Some Unusual Vegetables Worth Growing— By e. l. Fullerton 



SOME THINGS WHICH MAY GIVE AN ADDED ZEST TO THE WORK OF THE GARDEN AND MAY VARY 

 THE MONOTONY OF THE AVERAGE MENU— DELICACIES AND DAINTIES WITHIN THE REACH OF ALL 



TT is just as interesting to become ac- 

 -*- quainted with a Japanese radish as with 

 a new carnation, the only difference being 

 that the pleasure is shared with another 

 sense. Don't slip into a garden rut, and 

 therein contentedly continue to travel. Make 

 at least one new acquaintance each year. 

 By a very modest investment of coin you can 

 secure a package of flower seed, and a pack- 

 age of vegetable seed, in varieties yet un- 

 tried. As a result of this ten or fifteen 



Photographs by H. B. Fullerton 



with a mayonnaise, and I should think it 

 could serve just as many purposes as lettuce. 

 The seed resembles that of a radish, so does 

 the seedling, and it needs about the same 

 treatment as cabbage. A very rich soil 

 and a little nitrate of soda after transplanting 

 produce a rapid and tender growth, and give 

 the best heads. 



GLOBE ARTICHOKES 



The Globe artichoke, a very highly es- 

 teemed vegetable in France, has not become 



287. 



The Kales are cabbages that do not head. For best flavor cook after a hard frost. They have a variety 

 of color and form and are useful as a garnish. Very hardy 



cents' outlay you have considerably broad- 

 ened your garden horizon, and what matters 

 it whether you care to continue the acquaint- 

 ance and grow to be intimate or to part for- 

 ever after a brief companionship? 



THE CHLNESE CABBAGE 



I must give a few of the experiences with 

 our new acquaintances in the vegetable 

 kingdom for one summer, for we were not 

 so conservative as to make one or two new 

 friends only. The seedlings began to appear, 

 one, two, even four in a day, until there were 

 sixty-four young things I knew nothing 

 whatever about, all demanding attention 

 at once. One of our delightful new ac- 

 quaintances last summer was pe-tsai, or 

 Chinese cabbage; it is really a lettuce. The 

 seed was planted April 24th, but could have 

 been planted earlier. It took six days to 

 germinate. By the end of May we had good 

 plants for setting out. They were placed 

 ten inches apart, protected from too much 

 sun for one day, and became as strong and 

 sturdy as could be desired. They rapidly 

 grew into heads like Cos lettuce, with a 

 thicker, coarser leaf and fleshy, white mid- 

 rib. It was crisp and tender; flavored with 

 a fleeting hint of the radish, but entirely 

 lacking in "bite." It was ready to use 

 June 1 6th, when lettuce is generally scarce. 

 It sends up a stalk with yellow blossoms 

 early in the season, so a second planting 

 should be made if you wish for edible plants 

 in the fall as well as early summer. I pre- 

 pared it for the table as I would lettuce, 



well established in this country. The por- 

 tion eaten is the fleshy part of the numerous 

 scales which surround the flower head. The 

 plant belongs to the thistle family and has 

 similar thorny, much-divided leaves. The 

 blossom is thistle-purple. As the plants 

 must stand three or four feet apart, it would 

 require quite a number of plants to supply 

 a family with artichokes. The artichoke 

 likes a rich, deep soil with plenty of moisture 



and some salt. Our English cousins, who 

 think a great deal of this peculiar vegetable, 

 recommend for it a winter covering of sea- 

 weed placed about the roots to serve two 

 purposes — to afford protection and to furnish 

 salt. Those of us who live near enough 

 to the sea to obtain it will find the use of 

 seaweed both wise and economical; but 

 those who do not should apply salt. 



The plants may be started either from seed 

 or from root suckers. If the seed be sown 

 in February in the hotbed, and transplanted 

 to the open in May, there will be globes the 

 first year. When not sown until April or 

 May, and transplanted in June, they have 

 to be wintered over, in order to develop them 

 to the bearing point. Root-stocks or suckers 

 may be set out in April or May, buried fairly 

 deep, and protected from the sun by an in- 

 verted pot or box, until the roots become well 

 established. In the fall tie the leaves to- 

 gether, cut off any that are too large, and 

 bank the earth up over the whole plant, 

 being careful to protect the heart in the same 

 manner as when banking celery. When 

 freezing weather comes cover with three or 

 four inches of litter, and on top of this put 

 two inches of coal ashes. In the spring 

 rake off the ashes, remove the litter and spade 

 or fork the ashes in around the plants. 



CHARDS FROM ARTICHOKES 



Chards are made from this plant by cutting 

 off the leaves and stems to within six inches of 

 the ground. When the leaves have grown 

 again to a height of two feet they are bound 

 together, and hay or straw is packed around 

 them to cause them to blanch. This is 

 accomplished in about five weeks, and the 

 chards are then ready to eat, though how to 



288. Swiss chard— a variety of beet grown for its leaves, cooked and eaten like asparagus 

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