THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



357. Sea Kale is not a real hale. Ii is forced for win- 

 ter use liKe rhubarb. Has bitter taste 



and a mulch of hay, straw or lawn clippings 

 helps greatly to conserve the soil moisture. 

 When the heads begin to form the only 

 way to discover them is to part the central 

 leaves and reveal the small white flower 

 bud in the centre. When the small leaves 

 surrounding this blossom are parted, and the 

 flower is visible without search, the time is ripe 

 to draw up the outside leaves and tie them 

 together at the top. When the proper time 

 has elapsed for the plant to have reached 

 maturity, which is easily seen by the full 

 roundness of the leaf case, the heads are cut 

 off and the leaves surrounding the flower 

 trimmed down to display the white flower 

 clumps. The plant stalks should then be 

 pulled up and burned, for it is not wise to 

 run anv risk of harboring insects or diseases. 



BROCCOLI: THE JOY OF THE ENGLISH 

 GARDENER 



Broccoli is a late variety of cauliflower, 

 with heads not so fine and florets more 

 distinctly separated. Little groups here and 

 there throughout the head are surrounded 

 by tiny leaves. The plant is taller and more 

 robust than the cauliflower, but the flavor 

 is the same. The seeds are sown in April 

 and the plants transplanted to the garden in 

 June. The flowers will be ready to gather 

 in October, and are very welcome at the sea- 

 son's end. Some flowers of this type are 

 also purple, though they become pinkish 

 when cooked. Extreme care should be 

 taken in preparing these vegetables, for 

 when overcooked they lose their flavor and 



fall to pieces. Wash thoroughly, trim off 

 the outside leaves, tie it in cheesecloth and 

 drop it gently into a large pot with enough 

 boiling salted water to cover. Boil a small 

 one twenty minutes. 



Kale, a cabbage without a head, is cul- 

 tivated in about the same way. The plants 

 are very beautiful, especially those with a 

 purple tinge in the stem and midrib, and a 

 variety we call the maidenhair fern, whose 

 leaf is symmetrical and so deeply indented 

 that certain lights bring out the fancied 

 resemblance. For cooking, the_, leaves are 

 gathered and placed in a tightly covered 



358. Round seeded spinach maKes a more com- 

 Dact tuft of leaves than the pricHly seeded spinach. 

 Giant Viroflay is the best variety of this type to grow 



359. PricKIy spinach has spiny seeds and soon 

 runs to flower. It is very productive and is a good 

 crop for early spring. For hot weather plant New 

 Zealand spinach, which is an excellent substitute 



kettle to draw the juices out; then boiled 

 until tender and served with vinegar. The 

 flavor is very much the same as cabbage, 

 though the texture is slightly smoother. 

 For early spring use the seed should be 

 sown in September, one inch deep, trans- 

 planted to one foot apart, and protected 

 slightly during the winter. I sowed seeds 

 of Siberian kale toward the end of April, 

 and had plants large enough to be cooked 

 early in June. 



The plant endures the winter and pro- 

 duces greens in the early spring again. 

 There are seven or eight varieties of biennial 

 kale offered by the seedsmen, besides sea 

 kale (a totally different thing), which is 

 a perennial. 



Sea kale resembles asparagus as a food- 

 stuff, since the young blanched shoots are 



360. The Kales are ornamental as well as useful. 

 There are dwarf, tall and variegated Kinds. They 

 are more delicate in flavor than the hearting cabbage 



used in the early spring. It may be propa- 

 gated by seed, or by division of root, and 

 it can be forced for winter, like rhubarb. 

 Bank loose earth upon the crown in spring, 

 and cut the young growths when they appear. 

 On the other hand, the roots may be lifted, 

 placed in moist soil and set in the dark, 

 where the young shoots will appear and 

 grow white and tender. A moist atmosphere 

 must be maintained, and a mushroom cellar 

 is a capital place in which to blanch or force 

 sea kale. 



BITTER DANDELIONS AND DANDELIONS 

 WORTH GROWING 



Dandelion, a weed on our lawn, is a wel- 

 come salad plant and is also used boiled as 

 greens. 



The Arlington variety is superior to the 

 common, being broader, larger, and hand- 

 somer than the large leaved; the French is 

 the most finely cut. For boiling greens cut the 

 leaves off just where they come out of the 

 ground, wash thoroughly and pull apart; 

 put into a tightly covered kettle, heat slowly, 

 then boil until tender; drain in the colander, 

 chop finely, salt, and serve with vinegar. 

 The slow heating draws out the water that 

 is in the plant, while quick heating would 

 burn them, as well as the kettle, before the 

 plant liquid had a chance to escape. 



In the West, the roots are dried and, 

 when mixed with roasted wheat or barley, 

 make "poor man's coffee." The dried 

 roots are also used medicinally. I think 

 dandelion is a perennial, or "never-ending 

 ennial," when it grows as a weed on your 

 lawn. 



361. Dandelion is preferred by some as a boiled green. 

 For table use grow new varieties in the garden 



