Chapter 7
Storing for the Winter : The White Man's Method
Excerpted from Out Of Harm's Way 2 Edited by Kenneth D. Nunn ©2012
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- Save it for Winter -
Taken From: Save it for Winter By: Frederick Frye Rockwell © 1918
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The most natural and the easiest way of saving vegetables and fruits for winter use is to store them. Nature has decreed that certain of the vegetables should keep from the end of one growing season to the beginning of the next, either to renew directly the life cycle, as in the case of the potato, or to furnish protection for and sustenance to the sprouting seedling, as in the case of squashes and apples. Such perennial roots as carrots and parsnips complete the all-important job of seed production for the second season.
Storage can be used successfully, however, only for crops of this kind, and only where sufficient room and the proper conditions for keeping are available. For these reasons storing alone will not make it possible to have a complete winter larder, and stored products should be supplemented by the other methods of food saving already described. As a general rule, however, where storing is possible it is the most economical and the most satisfactory way of saving vegetables or fruits for winter.
While, as already stated, the list of things which may be saved by storing does not cover the whole garden, nevertheless it does include many more things than usually are saved by this method. This will be seen from the list of vegetables which may be saved, given in the latter part of this chapter. All of these things can be kept for some time after they would naturally perish in the garden, the great majority of them until well into the new year.
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- The Essentials of Successful Storage -
There are three things essential to make the winter storage of vegetables or fruits successful:
• Product that is perfect, sound and not overripe.
• Good storage conditions.
• Conditions adapted to the product to be kept.
Important as it is to use only perfect vegetables or fruits for canning or drying, it is even more so to have only perfect specimens for storing. The product should be sorted and graded, most carefully. Specimens that are more mature or riper than the average, or that have been cut or bruised even in the slightest degree, should be culled out from those that are to be kept. These may be kept separately, to be used first, as they will often keep for some time without any trouble and are perfectly good to use. But the slightest scratch or bruise or ''spot'' must be sufficient to disqualify anything from the box or barrel or bin when they are being put away for the winter. In fact, bruises that are so slight that they can barely be detected will prove a possible source of a great deal of spoilage.
For this reason it is a good plan to store temporarily all things which it is difficult to keep, such as hard fruits, onions, pumpkins, squash, etc., and go over them again very carefully before they are put into final winter quarters. Even with these precautions they should be examined occasionally throughout the winter, and sorted over at the first sign of decay.
The factors which make for good storage conditions are, in general:
• Ventilation
• Temperature
• The degree of moisture in the air
Of these, ventilation is the one most usually neglected, because its importance is not realized. It is not sufficient, as most persons think, to put the product to be stored in a cold or a warm place to be kept. Closely confined air, either cold or warm, makes for the development of bacteria or mold which causes decay.
The first essential to provide for, therefore, in selecting and making a place to store vegetables - whether in the cellar, out of doors, or in the attic - is ventilation. The details of providing ventilation, of course, will depend upon existing conditions, but it should be so arranged as to be easily controlled. Suggestions for providing ventilation for different types of rooms and pits for storing are shown in the accompanying cuts.
While the temperature in the storage rooms is usually controlled largely by ventilation, that alone cannot be counted upon altogether. With our modern methods of living, where every room in the house is heated and usually there is a furnace or heater of some kind in a small cellar, it is more difficult to find a cool place in which to store vegetables and fruits than was formerly the case. Generally, however, it will be possible either to devote a small room to storage purposes, or to partition off part of the cellar space, which, if it be fitted up to take advantage of all the room available, will accommodate a surprising quantity of vegetables for its size. In making a storeroom of this kind there should be direct ventilation to the outside, so that the room can be shut off entirely from the heated part of the cellar except when it is required to get things from it.
A few things require for their keeping a warm instead of a cool temperature. The difficulty in providing suitable quarters for these vegetables is in giving them a place where the temperature will be even - a constantly varying temperature is not conducive to good keeping.
