HOME PRESERVING

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 242, 14 October 1942, Page 6

HOME PRESERVING

TREATMENT OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. LECTURE BY MISS COCKS JOHNSTON. New ideas are always refreshing, and when they assist people to make better use of goods at their disposai, they are doubly valuable. New ideas in plenty were gained by the women who attended yesterday afternoon a lecture on the preservation of fruit and vegetables given by Miss Marian Cocks Johnston, and it is safe to assume that some of the new ideas will be served at a number of tables in Marlborough in months to come. Miss Cocks Johnston, who is an Englishwoman, has for more than three years past been travelling throughout New Zealand under a Government grant, giving lectures in home science subjects to women and to school children, and also making broadcast talks. Her activities are directed by a co-ordinating committee in Wellington of the Women's Institutes and the Women's Division of the Farmers' Union. In the last week or so she has spoken in Picton, Koromiko, Spring Creek, Blenheim', and Redwoodtown, and later this week she will go on to do Havelock, the Sounds, Rai Valley, Opouri, Springlands, and Seddon, thence south to Canterbury. Yesterday rnorning she gave a spinning demonstration to the girls of Marlborough College, this rnorning she spoke to a small gathering at Springlands, and , this afternoon she gave a talk on gardening at the Masonic Hall. Miss Johnston prefaced the main part of her lecture yesterday afternoon by references to food values, showing by coloured charts the relative composition of various foodstuffs, and suggesting to her hearers that they use discretion in ipreserving things with the highest nutritive value. She then dealt with natural preservation giving hints for the growing and storage of garden produce. To prevent a whole row of cauliflowers or broccoli from maturing to-

gether, Miss Johnston suggested going down part of the row with a sharp spade and cutting the roots on one side only of each plant about two inches away from it, thus arresting development. Cabbages could be prevented from going to seed before they were needed for use by heeling over the heads to the south, thus making the flow of sap slower. The last tomatoes of the crop, when picked for keeping at the end of the season, were liable to develop tough skins, Miss Johnston said. She described a better method of ripening the fruit off by digging the plants, trimming the leaves and hanging up in semi-darkness in a shed or under a tree. Carrots and beetroot, after being liited and trimmed (taking care to wring the top of beet a little distance from it, to prevent bleeding) could be placed in a wooden barrel or box in alternate layers with river sand or dry soil. Parsnips, however, were better left in the soil, as frost had a beneficial effect, but if it were necessary to lift them, they should be placed head down in a pit to arrest shooting. When storing onions it should be remembered that they required light and air, thus hanging up or plaeing in wire netting baskets were the ideal ways. There were many different theories about the storing of fruit, Miss Johnston continued, but the main principle was to keep in a cool, dark place. Lemons could be stored in sand or smeared with egg preservative. PRINCIPLES OF BOTTLING. Passing on to the subject of bottling, the lecturer dealt first v/ith non-acid vegetables, such as asparagus, peas and broad beans. These should be as fresh as possible, and shculd first be washed and left in a vveak solution of Condy's crystals for an hour, then dipped or blanched to reduce their size, preserve their colour and loosen their fibres. This was done, Miss Johnston explained, by plaeing the vegetables in a ibag and plunging for ten minutes in a boiling solution of salt and water (one

tablespoon to two quarts), then in cold water. Other principles- of bottling which she impressed upon her listeners were the need to have the jars absolutely clean — the backs of the lids in particular needed attention, and the lids should be boiled for 15 minutes — and the importance of not using iodised salt when preserving vegetables. Tomatoes were ideal for preserving, Miss Johnston said, because they lost little in food value. There were said to be 33 different methods, of which she described three — baking, the water bath method and puree or tomato squash.

Touching on the bottling of other fruits, the speaker remarked that the problem this year would be to know whether to use sugar syrup or just water. As a substitute for sugar, honey could 'be used if obtainable. The syrup was prepared by boiling one part of honey with two - parts of water, then skimming. In the north sugar beet was used, by cutting one or two up and simmering them, then using the liquid, and she had heard that in the south the use of seaweed to provide sugar for jam was being experimented with DRYING DESCRIBED.

After describing how to salt beans, Miss Johnston dealt with the drying of beans, apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes and whitebait, showing samples of each. She demonstrated ihe preparation of apples by slicing in rings a quarter of an inch thick, stringing on a stick, and covering v.uth muslin. These could be hung to dry either inside or outside until they took on the consistency of chamois leather, and would last indefinitely, with no need for special storage. General principles o'f the drying of fruit and vegetables were given as follows: Ensure free cireulation of air around the product; when drying in the oven, do not close the door, and use a low temperature for the first two hours (120 degrees F. for vegetables, 130 degrees for fruit) ; and when drying outside, condition off the product inside for several days before putting away. Miss Johnston's talk was followed with great interest by her audience, who took advantage of her knowledge and experienee by asking many questions By following her suggestions housewives will be able to make -better use of good food, and depend less , upon manufactured foods, thus materially assisting the war effort. V-