Home Vegetable Gardening
A Complete &
Practical Guide To The Planting & Care Of Vegetables,
Fruits & Berries
Part Two: Vegetables — Chapter 14:
Harvesting and Storing
It's a very common
thing to allow the garden vegetables not used to rot on the
ground, or in it. There is a great deal of
unnecessary waste in this respect, for a great many of the
things so neglected may just as well be carried into winter,
and will pay a very handsome dividend for the slight trouble
of gathering and storing them.
A good frost-proof, cool
basement is the best and most convenient place in which to
store the surplus product of the home garden.
But,
lacking this, a room partitioned off in the basement and well
ventilated, or a small empty room, preferably on the
north side of the house,
that can be kept below forty degrees most of the time, will
serve excellently. Or, some of the most bulky vegetables, such
as cabbage and the root crops, may be stored in a
prepared pit made in the garden itself.
As it is essential that such
a pit be properly constructed, I shall describe one with
sufficient detail to enable the home gardener readily to
construct it. Select a spot where water will not stand. Put
the vegetables in a triangular-shaped pile, the base three or
four feet wide, and as long as
required.
Separate the different
vegetables in this pile by stakes about two feet
higher than the top of the pile, and label them. Then cover
with a layer of clean straw or hay, and over this four
inches of soil, dug up three feet back from the edges of the
pile. This work must be done late in the fall, as nearly as
one can judge just before lasting freezing begins, and
preferably on a cold morning when the ground is just beginning
to freeze; the object being to freeze the partly earth
covering at once, so that it will not be washed or blown
off.
The vegetables must
be perfectly dry when stored; dig them a week or so
previous and keep them in an airy shed. As soon as this first
layer of earth is partly frozen, but before it freezes
through, put on another thick layer of straw or hay and cover
with twelve inches of earth, keeping the pile as steep as
possible; a slightly clayey soil, that may be beaten down
firmly into shape with a spade, being best.
The pile
should be made where it will be sheltered from the sun as much
as possible, such as on the north side of a building. The
disadvantage of the plan is, of course, that the vegetables
cannot be got at until the pile is opened up, in early spring,
or late if desired. Its two advantages are that the vegetables
stored will be kept in better condition than in any basement,
and that basement or house room will be saved.
For storing small quantities
of the roots, such as carrots or beets, they are usually
packed in boxes or barrels and covered in with clean sand.
Where an upstairs room has to be used, swamp or sphagnum
moss may replace the sand. It makes an ideal packing
medium, as it is much lighter and cleaner than the sand. In
many localities it may be had for the gathering; in others one
may get it from a florist.
In storing vegetables
of any kind, and by whatever method, see to it
that:
(1) They are
always clean, dry and sound. The smallest spot or bruise is a
danger center, which may spread destruction to the lot.
(2) That the
temperature, whatever required — in most cases 33-38 degrees
being best — is kept as even as possible.
(3) That the
storage place is kept clean, dry (by ventilation when needed)
and sweet (by use of whitewash and lime).
(4) That no
rats or other rodents are playing havoc with your treasures
while you never suspect it.
So many of the
vegetables can be kept, for either part or all of the winter,
that I shall take them up in order, with brief directions.
Many, such as green beans, rhubarb, tomatoes, etc., which
cannot be kept in the ordinary ways, may be easily and cheaply
canned, and where one has a good basement, it will certainly
pay to get a canning outfit and make use of this
method.
Beans:
Almost all the string and snap beans, when dried in the pods,
are excellent for cooking. And any pods which have not been
gathered in the green state should be picked, as soon as dry
(as wet weather is likely to mold or sprout them), and stored
in a dry place, or spread on a bench in the sun. They will
keep, either shelled or in the dry pods, for winter.
 Beets: In October,
before the first hard frosts, take up and store in a cool
basement, in clean, perfectly dry sand, or in pits outside
(see Cabbage); do not cut off the long tap roots, nor the tops
close enough to cause any "bleeding."
Brussels
sprouts: These are improved by freezing, and may be
used from the open garden until
December. If wanted later, store them with cabbage, or hang up
the stalks in bunches in a cold
basement.
