280 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Beds can be built one upon the other leaving about two feet of space 

 between each bed. Never use a dark room or house for mushrooms, but be 

 sure that the beds are protected from the direct rays of the sun. A little 

 artificial heat is a good thing in the winter as the temperature should never 

 be allowed to go above 70 degrees or below 40 degrees. The house in which 

 the beds are located should be on rather high ground at least high enough 

 to afford good drainage. 



MUSTARD. Sinapis sp. 



Mustard is a grievous weed in California, especially on rich 

 soils with moisture. It is also sometimes very profitable as grown 

 for a seed crop. The young plant is sought in the fields as a salad 

 and improved varieties are cultivated to some extent. Both the 

 white and the large cabbage-leaved Chinese kind are grown. The 

 culture is most easy and simple, the treatment being the same as 

 that of lettuce. 



NASTURTIUM. Tropceolum. 



Nasturtiums are largely grown as ornamental plants, but the 

 desirability of the flowers for the garnishing of salads and the use 

 of the flower buds and green seed for pickling and as a substitute 

 for capers gives the plants space in the vegetable garden. They 

 will thrive almost without care or watering in a corner of the gar- 

 den, though better growth will show their appreciation of better 

 treatment. They volunteer freely in California from self-sown 

 seed and continue growth all through the frost-free season. They 

 can be trained on fence or trellis or allowed free range as prostrate 

 plants if space permits; or dwarf varieties may be chosen, as they 

 bloom and fruit freely with less extension. They require little more 

 from the grower than the covering of the seed in soil moist enough 

 for germination. 



OKRA OR GUMBO. Hibiscus esculentus. 



This popular vegetable of the South is not largely grown in 

 California but can usually be had from market gardeners. It re- 

 quires generous moisture supply to thrive and does not take at all 

 kindly to dry heat. Plants may be started in the winter in the ways 

 described for the tomato, and the planting out and treatment is like 

 that of eggplants ; or seed may be sown for later crop in the open 

 ground in drills, the plants being subsequently thinned to about a 

 foot apart. The plants should be well cultivated and kept well sup- 

 plied with water. The Long Green and the White Velvet are the 

 varieties chiefly grown. 



PARSLEY. Apium petroselinum. 



Parsley can be readily grown in California by the use of a 

 raised bed for fall sowing for winter use and by sowing in the early 

 spring for flat culture for summer use. The culture is like that for 

 lettuce except that the plants need wider spacing and extra care has 