A considerable amount of moisture in the air is required where root crops and other vegetables, which normally would remain in the soil, are to be kept. A dirt floor tends to equalize the air moisture and keep it normal. Where a cement floor has to be used, however, soil, sand, moss, or some similar material which will keep the vegetables moist without being wet, can be used to pack them in. Pans of water set where they can evaporate will also tend to keep a normal amount of moisture in the air. A surplus of moisture, however, is just as objectionable as too little: this is one reason why ventilation is important. For a few things the atmosphere should be kept as dry as possible. These exceptions to the general rule are mentioned in the following paragraphs.
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Providing Suitable Quarters
No matter what, or how much, or how little, one may plan to keep for winter by storing, the best possible place that can be provided to keep it should be prepared in advance. Even if this involves considerable time and trouble and some expense, it will pay to do it; unless that can be done, it will be best to give up making the attempt at keeping things in this way, as the waste and loss will more than offset any saving which may be made by purchasing in quantity in the fall.
In preparing for winter storage, in addition to the factors mentioned above, convenience and control should also be taken into consideration. Convenience in putting the vegetables away, however, is not the only thing to be kept in mind. They will be wanted through the winter months, and while they have to be put into storage only once, one will have to go to them a great many times to take them out. For this reason it will pay to go to considerably more trouble in fixing a regular cellar or storeroom than it would take to make a pit outside. Even where one has a storeroom or cellar, however, an outside pit is of great value in keeping vegetables through the winter for use in the Spring. Properly protected, they will remain in much better condition than in the cellar. If the pit is in a sheltered place, potatoes and root crops may be taken out in May in as good condition as they were put in in the fall.
In the following paragraphs suggestions are given for making or fitting up the various types of places in which vegetables and fruits may be stored for winter.
Cellars: In most old houses the cellars were designed for storing and no changes of any great extent are necessary. The ventilation is sometimes inadequate. This may be improved by building a box or hood over the cellar window, so that air can be admitted in stormy weather and without letting in much light if it is desired to have the window open during the day. Another mistake is to allow old bins or partitions to remain after they have become half decayed and make the finest kind of camping place for germs and equally good resorts for mice and rats. All bins should be renewed as often as necessary and kept in good condition. The cellar should be cleaned after the last of the stored products are moved in the Spring, and given a good coating of whitewash or calcomine before they are put in in the fall. Every square inch of bins, walls and ceilings should be dry and clean: this is not a matter of being "finicky'' but commonsense precaution against losing the things you have gone to the expense and trouble of putting into storage. Ideas for the convenient arrangement of a storage cellar may be had from the accompanying diagrams.
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Part of the cellar may be partitioned off for a storage room by leaving a dead air space between the walls if shelves and containers are arranged to make the best use of the space available, a small room will accommodate enough fruits and vegetables for several months' supply.
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In the cellars of most modern houses, little or no provision has been made for the storing of food products for winter. There frequently is but one big room, well lighted and with concrete flooring, more sanitary perhaps than the old-fashioned cellar but in many ways not so well suited for the purpose in hand. Usually, however, there is space enough to partition off a small room to be used for vegetables alone, where conditions can be controlled independently of the cellar. The expense involved in doing this work is not great. Enough pine two-by-fours run from the floor to the ceiling may be set up, leaving a space for a door. Artificial wall board or compo board, which comes in strips thirty-two inches wide, may be used to sheathe these uprights, inside and out. This will make a substantial partition with a four- inch air space, effectually keeping out the heat from the warm part of the cellar. The strips of wall board can be bought in any length or height up to twelve feet, so there will be practically no fitting to be done. The door may be made out of the same material, nailed to both sides of a frame made out of two-by-threes.
It is preferable to have two windows in a storage cellar, even if they are very small ones. If they are exposed it may be necessary to have double sash or a wooden frame or shutter to put over the windows in very cold weather. There should, however, be some means of ventilation that can be used even in cold weather. Apiece of stove pipe with a damper, placed in the window so that the lower end is near the floor and another piece placed in the second window, or in the top light of the same window, will aid greatly in keeping the cellar ventilated at all times, and the ventilation can be adjusted to suit conditions without the bother of opening or shutting the sash.
The cellar should be kept dark as well as cool and thoroughly ventilated. A double thickness of burlap or some other heavy material can be arranged so that most of the light can be excluded.
