Harvest
(Continued from Page B 20)
class by class. Everyone, however,
young or old, was treated to free
ice cream cones, chicken, hot dogs,
Lancaster County grown potato
chips and much more.
Lunchtime on Friday not only
offered free food but enjoyable
entertainment as well. Several
personalities, including the mayor,
county commissioners, TV and
radio personalities and bank
representatives found themselves
at the flanks of a few cooperating
cows for a milking contest.
Hamilton Bank’s chairman of
the board, Wilson McElhinny
finished at the top with 21 ounces of
Festival
milk. Mayor Art Morris followed
closely with 20 ounces. County
Commissioner Jim Huber and
WGAL anchor man Keith Martin
finished in the championship round
with nine and eight ounces,
respectively.
McElhinny, however, had to
withstand one more test. He
squared off in a challenge round
with Lancaster County Dairy
Princess LuAnn Brenneman, no
stranger to the milk pail.
It was indeed a close race to the
finish, but experience held out over
enthusiasm and Brenneman can
now add one more notch to her
crown. DT.
Save tomatoes from frost
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - With
the first killing frost probably less
than two weeks away, it’s time for
home gardeners to make plans for
indoor ripening of green tomatoes.
By following the suggested
procedure, you can keep fresh
tomatoes well into December, says
Ethel M. Dutky, Extension plant
pathologist in the botany depart
ment of the University of
Maryland.
Select only sound, full-sized
fruit, free of wounds and spots. Be
sure that you harvest green
tomatoes before they are hit by a
hard frost.
If you’ve been following a
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, October 9,1982—821
regular spray schedule through the
summer months, using recom
mended fungicides, your tomatoes
should keep well throughout the
indoor ripening process. These
recommended fungicides include
zineb and chlorothalonil.
But, if you’ve been lax on your
fungicide spraying in the last
month or so, you can reduce post
harvest rots by soaking your green
tomatoes in a diluted chlorine
bleach solution immediately after
harvest.
Use a mixture containing one
part of bleach to 20 parts of water.
This is equal to about three-fourths
of a cup of bleach in one gallon of
water.
Soak tomatoes in the diluted
bleach solution for 10 or 15
minutes. Then rinse and dry them
carefully; spread them out on a
flat surface, and store in a cool,
well-ventilated basement or closet
to ripen.
Winter squash, pumpkins and
gourds will be less prone to rot if
given the same treatment before
storage, Dutky commented
She recommends that ripening
produce be inspected regularly.
Any fruits that show signs of rot or
other damage should be discarded.
Keep in mind that green peppers
seldom ripen well indoors and
should be used promptly after
harvest.