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Show Expert Tells How To Store Vegetables J. C. Hogcnsen Says Methods Vary For Various Table Crops The crops from the home garden gar-den that are suitable for storage include beets, carrots, winter radish, ra-dish, parsnips, turnips, cabbage, onions, squashes and potatoes. Not all of these vegetables keep equally well under the same conditions of temperatures, moisture and air circulation. Some, such as beets, carrots, winter radish, parsnips and cabbage, keep best at a low temperature in fairly moist atmosphere, atmos-phere, and without much circulation circula-tion of air about them. Potatoes require about the same temperature tempera-ture as these crops, but should have more complete ventilation. Onions demand very low temperature, tempera-ture, but dry. instead of moist air, and must be freely exposed to air In circulation. Squashes and pumpkins require a higher temperature temper-ature than any of the above mentioned men-tioned vegetables and dry air should circulate freely about them. Pit Construction The pit for storing vegetables should be located in a well-drained place. Ordinarily, a shallow excavation, ex-cavation, usually not over a foot deep is made in the ground. This pit is lined with straw; then the vegetables to be stored are placed in a conical pile on the straw. Straw to a depth of about six inches is then placed on the siaes and top of the pile. This is covered cov-ered with about three inches of earth. The straw is allowed to extend ex-tend up through the earth at the top of the pile to provide for ventilation. ven-tilation. As cold weather approaches, approach-es, this layer of soil should be allowed al-lowed to freeze rather hard, then covered with another layer of about four inches of straw and this with five or six inches of dirt. The frozen layer of soil underneath under-neath keeps the temperature in Better results will usually be secured se-cured if the piles are made rather small. It is easier then, to takt the pit low and even. . . Small Pits for Home Use The conical pit above described is suitable for the storage of beets carrots, parsnips and potatoes, out supplies during the winter without unduly exposing a large portion of the product. Sometimes it is . the practice to use several pits for the storing of the homt supply and to place a small quantity quan-tity of each kind of vegetable in each pit, so that when supplies are desired, the entire contents of one pit may be removed at once and kept temporarily in the basement base-ment of the house until used. Cabbage Storage Cabbage is not usually stored in conical pits. The plants are pulled pul-led with the roots and leaves left cn. and placed upside down in narrow rows about two or three heads wide, in a trench dug deep enough so that the heads will be Just below the surface of the ground. The plant should be so placed in the trench that the heads do not touch. After the plants are placed In the trench, the heads are covered with soil but the stems and roots allowed to extend ino the air. It is not necessary to cover the heads sufficiently suf-ficiently to prevent freezing, since they are not injured by freezing, provided they are allowed to thaw out slowly while still buried in the soil. Sand Storage Vegetables for winter use may be stored in sand in the basement or better still, in the vegetable room. They keep best if placed on a dirt floor rather than on a cement ce-ment floor. Cover the dirt floor with about two inches of more-or-Iess dry sand; place a layer of root vegetables such as carrots, beets, turnips and others, on this loose sand close together, side by side, just so they do not touch. Cover this layer 'with about two inches of sand, then place another layer of vegetables, another layer of sand and another layer of vegetables, ve-getables, and so continue until you have a pile about 18 inches in depth. If this sand storage is on a dirt floor, away from the heating effects ef-fects of the furnace, no moisture need be added. If, however, the storage is on a cement floor or in the furnace room, then moisture must be added from time to time to prevent the vegetables from shriveling and drying. Always keep the vegetables covered with sand. Richfield Reaper. |