Convenience in storing and in getting out stored things, as well as the keeping qualities of the cellar or storeroom, will depend largely on how the storeroom is fixed up. If there are more than a few bushels of potatoes and root crops to be kept, bins should be arranged along one side. If the floor is of concrete, they should have raised bottoms with a couple of inches or so of space to allow free circulation of air. The size, of course, will depend on the amount of stuff to be stored. If there is a considerable quantity it will be convenient to have the boards forming the front of the bins held in position by cleats so that they may be removed as the contents of the bin are lowered. Shelves may be arranged along the wall or depended from the rafters. The latter method makes a way of utilizing space which is not available for other purposes. As most of the canned and dried products will keep better in the cool dark room than where it is warmer, a set of shelves or a cabinet should be arranged for these also.
A well-arranged storage cellar. The cool air entering is delivered near the floor where it can be distributed through the room and find its way out of the open pane at the top, carrying with it surplus moisture. Note air space under the bin for potatoes and other root crops. The hanging shelf not only economizes on room but is safe from rats and mice.
It is often the case that where there is no cellar space available there is a room that can be used for storage; a small room or even a large closet, if it can be used exclusively for storage, will accommodate a large quantity of vegetables and fruit. It should be located, if possible, on the north or west side of the building - the coldest room in the house. If no small room is available, a partition like that already described for use in a cellar, may be put in to make a special storeroom. Ventilation and some method of keeping the room dark should be supplied. One of the chief objections to using a room of this kind is the trouble and the "muss" of taking things through the house to be stored.
This can be overcome by the simple expedient of building a small platform and steps at the window on the outside, so that the baskets or boxes of vegetables may be taken in readily through the window and put in the barrels or boxes or other containers in which they are to be kept.
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A convenient outside entrance to a cold store-room. If kept dark and at as low a temperature as possible, potatoes, root crops and fruits may be carried for a long time in such a room.
The Outdoor Cellar: In some cases, where there is no place available that can be made into a cellar storeroom, and soil conditions outside are favorable, a small outdoor cellar may be made for this purpose. If there is a deep bank that it can be built into, and light sandy soil for excavating, it is a comparatively simple and inexpensive job to make a room that will keep out frost and remain cool through summer.
Storage Pits: A permanent pit on any place where a large quantity of vegetables are to be stored, or where there is no other place available for storing them, is one of the best investments that can be made. A combination pit and hot-bed frame will cost little more than if it were to be used as a hot-bed alone, and give considerable storage space that is comparatively easy to get at in all but the stormiest kind of weather.
The winter supply of vegetables will be well out of the way when used for the hot-bed frame in March or April becomes necessary.
The Temporary Pit: A temporary pit for storing things or carrying over a surplus for Spring use, in addition to what is stored in the cellar, may easily be made. Good drainage is the first requisite. Such a pit may be made either in the ground or, where perfect drainage may not be had, on the surface. Both methods are shown in the accompanying cut.
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The combination cold frame and storage pit is very convenient for the small suburban place. Used for vegetables during winter and early spring, and for starting plants during spring and early summer.
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Where the soil is well drained, root crops of all sorts may be carried through the winter, in even better condition than in the cellar by burying them in a pit or in a trench with one or two layers of frozen soil, alternating with a covering of leaves, marsh hay or straw. An iron pipe or a wooden flue should be inserted every few feet to carry off the surplus moisture. In extreme cold weather, this may be stopped up with an old piece of bag.
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- Directions for Storing Vegetables and Fruits -
Beans: Any surplus of pole beans, Lima beans or even of most of the dwarf or string bush beans, which get too large, should be allowed to mature on the vines until the pods have become quite dry, and then picked and stored in a dry place in the sun. In the fall they should be shelled by thrashing or breaking up the pods and the dry beans put in tin pails or other suitable containers and kept in a dry warm place.
Beets: These may be stored in a cool cellar or storeroom or outdoors in a pit or trench.
Where a pit or trench alone has to be depended upon, for winter storage, it is a good plan to divide the space so that the various vegetables will be obtainable when it is broken into at one end. The cut above shows a cross-section of a trench arranged in this way. It contains cabbage, potatoes, parsnips, and turnips.
