Saving the garden crop

foreign [Music] just take a look at that dear look how many pumpkin pies do you think you could make out of a big fellow like that huh oh you and your pumpkins oh just look at this isn't this Grand do you suppose we could raise cabbages like that pumpkin pie let me see where are we might use those vacant Lots this year where you'll have to move a lot faster than you did last year that's funny I can't find any potato seeds potatoes from seeds then how do you grow them you cut up potatoes with an eye or two in each piece and that's what you plant but if you have to have potatoes to grow potatoes or how they ever get started in the first place you're going too far apart Jimmy this is a victory garden not a Garden of Eden you know you could buy just a few roses that Talisman is gorgeous listen the way things are you'll have to go easy on the perfume of flowers for the duration and be satisfied with a good old smell of onions like these babies that's right Jimmy vegetables are going to be plenty scarce and bloody high too so we've got to grow lots of them oh still I think we can manage a few roses for Judy yeah maybe we'll see well let's decide on our victory garden huh this scene was duplicated in many a Family Circle the country over as amateur gardeners poured over the catalogs and wished for far-off days to come when they would reap the fruits of their labors let's pass over the months of hard work sowing and cultivating and fighting weeds in Sex and weather for now it's the happy harvest time his mother said there's no room in a victory garden for sprawling vegetables like pumpkins and squash but what's this could dad have bought them looks like he's determined to have that pumpkin pie hmm well this cabbages are not so bad Jimmy is getting stronger every minute with his onions and Judy has substituted beans for roses whatever we're going to do with all the veg had eat them all before they spoil well then we can count them oh that would be too expensive say maybe you're right anyway we'll storm store everything yes ma'am I'm gonna store some in the ground and the rest of them in the salon attic you know I've always wanted to try those things out and here's my chance how to keep the vegetables through the winter well there are four ways of providing storage in and around the average home the attic or garage for dried seeds such as beans and peas bush beans are picked or pulled up when a maximum number of pods are ripe when thoroughly dried the beans are threshed out flailing in a bag is an easy way they are then placed in glass fruit jars or cans for storing until they are needed the attic is also a good place to store onions if not too cold they must not be allowed to freeze after they are thoroughly dried they may be hung on slatted shelves or crates where the air can move freely around each bulb the second favorite storage place is the cellar or basement as it's more frequently called nowadays the average seller with a furnace is too warm and dry for successful storage of most vegetables the temperature should be between 35 and 45 for most vegetables and also there should be a window so the air will be fresh wholesome and somewhat damp by choosing a corner with a window you save on labor and materials for the walls of the House serve as two walls of your storage room then too with this Arrangement there is less likelihood of overheating and the window provides the necessary cooling ventilation the window can be left open whenever the outdoor temperature is lower than that of the storage room but must be closed before the room temperature gets down to the freezing point preferably the storage room should have a double wall the temperature is more easily controlled if the space in the wall is filled with sawdust or other insulating material but a double wall without filling will be fairly satisfactory single walls will be more efficient if building paper is used between the boards and the studs it helps to insulate them however be sure that your wall meets the floor closely and also that it meets the ceiling to keep out warm air from the furnace the door should fit tightly in its frame for even small cracks mean air leakage and humidity and temperature trouble care must be taken to remove all fruit and vegetables with blemishes or showing any tendency to decay in storing apples for example be sure that only sound fruit goes into the storage crates beets carrots salsafe and other root vegetables are pulled or dug when the ground is dry enough to work the tops are twisted off and then the roots are examined to sort out those that show bad cuts or signs of bruising or rotting apples may be stored in boxes or baskets or on the floor if the bottom of the container is slightly elevated that avoids the danger of fruit on the bottom getting too wet in case the floor is very moist root crops such as beets carrots and salsafe may be kept in boxes or splint baskets on the concrete floor where the air is cool and moist they must be kept from drying out covering with cloth or packing with sand will help squash may be kept in the main part of the basement but not too near the furnace they require moderate temperature and moderately dry air they will keep better if they are not piled deeply upon each other parsnips improve in flavor if left in the ground even after fairly cold weather sets in for freezing does not injure them before the ground is frozen hard they can be dug and then placed with the other roots in the cellar storage room though seller storage is preferable vegetables can be stored Outdoors where storage space may be either above or underground but it must be dry and covered sufficiently to provide an even temperature above freezing almost any container may be used the sunken Barrel provides an easy economical and efficient means of storing root crops and potatoes father will show us how to use a barrel first he selected a well-drained spot and digs a pit about six inches in depth after knocking out the head and cutting a bed hole in the side he places the Barrel in the pit with a vent up this is an ideal place for storing cabbages for if they are kept in the cellar the characteristic cabbage odor is likely to permeate the entire house in such a pit as this can also be kept potatoes carrots turnips beets and parsnips but these must not be mixed with cabbages now the barrel will be covered with straw and Earth in sections where the winters are severe there should be several alternate layers of straw and Earth when the fruit crops or potatoes are first placed in the barrel the top is left open to allow excess heat and moisture to escape when Colder Weather comes the lid is closed and covered with straw corn stalks leaves or discarded rugs or similar material to keep the vegetables from freezing the straw over the hole in the barrel is banked up to form a ventilating shaft and is covered with a piece of tin to keep moisture out finally a small trench is dug around the pit with an outlet to carry off surface water an important vegetable to the average family is the white potato they should be kept in the cool basement storeroom with the root crops but must be kept dark to prevent Greening if outdoor storage is to be used either a barrel or box or the pit or Mound will do this is a well-drained area so father is digging a pit six inches deep if there had been a drainage problem father would have built a mound now for a six inch layer of straw and we are ready for the potatoes place them on the straw and don't make the bottom of the pile of potatoes any larger than the pit after a few bushels of potatoes have been placed in a pyramid they are covered with straw or whatever was chosen for the lining notice that the straw is carried up to a point at the tip of the pyramid to provide a ventilating flue now the pyramid is covered with Earth to a depth of two or three inches to form a mound in regions where the winters bring zero temperatures the covering should be a foot or more in thickness after the Earth has been shoveled on the ventilating hole at the top is covered and weighted with a stone to keep out the rain a drainage trench around the mound and the job is finished if potatoes are stored where it is warm they will Sprout and shrivel thereby lose their flavor as well as becoming soggy just as potatoes must be kept cool and moist air so onions must be cool and dry for they will mold and rot if there is much moisture present well so now our family has a supply of beans and peas dried and put away in glass jars in the cellar are apples and root vegetables that would race The Family Table all winter near the furnace are squash and Dad's favorites the pumpkins in the barrel and the pit are sleeping beets parsnips potatoes and carrots and in the mound our homegrown white potatoes now they know their way through the pages of the catalogs fortified with experience they look back on the summer of healthful activity a purposeful Recreation and profitable and patriotic endeavor pantry and store room in pit and Mound they have tangible proof of their husbandry so with confidence and high resolve they plan next year's victory garden [Music] oh boy look at that pumpkin pie thank you [Music]