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Don't Write Off Garden Veggies Yet
By
Carol
Spence
 LEXINGTON,
Ky., (Oct. 25, 2006) – The frost may be on the pumpkin, but with
a few precautions there’s still time to enjoy the benefits of
the garden well into fall and early winter.
Plenty of fruits and vegetables enjoy a bit of a bite – in the
air, that is. Cold weather crops such as broccoli, cauliflower,
lettuce, Swiss chard and spinach will still do fine after a
light freeze. For most plants, it isn’t the temperature that is
a problem at this time of year, but the frost itself. When the
ice crystals form inside the plant cells they rupture the cell
membranes, producing the characteristic frozen water soaked
appearance. So protecting frost-sensitive plants by covering the
plants with a light blanket or plastic sheeting can extend the
harvest for several more weeks.
“You don’t have to keep those plants at 60 degrees,” said John
Strang, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension
horticulture professor. “You just have to keep them above
freezing. So if you have a blanket over top of the crop,
weighted down on the edges, you’ve got thermal radiation coming
off the soil that keeps the temperature just above freezing.”
Pumpkins, winter squash and sweet potatoes should have been
harvested already, as frost and low temperatures are detrimental
to their survival. But once off the vine, curing the vegetables
for 10 days at room temperatures will help them keep longer.
Curing allows them to heal any wounds, such as a knick from
pruning shears or a bruise from handling. Warmer inside
temperatures will heal the wounds so microbes won’t infiltrate
and cause them to rot. After curing, storage in a fairly dry
basement at a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees will allow these
vegetables to store for many weeks.
“You need to keep in mind that fruits and vegetables are alive,”
Strang said.
Once they’re removed from the mother plant, they no longer have
the process of photosynthesis feeding them, so they survive on
their reserves of carbohydrates – the starches and sugars
contained within the fruit or vegetable.
“It’s kind of like if you skipped dinner for two weeks. What are
you going to survive on?” he said.
Because the vegetables are alive, they are actually undergoing
respiration, Strang said. Respiration is the process by which
carbohydrates are broken down to provide energy, releasing
carbon dioxide and water. And there are differences in
respiration rates.
Some things, such as asparagus, have a fast respiration rate,
whereas onions and potatoes have a slower rate. Left at room
temperature, the asparagus will not be worth eating in a few
days, but the potatoes and onions will last much longer.
Because of the difference in respiration rate, some varieties
will last longer than others. Acorn squash will store for a
month or two before it burns up its carbohydrates and becomes
stringy. A storage squash called Grey Ghost will store until
spring under the right conditions.
Then there are crops that can be stored right in the garden.
Carrots will last until the ground freezes. In fact, the cold
weather may actually make them a bit sweeter. Strang said that
as long as there isn’t a deep freeze in Kentucky, potatoes can
often be left in the ground for most of the winter. Sweet
potatoes, on the other hand, should be dug up before a hard
freeze. If the end of a sweet potato freezes, it can’t seal
itself off from microbes and it usually rots. However, Strang
said, if you cut the frozen part off and leave the potato at
room temperature, the plant will seal and store.
“There’s an old wives’ tale that frozen sweet potatoes are
poisonous,” he said. “They’re not poisonous. They just don’t
store.” |
Contact: : John Strang, 859-257-5685 |
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of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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