38 MY HANDKERCHIEF GARDEN. 



pale green of young lettuce plants, they would look 

 well in the best room of any home. 



From my experience with such window boxes, six 

 boxes, occupying three sunny windows, would be 

 sufficient to supply all the early cauliflower, cabbage, 

 lettuce and tomato plants needed in a home garden 

 intended to supply a family of three adults and two 

 children. Supplemented with cold frames, covered 

 with either glass or protective cloth, they would easily 

 carry one thousand plants, or more than enough for 

 a dozen handkerchief gardens. My experience is 

 that, even without frames, all the plants you need for 

 your home garden can be raised in your windows 

 without a single cent's extra cost in the way of fuel. 

 Your home must be warmed in any event, and the 

 same heat will bring on a crop of young plants with 

 only the cost of the* seeds, the boxes, and a little 

 rather entertaining work at odd moments for about 

 six weeks in the early spring. 



My journal of work records that Early Jersey Wake- 

 field cabbage and Extra Early Erfurt cauliflower seeds 

 were planted in boxes on February 22d, and the 

 Early Snowball cauliflower planted March 9th. The 

 first lot of plants were transplanted into other boxes 

 by the middle of March, and were removed to the 

 cold frame early in April, and were set in the open 

 ground April 27th. The second plantings came a 

 little later, and the first cauliflowers were placed on 

 the table on July 4th, while the last were eaten on 

 July 22d. The first cabbages were cut on July 15th, 

 and they lasted well into August. To those who have 

 never tried it, early summer cabbage, just beginning 

 to head and fresh from the garden, will prove a new 

 dish. You may have eaten something so-called and 

 thought it very good. You haven't really been there, 

 unless you have a garden of your own. 



