Fall Vegetables

Does your hero or heroine have need to store their fall vegetables? Below are a couple excerpts from various sources regarding storing up vegetables for winter use.

VEGETABLES.
If one has a good, dry cellar, it is more economical to purchase in the fall vegetables for winter use, such as beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, etc., which keep better if imbedded in sand, and keep in a place just cool enough not to freeze. Squash and onions require a very cool, dry room. However, so many vegetables are now in market the year round that unless one has a place perfectly adapted to keeping vegetables and fruits, it will not pay to invest one's money, as when they are kept in too warm a place they soon spoil, and money is lost.
Carrots, beets, turnips and summer squash reach us as early as March or April from the Southland by the last of June home-grown ones appear. Cabbage is in market all the year round, so are onions, leeks, celery, lettuce, watercress, spinach, dandelions, or some kind of greens. Green peas may be found in February or March, and home-grown by the last of June; tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers from hothouse or the South in March; asparagus, home-grown, in
April; cucumbers and tomatoes in June or July; green corn from South last of May, home-grown July.
In vegetables as in fruit, the middlesized, heavy ones are considered best. Too small are not mature, too large overgrown, and are apt not to have as fine flavor, and to contain too much woody fibre or cellulose. Good, fresh vegetables are shapely, usually smooth, and are firm to the touch, and when lifted, heavy for size. Winter vegetables should be mature before gathering, that the skin may form an impervious covering. They should always be well dried before storing. The fall price of winter vegetables depends upon the supply and demand, the winter price upon the supply, demand, and time in winter when they are purchased. The price of green vegetables usually depends upon whether in or out of season, and the size of the crop, the demand, and upon the keepingqualities.
Neither green nor winter vegetables should be purchased if they have lost their freshness or are withered. Vegetables, fruits and fish are most costly when out of season. They are said to be in season when cheapest. They may be on the market and still be out of season. They are in season in a locality at the time in the year when they have come to perfection, or have matured. The marketing outline spoken of may also be used as a reference-book to tell when either of the three were in season on previous years as well as the price at that time.
Source: The Oread ©1899

Artichoke
Storing.—At the approach of frost cut the remaining Chards; and store them in sand in a dry cellar or shed.
Jerusalem Artichoke
Storing.—Raise a portion of the crop during November, and store it in dry sand, ashes or earth, leaving the remainder to be dug up as required.
Beets
Storing.—Carefully lift the crop with a fork at the first autumn frost, taking precautions not to bruise or injure the roots; cut off the tops an inch from the crown; shorten any long fang-roots; and store in dry sand or earth in a cool shed, or in a cool, dry clamp, as advised for Carrots.
Broccoli
Storing. — In some gardens Broccoli are raised at the approach of winter, and stored closely in a cellar; but we prefer to let them finish out-of-doors.
Cabbage
Storing.—If it should be necessary to store Cabbages, place them in a barrel or box half buried in the garden, and cover them thickly with litter and dry soil.
Carrots
Storing.—Carefully raise the main crop before the advent of autumn frosts; and—after cutting off the tops, and lightly brushing away the earth—either store the roots in dry sand or soil in a cool shed or cellar, or pile them, neck outwards, in low heaps, which must be thickly covered with litter, and finally—when danger from heating has passed away—with a layer of dry earth.
Cauliflower
Storing.—As the crop soon spoils after attaining perfection, the plants should be drawn, if they mature in greater quantities than can be immediately consumed, and suspended root upwards, as they are, in a cool, dark cellar, where they may be slightly syringed daily. Late supplies can be similarly treated at the advent of frost, or they may be stored for nearly a month in sand in any dry position.
Celery
Storing.—Raise a portion of the crop, and store the roots closely together on a layer of soil in a box or barrel, through the sides of which inch-holes have been bored about 4 inches from the bottom. The roots and some soil should be left adhering to the plants, which will require an occasional watering through the holes. Blanched roots should be trimmed closely and pack ed tightly in an upright position in moss or sand in a box.
Chicory
In October commence to raise a few roots of the latter at a time with a fork; wrench off the tops; and pack the roots closely in boxes of moist soil or sand in a cool and perfectly dark cellar or shed, from wnich frosts can be excluded. Begin to break off the leaves for use about 3 weeks after storing. Water only when the plants begin to flag. The blanched foliage produces a surprising amount of delicious salading material; and—by judicious management—a continuous supply can be obtained through the winter and spring.
Onions
Giant Zittau Giant Rocco
Storing.—Draw the bulbs in dry weather; and let them lie, roots towards the sun, on the bed, gravel paths, or the floor of a sunny shed for a few days; after which they may be bunched, or topped and stored in heaps under mats in any dry, airy and cool place.
Parsnip
Storing.—Lift a few roots for immediate use in early November; but provided the soil be reasonably welldrained, the bulk of the crop should be left in the ground to be dug up as actually required, a covering of litter being afforded during severe frosts. Should, however, the land be heavy, it is well to raise the whole supply towards the end of November, and store it in sand or dry earth in a very cool cellar or shed. What remains of the crop must be raised and stored in February.
Potatoes
Stori-ng.—Lift the crops during fine weather, placing the fork well under the tubers so as not to injure them; and allow them to dry for a few hours on the surface soil. It is not advisable to wait until the shaws die down, as Potatoes ripen quite as well in a dry shed as in the ground, where they are exposed to many risks. Medium sized, handsome specimens may be put on one side for seed purposes. Store the best of the crop under a thick covering of straw in a dry shed for 3 or 4 weeks; after which, sort out the good tubers, and place them in outdoor pits and clamps in dry positions, or in heaps or tubs in a dark cellar, whence frost, light and air can be excluded. Stored tubers should so far as possible be -examined and picked over once in every few weeks.
Radishes
Storing.—Raise China Rose and Black Spanish Radishes during November or December; and store the roots in dry sand in a shed or cellar.
Shallots
Storing.—Lift the crop in dry weather on its nearly attaining maturity; and store it in any dry and well ventilated shed or cellar, to complete the process of ripening in safety. The bulbs can be kept as advised for Onions.
Turnip
Storing.—Lift a portion of the crop before winter; and—after lightly trimming the roots and cutting off the tops about J inch from the crown, store the bulbs in dry sand or earth in a cellar, or in any other position where air and frost can be excluded. Raise the remainder as required. Any plants left over until spring will produce a supply of greens.
Source: The Culture of Vegetables ©1897