Ways to preserve crop surplus

Press, 21 May 1982, Page 7

Ways to preserve crop surplus

GARDENING

by

M. Lusty

A surplus of crops at harvesting time should not prove an embarrassment and certainly need never be wasted. Apart from giving them away to those less fortunate there are so manydifferent ways in which it is now possible to keep fruit and vegetables in some form or other for quite some time. Preserves of all kinds, drying and freezing, are the main tried and proven methods of keeping an exceptionally wide range of foods. People once tended to chiefly rely on natural storage for a variety of out-of-season fruits and vegetables - very much more than they do today. Few fruits and vegetables improve with storage but with adequate care they can be retained in good order for many weeks, even months, beyond their time of harvesting. It all depends on careful handling and selection, suitable storage facilities and periodic inspection for deterioration.

One factor which cannot be overcome is the prevailing seasonal weather, which can have a considerable and often unrecognised influence. Salad crops and most early-maturing fruits are not suited for long-term keeping because they rarely retain top quality for more than a short time after picking. Root crops such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes are very suitable, as are longkeeping cultivars of onions and many of the cucurbits. The later apples and pears include some which will hold in excellent condition for as long as six months or longer. Apart from ensuring that the vegetable or fruit is suitable for long-term storage, a check on quality and the provision of adequate storage facilities cannot be over emphasised in order to achieve good results. Onions will store very well provided renowned. longkeepers such as Pukekohe Longkeeper are used. Even then it is necessary to cure the bulbs beforehand and keep thick necks, soft or damaged ones to one side.

The bulbs should be topped and tailed, and stored in a cool, dry position such as on wire netting shelves which enable total all-round air circulation.

The once very popular method of stringing them in a bunch and hanging them from a rafter is very useful because it enables rapid inspection and a quick selection to be made.

Pumpkins, squashes and marrows are favourites for storage too. Again, suitability and maturity play a key role in their ability to remain sound for a long time. Crown, Buttercup, Golden Hubbard Kumi-kumi provide excellent examples of this kind. Careful handling, cutting the stalk back to within 20mm of the fruit and the selection of a reasonably cool, frost-free, dry position are required, the exclusion of light not being essential. The application of copper oxychloride is useful to reduce the possibility of storage rot. Potatoes store well. They should be mature main crop, free from any disease, injury or pest problems; they should be dry and must be stored in the dark to avoid greening. A sprout inhibitor can be dusted lightly over them which will help to keep them firm. Temperature below 11C should be avoided because low temperature increases the sugar level in the tubers, causing undue sweetness. An alternative to bagging the potatoes is to store them in a •clamp but this must be properly constructed if it is to prove satisfactory. In welldrained soil, the tubers could be left and dug as required. Where the drainage is good or the ground is not required for other purposes, carrots and parsnips can likewise be left and lifted when needed. Otherwise, they should be lifted and stored in damp sand in a cool, shady place. Again, only sound roots should be retained in this way.

Apples and pears should not be kept in the same containers and this applies also to cultivars of the same fruit.

Rough picking and handling will quickly cause bruising of some of these fruit. Golden Delicious and to a lesser extent Granny Smith are particularly susceptible to this form of carelessness although it may not always be obvious at the time. Once more, selectivity pays dividends if these fruit are to keep well.

All blemished fruit should be kept separately and this includes those which have been scorched by the sun. Individual- wrapping in newspaper is not necessary, but heaping up on wire racks is definitely not recommended. They store very well in boxes, placed on the southern side of a building or hedge, where it is cool, and slightly moist. Gardeners'

queries Could you please help me

regarding my passion fruit. It has a lot of fruit which comes on green and turns orange, is soft but is full of only seeds. Is the plant lacking in something. It gets plenty of water. “Pensioner’' (Ashburton). It would seem most, likely that you have an ornamental passion fruit vine which does not produce an edible fruit — the flower, or a description of it, should help to identify it. The only way. of improving the worth of its crop would be to graft desirable species or varieties on to the plant. This could be done in September. You would need to get suitable grafting material during the wintei and keep it fully preserved in a dormant state until required.

It is during the late autumn and winter that one comes to fully notice and appreciate the attractiveness and contrasts provided by the stems and trunks of many shrubs and trees; these are mainly deciduous, and bereft of leaves even the less colourful ones can have appeal if one looks into or up at their limb structures. The birches provide some trees which are very notable for the appearance of their trunks and bark, such as the silver birch, Betula pendula (pictured); grey birch, B. populifolia; paper birch, B. papyrifera; and the yellow birch, B. lutea.