CHAPTER XV WINTER STORAGE

It is in the late days of fall that one begins to realize substantially on the summer's investment of seed, time and labor in the garden. Previous to this one has watched the maturing of the summer vegetables with an eye to their immediate use; now one sees before one rich stores of food that shall tide one safely through many lean days when the price of food goes soaring and the visible supply temporarily disappears. If one is putting into cellar storage an abundance of such sugar producing vegetables as beets, squashes, carrots, parsnips and the like one need not fear any injury to the health of the family from a lack of sugar if these are used freely, for they will convert themselves into the needed sweet and although they may not be quite so palatable as cake and candy will supply their place in the economy of the physical system.

221

Most winter vegetables need to be kept in cold storage, not in a warm, dry place; for this reason a furnace-heated cellar is not satisfactory, but an adjoining room that is connected by a door that can be opened to admit warm air in a severe spell of winter weather is desirable. For certain roots that are not injured by a low temperature, or even slight freezing, an earth cellar is satisfactory. A cellar of this sort usually admits of piling vegetables on the floor or in pens on the floor and throwing dirt over them to exclude the air and prevent evaporation, and as the vegetables are used the surplus earth can be thrown out on the floor and the labor of storing is much lessened, for it is no small task to carry heavy baskets of earth into the vegetable cellar and to remove it again in the spring. If a small room can be arranged adjoining the cellar proper and bins divided off around the sides and the earth allowed to remain from year to year the task of winter storage will be slight. Beets, carrots, turnips, cabbage, parsnips, salsify, celery, all these things belong in the earth cellar and apples,222 too, may be stored in baskets, barrels or boxes here and will not be injured by light freezing, as it is heat and dry atmosphere that most militate against the successful keeping of winter apples.

A few other vegetables call for dry, rather warm quarters, like the winter squash, onion, sweet and Irish potato, but good ventilation is indispensable for all. The chief merit of the root-cellar lies in the fact that it can be well ventilated, the windows being opened at times when it would be untenable to open them in rooms devoted to the storage of canned fruit and like perishable things. The windows in the vegetable cellar should not be permanently closed until severe winter weather, though they may be closed during storms and sharp falls of temperature. I have found that the losses from frost were less in direct proportion to the amount of fresh air admitted and in some mild winters the windows have remained open the entire time, the covering of earth being sufficient to preserve the vegetables in excellent shape until spring. Even when such things as are usually stored in the223 earth cellar are frozen stiff, they will be quite usable if thawed out in cold water. The water will draw the ice to the surface and it should be allowed to thaw, when the vegetables will be found entirely usable, but any vegetable that thaws out soft is beyond redemption and should at once be discarded. Also any vegetables found decaying in the cellar should at once be removed and the cause also removed. Usually it will be found that too much heat and too little fresh air are the trouble; opening a window will rectify both troubles.

POTATOES

Being our most important winter vegetables should be stored with great care. Practically their storage begins in the field when they are dug; they should be dug on a bright, dry day, preferably in the morning that the tubers should have time to dry off if at all damp, before being picked up and carried in. It will pay to sort in the field as they are gathered, throwing the culls—small potatoes and any that have been injured224 in digging—by themselves. These will be of value for feeding poultry, rabbits, goats and any stock on the place; they are excellent for horses, keeping the skin and coat in fine shape. Potatoes may lie on the ground in the sun long enough to dry off thoroughly, but not longer; left exposed to the light they will turn green and this discoloration is poisonous. They should be turned over once so that the under side of the potatoes may dry equally.
Garden
The advantage of having your garden near the home is clearly shown here

The best equipment for storing potatoes in the cellar consists of long bins divided into compartments that will hold from one to two bushels; these bins should have holes bored in the bottom for ventilation and they should be raised somewhat from the floor. Never store potatoes directly on the floor as this is the coldest part of the cellar and also the dampest; heat rises and cold falls so what heat there may be in the cellar will circulate beneath the bins and if, for any reason, it is necessary to supply artificial heat in the way of oil-stoves or lamps during a spell of zero225 weather the heat can get under the potatoes and raise the temperature in the bottom of the bins as well as on the top.

When the potatoes are in the bins they must be covered to exclude light and prevent their turning green. The potatoes should be examined occasionally during winter to be sure that none are decaying or being affected by frost. As a general thing potatoes are not frosted if the skin crackles when the finger nail is pressed into it, but slight touches of frost sometimes do not affect the crispness of the skin but is shown by the potatoes becoming wet after lying for a while in a warm room, or by a sweetish taste when cooked. At that stage they are not injured for food but are less palatable and are liable to develop a queer fungus blight in the center. As spring approaches the potatoes will begin growth at the eyes-sprout, as it is called, and should be looked over and all growth rubbed off. This will probably have to be done more than once as the season advances.