Cabbage: If only a few heads
are to be stored, a cool basement will do. Even if where they
will be slightly frozen, they will not be injured, so long as
they do not freeze and thaw repeatedly. They should not be
taken in until there is danger of severe freezing, as they
will keep better, and a little frost improves the flavor. For
storing small quantities outdoors, dig a trench, a foot or so
deep, in a well drained spot, wide enough to admit two heads
side by side.
Pull up the cabbages, without removing
either stems or outer leaves, and store side by side, head
down, in the bottom of the trench. Now cover over lightly with
straw, meadow hay, or any refuse which will keep the dirt from
freezing to the cabbages, and then cover over the whole with
earth, to the depth of several inches, but allowing the top of
the roots to remain exposed, which will facilitate digging
them up as required. Do not bury the cabbage until as late as
possible before severe freezing, as a spell of warm weather
would rot it.
Carrots:
Treat in the same way as beets. They will not be hurt by a
slight freezing of the tops, before being dug, but care must
be taken not to let the roots become touched by frost.
Celery: That
which is to be used early is blanched outside, by banking, as
described in Chapter XI, and as celery will stand a little
freezing, will be used directly from the garden. For the
portion to be kept over winter, provide boxes about a foot
wide, and nearly as deep as the celery is high. Cover the
bottoms of these boxes with two or three inches of sand, and
wet thoroughly.
Upon this stand the celery upright, and
packed close together. In taking up the celery for storing in
this way, the roots and whatever earth adheres to them are
kept on, not cut, as it is bought in the stores. The boxes are then stored
in a basement, or other dark, dry, cold place where the
temperature will not go more than five degrees below freezing.
The celery will be ready for use after Christmas. If a long
succession is wanted, store from the open two or three
different times, say at the end of October, first part of
November and the latter part of November.
Cucumbers, Melons,
Egg-plant: While there is no way of storing these for
any great length of time without recourse to artificial cold,
they may be had for some time by storing just before the first
frosts in a cool, dark basement, care being taken in handling
the fruits to give them no bruises.
Onions: If
the onions got a good early start in the spring, the tops will
begin to die down by the middle of August. As soon as the tops
have turned yellow and withered they should be pulled, on the
first clear dry day, and laid in windrows (three or four rows
in one), but not heaped up. They should be turned over
frequently, by hand or with a wooden rake, and removed to a
shed or barn floor as soon as dry, where the tops can be cut
off. Keep them spread out as much as possible, and give them
open ventilation until danger of frost. Then store in a dry
place and keep as cool as possible without freezing. A few
barrels, with holes knocked in the sides, will do well for a
small quantity.
Parsley:
Take up a few plants and keep in a flower-pot or small box, in
the kitchen window.
Parsnips:
These will stay in the ground without injury all winter, but
part of the crop may be taken up late in the fall and stored
with beets, carrots and turnips, to use while the ground is
frozen.
Potatoes:
When the vines have died down and the skin of the new potatoes
has become somewhat hardened, they can be dug and stored in a
cool, dry basement at once.
Be sure to give plenty of
ventilation until danger of frost. Keep from the light, as
this has the effect of making the potatoes bitter. If there is
any sign of rot among the tubers, do not dig them up until it
has stopped.
 Squash and Pumpkins: The
proper conditions for storing for winter will be indicated by
the drying and shrinking of the stem. Cut them from the vines,
being careful never to break off the stem, turn over, rub off
the dirt and leave the under side exposed to a few days'
sunlight. Then carry in a spring wagon, or spring wheelbarrow,
covered with old bags or hay to keep from any bruises. Store
in the driest part of the basement, and if possible where the
temperature will not go below forty degrees. Leave them on the
vines in the field as late as possible, while escaping
frosts.
Tomatoes:
Just before the first frosts are likely to begin, pick all of
the best of the unripened fruits. Place part of these on clean
straw in a cold frame, giving protection, where they will
gradually ripen up. Place others, that are fully developed but
not ripe, in straw in the basement. In this way fresh tomatoes
may frequently be had as late as Christmas.
Turnip:
These roots, if desired, can be stored as are beets or
carrots.
It's hard to retain our
interest in something when most of its usefulness has gone by.
