May, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



235 



$30 Worth of Vegetables from 

 a City Lot 



MY SMALL, city backyard garden (28 x 

 28 ft.) was a decided success last year. 

 The produce grown on this very limited 

 area was nearly all that was needed for a 

 family of three, and part of the time six, 

 from May 15th to November; while squash 

 and celery were to be had in December. 

 Besides, there were twenty quarts of straw- 

 berries, and from the two-years-old currant 

 bushes four quarts of fruit were picked. 

 At prices charged for the various things 

 by our groceryman, the entire produce 

 would have cost me more than thirty 

 dollars. 



The accompanying plan shows that the 

 portion under cultivation (excluding the strip 

 on the south marked "Lima Beans," but 

 now set to hardy flowers) is 28x38 ft. Of 

 this a space of only 28 x 28 ft. is given, each 

 year, to the vegetable garden. Upon the 

 north and east sides there is a high board 

 fence, while upon the south there is a low 

 picket fence, which gives full exposuie to 

 the sun, and at the same time protection 

 from north winds. 



Lettuce and radishes were sown in different 

 parts of the garden early, where later, partly 

 grown plants were to be set so that the first 

 crop did not interfere in the least with the 

 second. Successive sowings were made 

 wherever a little space could be found. The 

 result was that all the ground produced two 

 crops and most of it three during the season. 

 Cucumbers planted between the straw- 

 berries and the onions did not demand room 

 until after both crops had been gathered. 

 Four hills of these were trained up on brush, 

 and two were allowed to run over the straw- 

 berry bed. 



In addition to the one row of onions, as 

 marked on the plan, sets were put in wherever 

 room could be found, and these were pulled 

 as soon as large enough for use. 



The early pea vines were pulled up about 

 July 1st and this space was set to Golden 

 Self-blanching celery in a double row, which 

 yielded about sixty good bunches for late fall 

 and winter use. 



Meanwhile a row of late tomatoes had been 

 growing on the east side of the early peas 

 and another of early ones by the side of the 

 dwarf peas. These were trimmed to one 

 stalk, and fastened to stakes six feet high. 

 All foliage was removed for about two feet 

 above the ground. 



A row of string beans took the place of the 

 dwarf peas, and yielded a fair crop in spite 

 of being less than a foot from the tomato 

 plants. 



In the corn rows a few pole beans of the 

 wax variety we're planted which made good 

 use of the old stalks for poles. Also two or 

 three hills of winter squash were planted 

 which in the late summer completely covered 

 where the corn had been. 



There had been applied plenty of fertilizer 

 from a neighboring barnyard in the early 

 spring while during the growing season 

 nitrate of soda had been used as frequently 

 as the plants could assimilate it. The entire 

 growth was luxuriant, though the crowded 

 condition prevented the best development 

 of everything, yet there was not a single 

 failure. 



The results are for the second summer. 

 The beginning was made on the sand 

 and gravel left by the builders ; and consider- 

 ing this fact, the experiment seems worthy 

 of being told. Anyway, the yard has 

 been completely changed from the usual 



unattractive city "clothes yard" to a place 

 of beauty and genuine utility. 



NAME VARIETY QUANTITY VALUE 





3 1 1 



Rear 



Tulips 6' Annuals 







5 I V - 



Steps 



">* 





7) \ v- J 









a \ : 



: i» 





•< / / --J 



; ui 





~n/ /C 



; C 





r~ / /#Tree 



i 4- 





O 





! c 





:> 







! 3 

 • 0) 





m 











x> 





W 



' 





u> 





ft O 



' 



