Agriculture
In* """ " 7" ' " ' ' ~
A growing concern
*??
County residents turn to gardening for relaxation, savings
Puttering in the backyard
? garden is becoming an in
creasingly popular pastime in
Perquimans County. Young
and old, veterans and
newcomers, more and more
people are taking up hoes and
. rakes to dig in the dirt.
Some are doing it to relax,
I some to save money, but it's a
? sure bet that more are doing it
than used to, and this time
next year, still more will have
taken up the habit.
"I'd say that 40 to 50 percent
of the families in the county
have home gardens," said
county extension chairman
Bill Jester.
"It's one way people are
trying to tackle the problem of
poor quality produce they buy
in the store and another way
they are trying to tackle high
priced vegetables in the
store," said Jester.
He said that a survey done
by Gallup for the National
Association of Gardening,
showed that most people start
Iron oxide treatment
Bruce Winslow applies iron
oxide treatment (more
commonly referred to as the
??
hoe) to his garden off Grubb
Street. Nearly half the
families in Perquimans
County enjoy a backyard
garden, and that number is
growing.
Enjoy garden all year
Of course there's nothing
like fresh vegetables out of the
.field, but to keep on enjoying
; homegrown vegetables right
.through the winter, freezing
' and canning are the answers.
; Home economics agent
, Juanita Baily offers a few tips
on storing vegetables to keep
the grocery bill in check all
year long.
; Whether freezing or can
ning, Mrs. Baily said it is
important to start with a
quality product. There is no
point in storing vegetables
now that won't be worth un
screwing the lid on in the
;future.
? In canning, standard jars
?that are made for the purpose
are essential, not mayonnaise
or coffee jars. These "once
only" jars are prone to ex
plode in the canning process,
and do not come with the rings
and seals necessary for a
proper seal, Mrs. Baily said.
I Make sure that there are no
phips, nicks or cracks in the
jars.
; The extension service
recommends pressure, can
ping for certain types of
vegetables and boiling water
path canning for others.
In pressure canning, the
jars are placed in a pressure
cooker for a certain length of
time and under a certain
pressure depending upon the
product.
The boiling water bath
process requires that the jars
be placed in a large pot, with a
rack in the bottom, and that
the jars be covered with at
least two inches of water.
Freezing is very simple,
Mrs. Baily said. Just wash the
product, blanch it, put it in a
container or plastic freezer
bag, label the package, date it,
and tuck it away in your
freezer.
Mrs. Baily said that if
vegetables are frozen this
summer, they should be used
before next summer.
Blanching, she said, con
sists of dipping the vegetable
in boiling water, then im
mediately dipping it in ice cold
water, and putting it away to
freeze.
This helps lock in flavor and
color, and inactivates plant
enzymes that can make the
product tough, she said.
Either process makes for
good vegetables, long after the
garden has dried up and
withered away, but some
people prefer one process over
the other.
"A lot of people say they like
canned vegetables better,"
Mrs. Baily said, partly
because they prefer the taste,
and partly because the sterile,
pre-cooked process makes
preparation easier.
"In freezing you do have to
worry about freezer burn,"
Mrs. Baily said. Careful,
airtight packaging, however,
can prevent freezer burn.
The extension service
recommends boiling frozen
foods for at least 10 minutes
before serving.
Further information on
canning specific varieties of
vegetables can be obtained
through the extension office.
There is aim a toll-free teletip
line that offers extensive in
formation on canning and
freezing garden vegetables.
Contact the extension service
for details.
? Premium quality
? Over 1000 colors
? Dries quickly
? High hiding, washable finish
? Soapy water cleanup
their first girden with in
tentions of saving on theii
grocery bills, but after a fe*
change motiv,tioiii
"People who stay in g?r
Jj* l"i* * motivated
more by the physical and
mental benefits, in other
w<>nls. it's a type 0
recreation."
^'"attw
Area gardeners appear to
?gree. "I use it fof
reUxation." said Howard
,*? manager of Hert
ford FCX. Williams has a
"i*e?ar<len behind I toe store.
I like to get out of here and
mess with it." he said. "I'm an
old farm boy. Sometimes I
just like to go out and look at
Williams agreed that a
Person is as likely to raise a
garden for the pure enjoyment
of it as for the money he can
save.
"Just like my daddy He's
retired and I think he spends
t?i!l,S k"16 in his garden."
Williams cans and freezes
his own vegetables, including
one unusual specialty, pickled
snap beans.
