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SPFUTNE Wenig PIE ORT

Beets, carrots,

potatoes can

be stored for long time

SO NOW that the Cold War is over, what are you going
to do with that handy, dandy, Acme bomb shelter? Un-
derground indoor pool? Dog house? Dad house (for

Sunday ball games,

Wednesday night poker parties,

and/or when he’s in the dawg house)?

How about a root cellar? It's
cool and dark without being cold
and gloomy. It is neither too dry
nor too humid. It is just the
kind of environment to protect
your newly harvested vegetables
and reduce your need for ir-
radiated food.

Maybe you happen to be one
of the imprudent ones. There
were a few who did not let the
paranoia of the ‘50s send them
burrowing into the ground look-
ing for a hoie in which to ‘duck
and cover.’ If you are feeling
left out, how about these other
likely locations for a root cellar?

That unfinished corner of the
basement? Turning it into a
Storage room for vegetables
might be just the ticket to get
the wife off your back. The
garage, an unheated pantry, or a
corner of the workroom might
work.

In fact, any area that meets
that idyllic environment of the

bomb shelter will do just fine. [t
shouid be cool, say 45 to 50°F.
It must never approach freezing.

The perfect vegetable storage
area has neutral humidity. That
is to say, the air will neither be
arid enough to dry out your
vegetables nor damp enough to
cause rot.

The best bomb shelters guar-
anteed a radiation-free environ-
ment. The only radiation we
need to eliminate in order to
store vegetables is that emitted
by the sun. Light can be as
damaging to stored vegetables as
rot and freezing temperatures, so
keep it as dark as possible.

OK, so you have hauled the
gas masks, geiger counters, can-
ned goods, and crossword puz-
zles out of the shelter. Now
which vegetables, and how do
you store them?

Root crops, such as beets,
carrots, onions, parsnips,
potatoes and turnips, can be

Geoff
Tobiasson

c

OVER THE GARDEN GATE

stored for relatively tong periods
of time. Of course, these should
be stored in separate areas in
order to assure no transference
of flavor.

Try to avoid having one
vegetable stored in contact with
another, even those of the same
varicty. This will lessen the risk
of spreading disease and rot
from vegetable to vegetable.

The best method is to store
each crop in layers and in
wooden flats. The roots in each
layer and the layers thernselves
should be separated by thin
layers of dry peat moss.

Peat will help to maintain

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Friday, August 10, 1990 — North Shore News - 13

i= & GARDEN

Root cellars ideal way
to store excess veggies

constant humidity and
temperature levels around each
crop. As an added bonus, peat
has dispiayed some abilities to
act as a natural fungicide. This
characteristic enables it to inhibit
rot and the spread of disease.

This same environment can be
used for the temporary storage
as well. Those varieties which
will not store well in the warmth
of the house and you do not
have room for in the crisper
should do reasonably well.

This holds for fully ripened
crops off of plants such as
beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts,
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cu-
cumbers, peppers, radishes,
squash, and tomatoes.

These are best stored on open
shelves which have good air cir-
culation. Spread them out in a
well spaced manner on sheets of
newspaper.

Remember, these varieties will
not last too long beyond the date
of harvest, so keep an eye on
them to assure their use before
spoiling.

{n light of the recent devel-
opments in the Persian Gulf,
you may find the conversion of
the bomb shelter into a root
cellar a very wise move. -

The Cold War may be over
but the Fuel War looks like it’s
just getting started. You may
need to trade 10 pounds of
tomatoes for a gallon of gas.

Make new
storage
areas

ALMOST EVERY home has some
unused area that can, with a little
thought, be utilized for storage.

Take, for instance, the area in
the garage over the hood of your
car. By building a simple floor-
standing or hanging shelf, you van
create a good storage area for
garden tools and supplies.

Another area in many garages
that is not usually utilized is the
area under the pitch of the roof.
Many people have built very suc-
cessful storage lofts in their
garages and created a_ sizable
amount of usable square footage.

However, if you do build some-
thing yourself be sure to use good
solid construction procedures as it
is very easy for a great amount of
weight to accumulate on a shelf of
this type. You certainly wouldn't
want it to collapse on the hood of
the car.

Inside the house there are many
corners that lend themselves to
conversion to storage areas. In
two-storey houses there is often an
area under the sloping roof that
can be opened up to offer storage
for bulky items that are not used
on a day-to-day basis. In most
cases there is no access to these
areas and you will have to cut a
small door through from the
bedroom.

Another area in most houses
that is wasted is the area under
the basement stairs. Although this
area is usually only up to six feet
high and slopes down to the
basement floor it can again pro-
vide several valuable square feet
of storage area.

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