TJ 











73 

 > 



i 



n 



ZT 



O 











-r 



Co 





■0 — 



<s 



N 





-q 



J 



ii 



n 







00 







n 





O 



in JL 

 a 





1* 

 lit 



11 





~i 



is 





; a 







'> 







|30 





3 



< 



■ 



r 



iU 





c 



rt> 



E 



T^ 





3 



^— 



in 





Co 











O 



u 



<> 





lie 



'10 





V 



<-+ 







1 





r£ 



3- 



~°% 



I 





c 

 in 





w * 

 «-<* 



A 



v 





TJ 





cr 









• 



a> 





'l*j 





1 











TJ 



9 





17 Asparagus 



; 



















r+ Red Currants 







d 





C Striwbei-r.es 







n 











■ rt 5twwberr, C i 



i 





&> 



■ 





CP 

 O 

 -s 



Q- 





O oti-cVw ber 1-1 6- 5 



1 









a. Saeti 





<X> 3^ 1 s 1 f y 





-i 







rt> 







* 





-5 





Earlv Peas Junez2 



i 





Tomatoes 01 poles si« feet hi£h 





WiX Beo.n5 ' Green Beans 



i 





5 





America." Wonder Pea (July I) 



i 

 i 













CD 

 ffi 



5- 





Champion 0+ England Pea. July 15. 6 tt. 







i 





In 





Early Corn- lstalk every 8m 



1 





Medium Early Corn 





Stouiells Evergreen 







■String' Beans CLatej 



c£ 





Celery "Golden Self Blanching 



-0 Oj 











Gate 



• R 



huabar 



ab 



• • 



S,u»ll,<^ 



Beans Stringless Wax 25 quarts - 



Stringless Green Pod 25 quarts. 



Pole Wax 



Beans Dwarf Lima 7 pints . . . 



3eets Early Blood-turnip 



Midsummer 



30 bunches 



Celery Golden Self-blanching 125 stalks 



Com Ideal 



Champion 10 dozen 



Stowell's Evergreen 



60 large . . 



Si. 25 

 51.25 



• 75 

 5.00 



I-50 



1-57 

 ■30 



Cucumbers . Extra Early 



Fordhook 



Improved White Spine 3 quarts 



Currants 4 quarts . .40 



Lettuce .... Grand Rapids Forcing 



Giant Crystal Head 200 heads 5.00 



Onions White sets 30 bunches 1 . 50 



Parsley Champion Moss Curled 10 bunches ,?o 



(Large quantities unused) 



Peas Extra Early Prolific 



American Wonder 40 quarts. 2.00 



Champion of England 



Radish Twenty-Day Forcing 20 bunches .50 



Red and White Delicious 



Salsify Long White 15 bunches .90 



Squash . Early Crookneck 40 . 



Large Winter (name unknown) 6. 



1. 00 



.90 



Sweet Potato Squash 50 1.25 



Strawberries 20 quarts- 2.50 



Tomatoes.. Early Freedom 4 bushels. 2.60 



Ponderosa 



Total, S30.80 



Illinois. 



A. F. Webster. 



The plan of a city bacKyard vegetable garden 

 28x28 ft. This garden produced enough vegetables 

 to supply a family of three from the middle of May 

 until November 



A 25-foot Square Garden 



ONE of the most important gardening 

 problems I know is how to make the 

 most of a space twenty-five feet square, for 

 there are hundreds of thousands of people 

 who live on 25 x 100 ft. lots and a 25-foot 

 square is about all the space available in such 

 backyards for a vegetable garden. More- 

 over, the poorer a family is, the more im- 

 portant the vegetable supply becomes. The 

 25-foot square is the smallest space com- 

 monly put to serious use in gardening. 



Fortunately, I do not have to live on a 

 25 x 100 ft. lot, but I wanted to do what I 

 could towards making the best possible gar- 

 den twenty-five feet square, so I measured 

 off that space on the grounds of the Rhode 

 Island Agricultural College, and made a 

 garden which yielded vegetables worth 

 $32.18 at market prices. This is at the rate 

 of five cents per square foot, which, I believe, 

 is the highest rate yet reported in The Gar- 

 den Magazine. Estimating my labor as 

 worth fifteen cents an hour, the net profit 

 was $16.39, which is a little better than two 

 and one-half cents net profit per square foot. 



I do not claim to have solved the problem 

 for city dwellers by any means, for my gar- 

 den had sunlight on all sides, whereas the 

 25 x 100 ft. lot is usually heavily shaded by 

 high fences. I believe my garden shows a 

 gain of about 40 per cent, over the ordi- 

 nary hit-or-miss garden, because there 

 was a definite plan for fertilizers and suc- 

 cession crops. Three cents a square foot 





_^fl 



