Mountain Times - Volume 49, Number 35 - Aug.26-Sept.1, 2020

28 • The Mountain Times • Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020
Preserve your garden produce
for delicious winter meals
by Melinda Myers
All your hard work is paying off with a bountiful harvest.
Fresh produce is filling your garden, countertops, and refrigerator
while the garden keeps producing more. Preserve
some of your harvest to enjoy throughout the winter with
some tried-and-true or updated variation of food preservation
techniques.
Hanging bundles of herbs to dry is a long-time practice
that works. Harvest herbs in the morning just after the dew
has dried off the leaves. Rinse, allow them to dry,
and remove any damaged or dried leaves.
Gather the dry herbs into small bundles
and secure with a rubber band. Use
a spring-type clothespin to hang the
bundles from a clothesline or hanger
in a warm, dry, airy place out of direct
sunlight.
Extend the life, flavor, and nutritional
value of squash with proper harvesting
and storage. Only store blemish- and
damage-free fruits and vegetables to
reduce the risk of mold and decay developing
during storage.
Harvest zucchini when the fruit is 6
to 8 inches long and scalloped squash
when 3 to 6 inches in diameter. Store
these in a plastic bag inside the vegetable
crisper drawer in your refrigerator
for several days.
Wait to harvest winter squash when
the fruit is full-sized, and the rinds are
firm and glossy. The portion touching the
ground turns from cream to orange when the fruit is ripe.
Use a pruner to harvest the fruit, leaving a one-inch stem
on each fruit. Cure all winter squash, except for acorn, in
a warm, humid location. Then move to a cool, dry, wellventilated
area to store for several months. In the past,
gardeners stored these, potatoes, onions, and fruit in
wooden racks that maximized storage space and allowed
air to reach each layer of produce.
Boost your cabbage harvest with this trick. Remove firm
full-sized heads but leave the lower ring of leaves and roots
intact. The plant will form several smaller heads.
Harvest cucumbers based on how you plan to use them.
Pick the fruit when it is 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches long if you plan on
making sweet pickles. Allow the cucumbers to grow a bit
bigger, 3 to 4 inches, if dill pickles are on the menu. Harvest
those for slicing when the skin is firm, bright green and the
fruit is 6 to 9 inches long.
Turn a portion of your harvest into something delicious.
Fermentation is a relatively easy preservation technique
used for thousands of years. Preserve some of your cucumbers
as pickles, cabbage as sauerkraut,
and berries as preserves with fermentation.
Store fermented fruits and vegetables in a
cool, dark place or extend their shelf life by
canning the finished product. For most projects,
you just need the fruit or vegetables, water,
salt, and spices. The desired ingredients
are placed in a covered vessel, like a 3-gallon
fermentation crock. Weights are used to
keep the fruit and vegetables submerged in
water throughout the fermentation process.
If your garden is still producing when
frost is in the forecast, extend the harvest
season. Cold frames and cloches are triedand-true
techniques used for extending
the growing season. A modern method
employs floating row covers. These spun
fabrics allow air, light, and water through
while protecting plants from frosty conditions.
Cover the plantings and anchor the
fabric in place. Lift to harvest and enjoy several
more weeks and even months of gardenfresh
produce.
Select the storage and preservation methods that work
best for your garden produce, growing location, and
lifestyle. Once you enjoy homegrown produce in winter
meals, you will start growing more produce to eat fresh,
share and preserve.
Melinda Myers is the author of numerous gardening
books, including “Small Space Gardening.” Myers is a columnist
and contributing editor and was commissioned by
Gardeners Supply for her expertise to write this article. Her
website is MelindaMyers.com.
Game recap: Blow-outs and nail-biters
>
from page 25
first ever, Smith Donelan and Colin “Hungry Like The” Wolf
hit the others. Swahny showed his speed in the sixth with
a two-run, inside-the-park home run. Ronzoni knocked
FSBB out of the playoffs with back-to-back CBKs looking to
Wyatt Mosher and Andrew Nevins with a final of 24-8.
Tucker Zink went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and a
RBI and Judd “Apples” Washburn went four for four with a
single, three homers, four runs scored and seven RBI.
Schedule
(All games played at Barstow School Lower Field)
Wednesday, Aug. 26:
Game 2 of the Championship 5:50 p.m. &
Game 3 (if necessary) 7 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 31: All-Star Game 6 p.m.
By DJ Dave Hoffenberg
Looking forward: Believe it or not, it’s time to buy bulbs to plant this fall and enjoy come spring
>
from page 24
gardens are full of color.
I enjoy planting bulbs as the cooler
temperatures are pleasant for working
outside compared to the heat we
all endured this summer. Planting
bulbs takes time and it is annoying to
find squirrels munching on them. So
how can you protect the bulbs from
becoming “dinner” for them?
There are several methods, some
easier than others. A quick method
is to lay chicken wire over the area
where you planted and stake it down.
You can also plant bulbs in wire
cages. Place the bulbs in the center
of the cage and fill the edges with
dirt so critters can’t gnaw around the
edges. Some people also use crushed
oyster shells in the planting area. The
squirrels don’t like the sharp edges of
the shells.
There are also scent-based
products that critters find offensive.
However, these wash away in the rain
and require frequent applications.
I have tried chicken wire but for a
flower garden that is 50 feet long like
mine that is a lot of work and expense.
So I just plant extra bulbs and accept
the fact that I will be “sharing” with
the squirrels. It’s hard for me to get
mad when I see how happy they look
with their treat!
It becomes a bit of a mystery
when I find a bulb lying in the garden
and have no idea where it actually
belongs. I push it back into the dirt
where I find it and in the spring when
a “lone soldier” tulip appears I just
chuckle.
This is a good time to take a look
at your garden and plan the layout of
bulbs you will be planting later on.
When choosing colors I have found
that lighter shades show up best
against garden soil or mulch. Yellow,
apricot, pale pink, light blue and
white are much more visible than
darker colors like purple or deep red.
However, if you mix in some dark
colors among the lighter ones they
are showcased nicely.
I have found that squirrels are
much less interested in digging up my
daffodil and hyacinth bulbs than they
are my tulip bulbs. For that reason I
am always looking for a bargain when
it comes to tulips. Usually the more
bulbs offered per bag…the better the
price. That way I don’t feel as bad when
I don’t see all of them rise up in May.
Hyacinths are becoming my new
favorite flowers. There are numerous
color choices and they have a
wonderful fragrance that truly speaks
of spring. I plant them near the city
sidewalk and people often stop to
enjoy their scent and sometimes they
snap a photo at the same time.
So shop around for bulbs, order
now if you can’t find what you want
locally but wait until October to plant
them. Then settle back for the winter
and look forward to seeing colorful
flowers in the spring.
>
Cortina Inn: Is now Vista Senior Living
from page 1
Legionella, a bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease.
The Bhaktas reopened the inn, which dates back to 1968,
soon after completing extensive work that involved
installing new well pumps and new boilers.
The Bhaktas have converted several struggling inns
to assisted living facilities in other states, including Massachusetts,
Florida and Colorado.
The former Cortina Inn will have a total of 29 units for
29 units for memory care, 22
units for assisted living and 16
rooms for independent living.
memory care, 22 units for assisted living and 16 rooms
for independent living.
Saxena said there’s been interest in the building but
the owners aren’t taking applications until they get permits
from the state. An official opening date has yet to
be announced. Saxena said the owners are still assessing
staffing needs and protocols that will need to be in place
due to the pandemic.
“Everyone has memories in [the building,]” Saxena
said. “Why not give Mendon and the Rutland area a
senior living community?”