226

SWEET POTATOES

Are far more difficult to carry through the winter than the Irish potatoes. They require more warmth and a dryer atmosphere, and should be stored in boxes of dry sand and set on some support away from the floor. The furnace cellar, if not too warm is the best place for them and it is well to use them freely so as to lessen the loss from decay as much as possible.

WINTER ONIONS

Should be stored in a dry place, a little above freezing. Slight frost does not injure onions, but repeated freezing and thawing does, while too much heat will start them to growing. An upstairs room that receives sufficient heat to keep it from freezing will do nicely and it is a good plan to use the best onions first so that those which are unfit for use towards spring will not be so much of a loss; however, as these onions make the very best of green onions they are by no means a total loss, but the small and inferior ones will do quite as well for this purpose, for it227 is the live germ only that is important, all the onion body is formed anew. Where there is a hanging shelf in a cellar that is dry and warm the onions can often be wintered there successfully.

WINTER SQUASH

Require a rather warm and dry situation; the cellar rarely affords the right conditions for wintering them successfully. An upstairs room or garret where a chimney passes through is often just the thing for them as they may be piled in a heap near the chimney, with layers of excelsior or straw between, and protected with blankets or quilts and so pass the winter in good condition. From such a storage I have taken perfectly sound, dry Hubbards in mid-June and March squash are by no means a rarity.

BEETS

May be dug any time before the ground freezes up; the shorter time any vegetable has to remain in cold storage the better for it, so if not brought in until about Thanksgiving the228 delay is all to the good. If the beets are to be stored in a root cellar covered with earth it is not material whether they are topped or not. I have sometimes thought that they kept rather better if the tops were allowed to remain; certainly there is, then, no loss from bleeding, and if piled in heaps with the tops all one way overlapping each other, but the tops free, it is far easier to find and remove them when wanted. Slight freezing does not injure beets if thawed out in cold water, but severe freezing does, so that sufficient earth should be used to cover them and the earth may be protected with blankets if necessary. If no root cellar is available the beets should be topped and packed with earth in bins or boxes in the vegetable cellar. If necessary to store in furnace cellar place as far from the furnace as possible. Where no other place for storage is available running a partition across one end or corner of the cellar will provide a place that will keep most vegetables in good shape and the expense will be covered by the saving in stock. The various wall boards advertised are excellent material with which to229 construct these little storage places and any handy man, or woman, for that matter, can put up something that will answer the purpose by the aid of a hammer and saw, a sheet or two of board and a few pieces of two-by-four to nail to.

CABBAGE

Are best stored in the root cellar, they may be pulled and stood up in the corner of the cellar and the roots buried in somewhat damp earth or they may be cut, the roughest leaves trimmed and the heads buried in earth, setting them upside down so that the earth will not work inside the leaves; handled in this way they should come out sound and good in spring. Wrapping in newspapers, where the supply is limited is sometimes successful, the main thing being to protect from the air and too great cold and to prevent the spread of decay which may attack individual heads.

CAULIFLOWER

May be pulled at the approach of severe weather, the lower leaves removed and the plants230 put root down, buried in soil, in boxes or pens in the root cellar and will be available for some time, but do not keep through the winter like cabbage.

CELERY

Should be dug, with the roots intact and placed roots down in boxes of wet soil or sand in the dark cellar, packing the plants close together to exclude air. If the cellar is necessarily light, the plants should be shaded or a corner of the cellar may be enclosed to afford protection from light. A movable partition made from wall board is a very handy thing to have in the root cellar as it makes possible the providing of special conditions as needed.

PARSNIPS

Although parsnips are better for remaining in the ground until spring a supply for winter use should be dug in the fall, topped and buried in boxes of sand or earth in the cellar. This may be done in either the root or the kitchen cellar,231 as freezing does not injure the parsnip providing they thaw out in the ground or in water.

SALSIFY

Requires the same treatment as parsnips—leaving the main crop in the ground until spring but bringing in a supply for winter use. The main thing in the storing of all root vegetables is to prevent wilting more than freezing. Vegetables stored under any conditions, without the protective covering of earth to exclude air, soon become soft and wilted and unfit for food.

TURNIPS

Are especially sensitive to a dry atmosphere and must always be buried in sand or earth if they are to retain their crispness and flavor. They should not be dug until a touch of frost has sweetened them, then they should be topped, reserving the tops for the pig or rabbits and the roots stored as directed.