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They will keep better if covered with soil or with moss or leaf mold. The latter materials are very light and spongy and will retain enough moisture to keep the roots plump, and are much more convenient to handle than soil or sand where they can readily be obtained.
Brussels Sprouts: These may be stored indoors either by hanging up the plants by the roots, or, as is done with cabbage (next page), better still by covering the roots with moist soil, packing the plants in quite close together. Part of the crop may be left where it grows as it will remain in good condition until after the holidays, the flavor being rather improved by freezing.
Carrots: Handle these the same way as beets. They should be taken up late in the fall before there is danger of heavy frost that will kill the tops. The tops should not be cut off too close: leave an inch or so of the leaf stem and allow to dry off for a few hours before storing. They may be left out, to keep for a few days, if covered up to protect from frost at night.
Cabbage: This standard winter vegetable may be stored either indoors or out. In the former case a good way is to put the trimmed heads in slotted or open vegetable barrels. Or the plants may be taken up roots and all, the loose outer leaves trimmed off, and three or four heads tied together by the roots and suspended from nails in the cellar rafters. In this way they will keep well without occupying any floor space, which is needed for other things, such as root crops and fruits. For this purpose, ordinary corn ties made of stout cord, with a wire clamp at one end which saves the trouble of tying and untying the string, may be utilized to good advantage.
Cabbage to be stored out of doors may be kept either with the roots on, or in the form of trimmed heads. The method of packing is shown in the accompanying cut. It is well to store at least part of the crop out of doors, as this will keep in perfect condition until late spring, when it will be much more fresh and crisp than that which has been stored indoors.
Well matured cabbage can easily be kept through the winter in an outside trench or pit. The heads are packed as shown, covered with straw or marsh hay, and as freezing weather approaches, gradually cover with soil. It is important not to put the soil on at first, as this will cause them to heat and spoil.
Cauliflower: This delicious vegetable is not as easy to keep as cabbage. If brought in from the field and stored in a cold place just before danger of injury from a heavy frost, the heads will, however, remain in good condition for some time. It may readily be kept longer, however, by placing it in a frame or in a cool cellar, covering the roots of the plants with moist soil so that growth will continue. In this way, small immature heads may be saved, and will develop to a surprising extent after they are taken up and put away.
Celery: If there is enough celery to keep for use well into the winter, it should be handled in three lots.
• That wanted for early use may be banked up with earth out of doors and covered up with leaves later and used as wanted directly from the garden.
• The celery wanted for late fall should be stored in a trench outside. Make this in a well-drained place about a foot wide and deep enough to hold the stalks up to the tops of the leaves. Take up the plants with the roots on, and what soil adheres to them. The tops and stalks should he dry when stored away. When there is danger of severe freezing weather, cover the trench up with hay, a few inches at first, and adding more as the weather gets colder. Celery may be kept in a trench of this kind usually until after Christmas.
• The remainder of the crop should be stored in a cool cellar.
The most convenient way of handling it is to get some boxes, about as deep as the celery is tall, in which the celery may be packed away after a couple of inches of light soil or sand is placed in the bottom of the boxes. The plants are packed in the box upright, quite tightly, with the roots on the moist soil at the bottom; if the soil seems to dry out, give it a little water occasionally, being careful not to get it on the leaves or stalks. In this way the celery is kept fresh and crisp and will continue growth and blanch thoroughly after being put into the cellar.
Corn: While sweet or sugar corn is not stored, nevertheless the ears that are in condition to eat when the first killing frost strikes them may be saved for some time by cutting and shocking the corn in the same way that field corn is handled. The immature ears will remain in their eating condition for some time; of course they gradually shrivel and become tough.
Onions: These should always be harvested as soon as the tops begin to get dried out: if they are left in the ground after that they are apt to begin a second growth, and in that case it will be almost impossible to keep them all through the winter. After being thoroughly dried in an open shed or in the garden, the tops should be cut off and the onions placed in vegetable barrels or in open crates. It is better not to put them into permanent winter quarters until there is danger of freezing weather. They should be perfectly firm, hard and dry when put away; to keep well they should be thoroughly ventilated while in storage. The ordinary Bermuda or Texas onion crates, which can be bought second-hand at most grocery stores, are the best and most convenient container for keeping onions. A crate holds about a bushel, and the crates can be stacked up on top of each other. The white varieties of onions and the extra-large Spanish or Bermuda onions do not keep as well as the standard yellow or red globe or flat onions. To the former class belong such varieties as Prizetaker, Gigantic Gibraltar, Giant Rocca, Denia, etc. Therefore any of these varieties that there may be on hand should be used first.
