CHAPTER XXVIII 

 THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN * 



As suggested in Chapter I, a home vegetable garden is main- 

 tained for the purpose of supplying the home table with fresh 

 vegetables, and should furnish as large an assortment and as con- 

 tinuous a supply as circumstances will permit. In the ideal garden, 

 the supply is continuous throughout the season. Many gardens 

 would be much better than they are, and much time and annoy- 

 ance would be saved during their planting, if the gardener made a 

 definite plan of his garden several weeks before time for the plant- 

 ing to begin. Suggestive plans for the three types of home gardens 

 mentioned in Chapter I will be presented in the present chapter, 

 together with relative dates of planting for the different crops 

 and other suggestions regarding matters especially pertinent to 

 the proper management of home gardens of different types. 



THE farmer's garden 



Plan of the Garden. — It has already been suggested (see 

 Chapter I) that the garden on the farm be planted in long rows 

 and cultivated with a horse, and that every means possible be 

 employed to reduce the hand labor to a minimum. Time and con- 

 fusion in both planting and tending the garden will be saved if 

 the vegetables are grouped according to their cultural requirements, 

 and the number of plantings made as small as is consistent with 

 the demands of the various crops. Each group of crops may then 

 be planted and tended as one crop, and the garden operations 

 thus greatly simplified. When more than one planting of a given 

 crop is desired for the sake of securing a succession, the second 

 planting may be put in at the same time that other crops are being 

 planted, so that even in this case the number of plantings need 

 not be multiplied. The use of two or more varieties of the same 

 vegetable, differing in their times of maturity, will also aid in 

 keeping dow^n the number of different plantings. 



The exact plan of the garden will depend upon the personal 

 tastes of the owner, and will be different for each individual. 



* Much of the material in this chapter has been adapted from Circular 

 154 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 



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