob. 2¥2 min. (steam) 
SWISS CHARD Discard main stem. 2 min. 
TURNIPS Top, peel, ¥%2” cubes. 1 min. 

* Cool first in 2°% citric acid solution, then cold water. 
Better sauerkraut 
in warm weather 
Folks who like kraut usually make it 
in the fall. But for best flavor, the scien- 
tists tell us, it ought to be made in 
warm weather. This means that we 
ought to figure on planting late cab- 
bage as the first crop in spring, so it 
will mature in warm weather, Sounds 
strange, but here’s the reason: 
The flavor of souerkraut is the product 
of lactic acid fermentation. The lactic 
acid bacteria work best at about 85 de- 
grees thus producing a better flavor. 
And after your kraut is done, it should 
be canned or put in a cool celler to 
keep. If you can't do this, better wait 
until later and make your kraut in a 
warm spot in late fall. 

Good drainage... 
less drought damage 
Good drainage may mean less damage 
by drought during the heat of summer. 
Here's why: In wet, soggy soil, roots 
don't make normal growth. They 
tend to grow in the upper few inches 
where they can reach air. The same is 
true where the hose is used for a light 
sprinkling instead of deep soaking. 
By providing deep drainage, so excess 
moisture runs off in a hurry, you can be 
sure your roots will follow the moisture 
down. Then when dry weather comes, 
the roots won't be near the surface. 
If you do install underground drainage, 
be sure it has an outlet, or it will col- 
lect water and make things worse. 
2 