Potatoes: Even if you have not raised enough of your own potatoes for winter use it will pay to buy them to store, as they are usually very much cheaper in September and October than later on. They keep best in a very cool, rather moist, cellar and must be protected carefully from light, as this not only endangers their keeping qualities but makes them less valuable for food and inferior in quality. When it is necessary to keep potatoes where the air is very dry, instead of allowing free circulation of the air, it should be prevented as much as possible by placing the potatoes in large boxes (such as packing-cases obtained from a store). Line these first with several thicknesses of newspaper, and make a tight-fitting cover. Several days' supply should be taken out at each time, so that the box will be opened as infrequently as possible. Potatoes that are very early may be best kept for future use by being buried in the soil in boxes of convenient size. If put down eighteen inches or so below the surface in this way, they will keep in as good condition as the delicious "new potatoes'' that are first ready to eat when the summer crop comes in. Potatoes are also one of the best vegetables for keeping over in pits.
Sweet Potatoes: The sweet potato is entirely different in its requirements for winter storage from the white or Irish potato. It should be given a rather high temperature, fifty to sixty degrees if possible, and kept in a very dry place. The air should be permitted to circulate freely about the potatoes. Onion crates, such as already mentioned, may be used for storing sweet potatoes, and if placed near the chimney in the attic, will furnish about the right conditions.
Pumpkins: These also require dry, warm storage. They should be gathered before danger of hard frost and stored, if possible, temporarily in an open shed or other airy place where they will be protected from freezing weather. Leave the stems on when gathering. The greatest trouble in keeping pumpkins and squash arises from bruises made when they are being gathered and taken in. In spite of their apparently hard shells they should be handled like eggs. They may be put in the cellar near the heater or in the attic. Each one should be examined carefully as they are stored away, and those which show the slightest sign of decayed spots should be put to one side for immediate use or for drying or canning.
Squash: This may be stored and kept as pumpkins are, taking even more care in handling them when taking them from the field and putting them away.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes may be kept in storage much longer than is usually supposed. Fruits that have obtained nearly their full size will ripen up gradually if packed away in a cool, rather dark place. Placed in front of a window in the hot sun, as they sometimes are, they merely cook. All fruit to be kept should be very carefully picked and preferably wrapped individually in fruit papers such as those which come around fancy apples, or in pieces of newspaper. Any light piece of paper will do, or they may be packed away in crates in perfectly dry dead leaves or grass. It is also possible to keep the fruits for some time by taking up the best plants by the roots, trimming off the surplus foliage and hanging the skeleton plant, with the best fruit, up in a dark dry place. The tomatoes will continue to ripen gradually for some time.
Turnips: These keep very easily and readily, either in the cellar or in houses or pits. Handle in the same way as beets or carrots.
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- Fruits in Storage -
Winter apples and some varieties of pears keep readily. Like potatoes they may also be bought to advantage in the fall even where they are not grown on the place. Wherever obtained, they should be sorted most carefully, saving only the sound and perfect fruits for storing. The others may be used or canned or dried. Though it may seem a little more trouble, the safest and best way is to wrap each fruit individually in a paper wrapper. They may then be packed in onion crates, which hold about a bushel each, are convenient to handle, and can be stacked on top of each other. One reason why apples do not seem to keep well when placed in a cellar with other things is that, like butter, they are susceptible to odors from other things near them, and their quality is affected if they are placed, without being wrapped, near such vegetables as onions, turnips, or even potatoes. If they must be placed near other things, they may be further protected by being placed in a barrel lined with newspaper or wrapping paper, with a tight cover. Fruit should not be kept where the air is too dry or it will shrivel. A temperature of 35 to 40 degrees is best. If apples are not individually wrapped they should be gone over very carefully occasionally, and all showing any signs of decay should be removed; if not, the trouble will spread quickly and spoil the whole lot.
