We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, October 5, at
Pathfinder Produce for all the great fresh tastes of autumn. Although some of
our available items may change because of the hurricane's impact on growing
areas in the south, our market staff is dedicated to bringing a rich variety of
produce items to our customers. Plus, with our Pathfinder Hoop House Harvest in
full swing, there are many locally grown tastes to try … and it doesn't get any
fresher!
***
Last weekend, the power went out at our house as a vehicle had hit
an electrical pole. Our ever-vigilant local crews -- emergency and electrical –
came to the scene to handle the downed wires, and power was restored quickly.
But for the few hours we were out, it made us think about what life was like
before electricity was available at every rural home.
In some areas of New York State, some areas are served by
municipal power, and many villages had their own hydro-power stations in the
early 1900s. It took outlying areas longer to get power, and under FDR's
1930s rural electrification programs, these areas were served through the
establishment of electrical cooperatives – membership-based organizations that
are still active today. In New York, there are four cooperatives –
Otsego, Oneida-Madison, Delaware, and Steuben. To learn more about
municipal power and cooperatives, visit the New York Association of Public
Power website.
I remember my grandparents’ stories about living in days before
electricity at their Sullivan County farm. They would use kerosene lamps at
night, and would preserve food by canning or using a root cellar for storage. I
think it was a high cause for celebration when my grandmother got her first
chest freezer in the 1950s, as it meant an easier time of preserving the
vegetables and meat they raised at their “Happy Angus Farm.” (You
can learn more about Clarence Birdseye and the advent of frozen food at the Living
History Farm website).
Anyhow, I digress – back to root cellars. Typically, it was
at this time of year that root cellars would be thoroughly cleaned,
white-washed, and then packed full of just-harvested root vegetables that were
raised by rural families to last through the year. Dusty Old Thing
shares some great pictures and root cellar facts, and indicates how essential
they were even up through WWII.
Most homes these days don't have root cellars, of course, but
there are people who still store root crops using this traditional
method. This write-up from Morningchores.com shares a
number of ways to develop cool, dry storage for your garden produce. Some are
built into an existing cellar and use modern insulation; others are dug into
hillsides or rely on tires and earth bags to create earth mounds. Root
cellars rely on the premise that below the frost line, ground temperatures
remain relatively constant at 45 or 50-degrees F. (Refrigerators are just
slightly cooler than that, at about 35 F).
Until next time, enjoy the freshness of the harvest, and be well!
Lori
