Fresh Vegetables All Winter-By f. f. Rockwell, 



MAKING REAL USE OF THE LIGHT COOL AND SMALL GREENHOUSE— EASILY GROWN 

 CROPS THAT WILL KEEP UP A CONSTANT SUPPLY UNTIL THE SPRING GARDEN SETS IN 



Con- 

 necticut 



jl T LEAST some of the fresh vege- 

 7\ tables which winter gardening 

 / % makes possible should be enjoyed 

 •A- -^ by every possessor of a green- 

 house, no matter how small it is. Any one 

 whose gardening experience has been con- 

 fined wholly to crops out-of-doors will be 

 surprised at the very small amount of space 

 required to furnish the average home table 

 with such fresh vegetables as are usually 

 forced during the winter months. Take 

 lettuce, for instance: in the garden, under 

 what you consider intensive cultivation, 

 you plant it 12 inches apart each way — 144 

 square inches to a plant. Under glass, it 

 can be grown as close together as 6 inches 

 each way for the loose leaf kind, and 7x7 

 inches for the heading sort — 36 and 49 

 square inches, respectively! At the former 

 distance, on a bench space only 3x6 feet, 

 seventy- two heads can be grown. True, 

 for commercial purposes, these distances 

 are usually increased an inch each way; 

 but, where the crop is to be used for the 

 home table, and where every other head 

 can be taken out, before they are quite 

 matured, the distances named are ample. 



I have grown tomatoes successfully as 

 close together as 18 inches each way; and 

 in a small greenhouse, where many flowers 

 are grown, and where space is not available 

 for tomatoes, I have seen them grown 

 successfully in wooden boxes about 15 

 inches square and 8 deep, which were 

 placed upon the floor in positions where 

 the vines could be trained up. They were, 

 of course, trained to a single stalk and a 

 great deal of the foliage removed in both 

 cases. Cucumbers may be handled in much 

 the same way. Where forced 

 commercially, they are usually 

 given at least 8 feet of head 

 room, but it is possible to grow 

 them on a side bench within 

 two feet or so of the glass, the 

 vines being trained on heavy 

 string or wires run some 6 

 inches below the glass and sup- 

 ported from the sash bars. 

 Half a dozen vines, with good 

 results, will yield a generous 

 supply of cucumbers at a time 

 when a single one is prized. 

 > Radishes mature so quickly 

 where they are given ideal con- 

 ditions that they may be used 

 as a "catch" crop between 

 other vegetables, or a short 

 piece of row 2 or 3 feet long 

 sown every week — the rows 

 need be only 4 inches apart — 

 will keep the table supplied 

 with delicious, crisp roots. 



In achieving success with 

 vegetable forcing in winter, 

 nothing is more important than the selection 

 of suitable varieties. The loose leaf type 

 will do better than the head lettuces, and 

 for winter use, nothing is superior to Grand 

 Rapids. It not only takes less room than 



a heading sort, but matures in a shorter 

 time, can be eaten at any and every stage 

 of development and is the healthiest and 

 easiest to grow of any lettuce I have ever 

 tried under glass. If, however, you must 

 have a head lettuce, there is none superior 

 in quality to the little Mignonette, and it 



Once transplanted lettuce plants ready for permanent beds 



In December or January start tomatoes and grow on in 

 pots until bed or bench space is available 



Cucumbers just beginning to run. Lateral strings are tied across the heavy cords shown to 

 form a supporting network for the vines 



can be planted as close together as 6 or 

 7 inches. Other sorts that can be used, 

 however, are Hitinger's Belmont, Hothouse, 

 Boston Market, and Big Boston, the last 

 thriving well in a cooler temperature than 



158 



that required for the other sorts, except 

 Grand Rapids. 



Of radishes which can be grown in the 

 same temperature as lettuce, Rapid Red 

 is one of the earliest and best of the small 

 or button type. Personally, however, I 

 prefer Crimson Giant, a sort which, while 

 it does not mature as early a,s many others, 

 is large enough to eat as soon as any of 

 them and retains its good quality until it 

 attains large size. Comet is a good tomato 

 for inside use; the fruits, while not as 

 large as those grown outside, are specially 

 pleasing in appearance and are superior 

 in quality. Bonnie Best and Chalk's 

 Early Jewel I have also grown successfully 

 inside. The English varieties of tomato 

 are especially grand grown under glass. 

 Of cucumbers, Davis's Perfect andVickery's 

 Forcing are both excellent kinds. Tele- 

 graph and Sion House are proved varieties 

 of the English cucumbers, which grow to a 

 much greater length than the American 

 sorts and are generally considered to be of 

 much superior quality. Of beets, Early 

 Model, Eclipse, and Crosby's Egyptian 

 are good for forcing, but the latter, al- 

 though it is still a favorite variety, I do not 

 consider equal in quality to the others. 

 Among carrots, Early Scarlet Horn, French 

 Forcing and Nantes are good. If growing 

 only one variety, I should plant the latter 

 as some of the roots will be ready to use 

 almost as early as some of the other sorts, 

 and those remaining as the rows are 

 thinned out for use will continue to grow. 

 If you want to try beans, grow a first 

 quality early sort, such as Early Bountiful. 

 After settling the question of varieties, 

 there are, of course, the details 

 of temperature, ventilation, 

 fertilization and so forth, 

 which have to be looked after 

 with each of the several crops 

 that have been mentioned. 



As I have already said the 

 loose-leaved lettuce is more 

 certain to give satisfactory 

 results under glass than the 

 heading sorts. There is, how- 

 ever, no reason why you should 

 not succeed with the latter if 

 you like it enough better to 

 pay for the extra care re- 

 quired. Greater care in water- 

 ing will be necessary, especially 

 after the heads begin to form. 

 It is best to apply the water to 

 the soil only, and to water on 

 bright days, so that the sur- 

 face of the soil and any parts 

 of the foliage which have be- 

 come wet may be dried off be 

 fore night. During the larger 

 part of the development of the 

 plant a temperature of 45 to 50 degrees at 

 night should be maintained, but just after 

 setting the plants in the bed and while the 

 heads are forming about 5 degrees less than 

 that will be safer. Both Grand Rapids 