H.W. Woodcock, manager of
Fyrofax Gas, works a 50' by
75 garden behind the gas
Plant near Hertford on his
lunch hour.
"J to fiddle around with
it. I like the vegetables too "
he said.
Woodcock has two freezers
he loads up with vegetables
each fall.
Asked if he saves money on
his garden, Woodcock
responded, "Oh yeah, you
better believe it. Last year
Lima Beans were $14 a bushel
I got about 67 bushels.
Midtipiy that up - it runs in
folding green."
He said he rarely buys any
vegetables. Why should he.
with the results he's getting
from his garden?
Ive got the biggest
radishes you ever saw," said
Woodcock. "They're as big as
a beet." As for the rest of his
garden, "It's growing like a
weed."
IneipeMta hobby
Area merchants who deal in
gardening supplies say it's not
expensive to get a garden
started. The amount of money
. involved depends on how
. much a person wants too
r spend.,
( Those interviewed said they
were definitely seeing an
increase in the number of
I persons raising backyard
gardens.
T. Erie Haste, Jr., of Hert
i ford Hardware, said the
number of gardeners took a
tremendous jump in 1974, and
, has been growing steadily
, since then.
He said the number of
gardeners "doubled or
tripled" as a result of the last
serious recession. "Since then
it's been a good , solid 11 to 15
percent every year," he said.
Rising fuel and grocery
prices have sent area
residents out in to the fertile
fields of their back yards to
try and do something about it,
according to Haste's version.
"It's a savings," he said. "1
saw an article that said if you
work a garden effectively
you'll make $10 an hour."
FCX's Williams said that
realizing a savings on gar
dening is dependent on
planting a variety of
vegetables that will keep
grocery store purchases to a
minimum.
Literature furnished by
FCX asserts that the typical
' family of four can save $288
per year on groceries through
gardening, Williams said,
adding that he considers the
figure "a little low."
Haste's list of tools needed
to begin a garden includes a
tiller, which is expensive to
purchase but can be rented or
borrowed, a weeding hoe, a
short pronged rake, and a
garden spade to put plants in.
Seeds, plants, and fertilizer
should run the average
backyard gardener about $10,
said Haste.
On baying wed
Sid Eley, of Pitt Hardware,
issued a word of caution on
buying seed.
Avoid pre-packaged seeds
and buy in bulk. Eley said. As
an example, Eley displayed a
type of seed that costs $1.20 a
pound in bulk. The same seed
costs $7.59 per lb. pre
packaged.
Eley, too, felt that more
people are gardening than at
this time last year, and he is
one of those who maintains a
vegetable plot in his yard.
"I garden for fun," he said.
"That's why a whole lot of
people around here garden."
For those who want to get in
on it. Jester issued a list of
starter points.
The garden should be
planned in advance, with soil
testing in different areas for
different types of plants.
The N.C. State Gardening
Manual, available through the
extension office, provides a
guide for deciding how much
of each type of vegetable to
plant in order to avoid
wastage.
Apply lime and fertilizer
according to the results of the
soil test, then disc and bed,
and plant the seed, or tran
splant according to the proper
time for the area.
Where insect problems arise
the best policy is to contact the
county agent's office for
identification and a recom
mendation on what kinds of
pesticides to apply, said
Jester.
Nematodes can be a
problem in older gardens and
methods of control include
changing the site and
chemical treatment.
Nematicides are extremely
poisonous, however, and
Jester said he strongly
recommends contacting the
extension office before ap
plying.
Weed control is a simpler
matter. Jester recommends
the iron oxide treatment,
more commonly referred to as
the garden hoe.
Knowing when to harvest is
another crucial element for
some garden products.
Cantaloupes are ripe when
they slip off the vine, said
Jester. Watermelons; when
the bottom side turns yellow,
though some preferr the
thumping technique.
Winter squash and pum
pkins must be harvested
properly for storing, Jester
said. A portion of the stem
should always be left on the
fruit.
Still time to plant
For those who haven't done
so already, there is still time
to get that backyard garden
started. Haste said that peas,
beans, squash, and corn are a
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few of the garden products
that can be planted.
He said cabbage and collard
seed should be planted around
the first of August, so they'll
be ready for transplanting
around the first of September.
"About that time, sew your
fall garden," Haste said. That
garden may include just about
any root plants, he said.
Ha?te is a gardener himself,
and another advocate of
gardening for pleasure. "I just
enjoy doing things that make
you feel like you've ac
complished something," he
said.
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