CHAPTER EIGHT 



PLANNING THE GARDEN 



Let us sit down by the crackling fire and lay out plans 

 for the year. 



Old Farmer's Almanac 



THE arrangement of every home vegetable garden 

 should be worked out according to a plan made several 

 weeks in advance of the earliest planting dates. This 

 will allow time for buying seed before planting time. 

 The plan should show the kinds of crops to be grown, the 

 relative location of each, and the space to be given to 

 each kind. 



Such points as the size of the garden plot, the kind of 

 soil, the drainage, the exposure to sunlight, how the 

 garden is to be cultivated, the local climatic conditions, 

 the particular needs of the crops to be grown, the family 

 tastes and preferences for vegetables, and whether the 

 family will be away during the summer, are all matters 

 to be considered in planning the garden. It will help 

 greatly in deciding what crops should be grown and how 

 much of each it is best to plant, if a definite plan of the 

 garden is made. 



Making the plan. In drawing a plan it is best to draw 

 to a scale. This means that the garden itself is first 

 measured and then the plan of it is drawn so that each 

 inch on the plan represents a certain number of feet 

 in the garden. If the garden is small the plan may be 

 drawn on a scale of 2 feet to the inch ; for the moderate- 

 sized garden it is better to use a scale of 4 feet to the 

 inch ; and for the very large garden a scale of 8 feet to 

 the inch may be necessary. In this way, by using the 

 divisions on an ordinary ruler ( such as ^ inch, inch, 



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