THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



231 



up to ten. We had plenty for all from May 

 to October, and a cellar well stored for win- 

 ter. In all this time hardly a meal has been 

 served without some representative from 

 the garden, frequently indeed six or seven at 

 one time. Every day after taking the best 

 of everything for family use, I gathered what 

 was left, that which hitherto has gone abso- 

 lutely to waste, and sold it to the green- 

 grocer. He was eager to buy almost any- 

 thing, for I saw to it personally that not an 



318. Always plant early corn for the latest crop. 

 This corn planted on August 5th gave sweet corn 

 well into November. Plant corn twice in June 



imperfect vegetable was sent. He even 

 sent to the very door for what I had. 



WHAT I SOLD 



The following is a list of things sold: 



39 lettuce 



1 5 squash 



i 16 cabbage 



448 ears of corn 



2\ bushels string beans 



1 bushel carrots 



1 bushel peppers 



1 peck lima beans 



8 bushels tomatoes 



parsley 



WHAT WE CANNED 



fl 



40 





5° 



3 



25 



4 



95 



2 



.5° 





80 





5° 





35 



6 



65 



2 



55 



$23 



45 



What we could neither eat, sell nor give 

 away I jarred or dried for winter use. Thirty- 

 four quarts of tomatoes, 4 quarts of string 

 beans, 6 quarts of green tomato pickle, 

 3 quarts of cucumber pickle, 17 quarts of 

 chopped vegetable pickle, 4 quarts of catsup, 

 3 quarts of dried beans, 6 quarts of preserved 

 watermelon rind — 77 quarts of canned or 

 preserved goods, as well as 100 ears dried 

 corn and 1 big bunch dried parsley. 



FRESH VEGETABLES FOR WINTER 



Besides all the above there was the winter 

 supply (some stored in the cellar, some 

 packed in sand, some buried) : Two hundred 

 and ten feet of celery, 100 feet parsnips, 70 

 feet salsify, 25 cabbages, 50 Brussels sprouts, 

 15 squash, 14 barrels potatoes, 4 bushels 

 onions, 1 bushel carrots, 2 bushels beets, 

 2 bushels peppers to be disposed of, 1 bushel 

 of green tomatoes — a fair return from a $3.60 

 investment! 



The tomatoes were laid upon the cellar 

 shelves, between layers of straw, and supplied 

 us with salads from the time the outdoor 

 crops ceased up to Christmas time. 



Not more than two bushels of the entire 

 yield of the garden went to waste. The only 

 failure to record was with the eggplants. 

 They just suited the palate of the potato 

 bugs and that was the last of them. 



If I had had ten times as much corn I 

 could have sold it all. The Brussels sprouts 

 did superbly, plants three and four feet tall 

 laden with their little green rosettes. These 

 were brought indoors after the first good 

 frost, being pulled up by the roots and 

 hung head down in the cellar. Thus treated 

 they keep fresh for months. Pepper plants 

 we treat in the same way. The $2.55 

 worth of parsley was all cut from a row but 

 twenty feet long. 



Early in the spring when one longs for a 

 taste of fresh vegetation we dig the parsnips 

 and salsify. 



In addition, too, I had the surplus apples 

 and pears gathered, and disposed of them 

 for $7.70; made fifty quarts of grape juice — 

 without a drop of water in it, and could sell 

 every bottle -of it if I chose. I have one 

 hundred quarts of canned fruits and eighty 

 glasses of jelly — all from the home garden. 

 Besides all this I sold $25.00 worth of flowers 

 from hardy shrubs — but that is another 

 story. The grand total of all the receipts 

 was $58.15. 



CANNING IN THE OPEN AIR 



I do my canning on the progressive plan, 

 a little every day, so the labor is hardly 

 noticed. This way is possible for lis who 

 live in the country who have fruit or vege- 

 tables on our grounds and gardens at out 

 back doors. Our town sisters are ofttimes 

 obliged to spend whole days for they must 

 take their fruits when they can find them 

 in the markets. 



Do every bit of work possible out in the 

 open air. To this end have a corner of the 

 porch screened off — a protection against 

 flies and other insects — and select a corner 

 that commands a pleasant view, for it is 

 here that many hours will be spent. I be- 

 lieve in making one's surroundings for work 

 even more attractive than for one's hours of 

 relaxation — if a choice is necessary. 



Furnish this little corner with a table, pos- 



sessing two deep drawers, two or three com- 

 fortable chairs, a water pail, basin and dipper, 

 and a covered pail for refuse. Into the table 

 drawers put a plentiful supply of aprons and 

 coarse towels, a roll of cheese-cloth — to use 

 for covering fruits and vegetables that pre 

 to be sun-cured, a number of earthen or 

 agate bowls of various sizes, and small, 

 sharp knives. If one wishes to be a bit more 

 comfortable one mirfrt add a rua; or two 



320. Don't you want a'supply of fresh vegetables 

 liKe this from your own garden ? Fresher and sweeter 

 and cheaper than you can buy 



and a footstool. This, weather permitting, 

 is an ideal spot where every bit of prepara- 

 tory work can be done out of sight and sound 

 of the kitchen. While I aim to do but two 

 quarts a day, conditions will sometimes be 

 so favorable that I will do six or eight, never 

 more, and sometimes but one. However, if one 

 did an average of two quarts a day twenty 

 days out of each month of the six that can be 

 made to cover the canning season, one would 

 have two hundred and forty quarts to grace 

 one's store-room shelves and no unpleasant 

 memories of days of drudgery. 



Here let me make a suggestion regarding 

 the screwing on of the covers. I find that 

 when both jar and cover are piping hot and 

 the rubbers warm and pliable, one vigorous 

 screwing down is all-sufficient, the rubber 

 becomes welded to both jar and cover, and 

 the second screwing is apt to break this 

 connection. 



319. Onions and celery do best when transplanted. The large bulbs in the centre measured three and one- 

 half inches in diameter; they were transplanted from the rows which produced the smaller ones 



