|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Discover Dry Storage
| Article
# : |
14902 |
|
|
Section : |
LIFE
|
| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
1,551 Words |
| Author
: |
Walter Chandoha
Walter Chandoha's pictures and articles have appeared in many
major magazines; and he has also written and illustrated
twenty-four books. |
Back when time seemed to be more plentiful, canning the garden's bounty was the rule rather than the exception. These days, with time at a premium, home canning and freezing are almost defunct. But there is practical alternative--dry storage.
Although many home gardens are "discovering": dry storage, it's not a new technique. Before the era of central heating and refrigeration, cellars, barns, garages, porches, and attics were used to store fall harvested crops for winter use. Some crops were even stored in the garden where they grew.
In-garden storage
Most root vegetables needn't be harvested: they can be stored in the ground where they've been growing. Cover carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, and horseradish with a foot-thick mulch of chopped leaves or straw, and harvest as required. The mulch keeps the ground from freezing and insulates the roots from the cold. An early snow will add more insulation and is a help rather than a hindrance. Mark the buried root crops with a stake. To harvest, shovel away the snow, then the mulch, dig up one week's supply, and re-cover the bed to protect the unharvested crops.
Potatoes can also be stored in the ground, but being more cold-sensitive, they need more insulation (1 ½ to 2 feet of mulch). In warm-weather states, where the ground doesn't freeze, root crops need not be mulched.
When hardy broccoli, kale, collards, and brussels sprouts are touched by the cold, their flavor is enhanced. These crops live through fall frosts, can take temperatures into the low 20s, and survive cold winds, chilling rains, and heavy snows. In the South and along the mild West Coast, fall and winter are perfect for growing these members of the cabbage family.
Salad greens are also frost resistant and can live through moderately cold weather--the high 20s. They will tolerate cold better if given some protection from the elements. When they are mulched with chopped leaves or straw and given some shelter with makeshift cold frames (three- or four-sided opaque structures made of glass, fiberglass, or plastic that let light in but keep cold out), it's possible to harvest salad greens until Thanksgiving and even Christmas throughout most of the United States. In the warmer areas, greens can be harvested all winter, depending on the weather variables of the garden. With a mulch around them,
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