It is for that reason, I suppose, that one sees so many
forsaken and weed-grown gardens every autumn, where in the
spring everything was neat and clean. But there are two very
excellent reasons why the vegetable garden should not be
so abandoned — to say nothing of appearances!
The
first is that many vegetables continue to grow until
the heavy frosts come; and the second, that
the careless gardener who thus forsakes his post is
sowing no end of trouble for himself for the coming
year. For weeds left to themselves, even late in the
fall, grow in the cool moist weather with astonishing
rapidity, and, almost before one realizes it, transform the
well kept garden
into a ragged wilderness, where the intruders have taken such
a strong foothold that they cannot be pulled up without
tearing everything else with them.
So we let them go — and, left
to themselves, they accomplish their purpose in life, and
leave upon the ground an evenly distributed supply of plump
ripe seeds, which next spring will cause the perennial
exclamation, "Mercy, John, where did all these weeds come
from?" And John replies, "I don't know; we kept the garden
clean last summer. I think there must be weed seeds in the
fertilizer."
Do not let up on your
fight with weeds, for every good vegetable that is left over
can be put to some  use. Here and there in the garden will be a
strip that has gone by, and as it is now too late to plant, we
just let it go. Yet now is the time we should be preparing all
such spots for withstanding next summer's drought! You may
remember how strongly was emphasized the necessity for having
abundant humus (decayed vegetable matter) in the soil —
how it acts like a sponge to retain moisture and keep things
growing through the long, dry spells which we seem to be sure
of getting every summer.
So take thought for next year.
Buy a bushel of rye, and as fast as a spot in your garden can
be cleaned up, harrow, dig or rake it over, and sow the rye on
broadcast. Just enough loose surface dirt to cover it and let
it sprout, is all it asks. If the weather is dry, and you can
get a small roller, roll it in to ensure better
germination.
It will come up quickly; it will keep out
the weeds which otherwise would be taking possession of the
ground; it will grow until the ground is frozen solid and
begin again with the first warm spring day; it will keep your
garden from washing out in heavy rains, and capture and save
from being washed away and wasted a good deal of left-over
plant food; it will serve as just so much real manure for your
garden; it will improve the mechanical condition of the soil,
and it will add the important element of humus to it.
In addition to these things,
you will have an attractive and luxuriant garden spot, instead
of an unsightly bare one. And in clearing off these patches
for rye, beware of waste.
If you have hens, or by
chance a pig, they will relish old heads of lettuce, old
pea-vines, still green after the last picking, and the stumps
and outer leaves of cabbage. Even if you have not this means
of utilizing your garden's by-products, do not let them go to
waste.
 Put everything into a square pile — old sods, weeds,
vegetable tops, refuse, dirt, leaves, lawn sweepings —
anything that will rot. Tread this pile down
thoroughly; give it a soaking once in a while if within reach
of the hose, and two or three turnings with a fork. Next
spring when you are looking for every available pound of
manure with which to enrich your garden, this compost heap will
stand you in good stead.
Dispose of your old pea-brush,
tomato poles and everything that is not worth keeping over for
next year. Do not leave these things lying around to harbor
and protect eggs and insects and weed seeds. If any
bean-poles, stakes, trellises or supports seem in good enough
condition to serve another year, put them under cover now; and
see that all your tools are picked up and put in one place,
where you can find them and overhaul them next February. As
soon as your surplus pole beans have dried in their pods, take
up poles and all and store in a dry place. The beans may be
taken off later at your leisure.
Be careful to
cut down and dispose of (or put in the compost heap) all weeds
around your fences, and the edges of your garden, before they
ripen seed.
If the suggestions given are
followed, the vegetable garden may be
stretched far into the winter. But do not rest at that. Begin
to plan now for your next year's garden. Put a pile of dirt
where it will not be frozen, or dried out, when you want to
use it next February for your early seeds. If you have no
hotbed, fix the frames and get the sashes for one now, so it
will be already on hand when the ground is frozen solid
and covered with snow next spring.
If you've made
garden mistakes this year, be planning now to rectify them
next — without progress there is no fun in the game. Let
next spring find you with your plans all made, your materials
all on hand and a fixed resolution to have the best garden you
have ever had.
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