THE KITCHEN-GARDEN 



Egg-plant is usually either fried in thin hard slices or baked 

 in its own skin ; but we have a way between the two. Peel it and 

 cut it in slices half an inch thick. Soak it in salted water for an 

 hour, roll it in flour, put it in a buttered pan, and cook on top of 

 the stove for five minutes; turn once. Serve at once, so that the 

 outside may be crisp and the inside soft. 



I wonder how often, in America, sorrel soup is made. We are 

 very fond of it, and the gardener is charmed to have us uproot it. 

 A big handful flavors enough soup for eight people Only the 

 leaves are used, chopped fine. Thicken the milk in a double boiler 

 when heated, with a little butter and flour. Have about two cup- 

 fuls of soup stock in a pan, put the sorrel in the stock, mix with the 

 milk the last minute, and strain it before serving. Whipped cream 

 may be added if desired. 



Part of the beauty in a kitchen-garden lies in the well-drained 

 ground kept free from weeds, and the rich black earth crumbly 

 and yet moist lying ready to receive the new seed and return to the 

 air new fruit from its abounding fertility. Every Fall one-seventh 

 of the whole garden is trenched to a depth of two feet, a layer of 

 manure put in, the top soil put at the bottom, another layer of man- 

 ure at a depth of one foot and the bottom soil turned on top. The 

 rest of the garden is all roughly spaded in the Fall, but in the Spring 

 it is trenched to a depth of one foot and a layer of manure put in. 

 Every seven years the whole garden is thus turned upside down, 



leaving only the asparagus and pie-plant undisturbed. 



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