Harvesting The Backyard Garden— By Roger w. Babson, 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



[Editors' Note: — This is the sixth and concluding article in Mr. Babson's series, which began in the April number, in which the economic value of the backyard 

 in relation to the " Cost of Living " problem is discussed.] 



IN MY second article I showed the profits 

 received from my garden during the 

 past summer, which profits amounted 

 to about $50. As this garden was 

 located at my summer home, we simply 

 planted and planned on what the family 

 would eat during the summer. All surpus 

 vegetables we gave away or else left to ripen 

 on the ground after leaving. A man who 

 has his garden at his winter home, how- 

 ever, can have a large surplus for winter 

 use with little extra cost. 



With a large tract of land, he can raise 

 enough potatoes to carry his family 

 through the winter — that is to say, three 

 or four barrels which are worth around 

 three dollars per barrel; also one or two 

 barrels of cabbages worth a couple of dollars 

 per barrel; also two or three barrels of 

 squashes worth several dollars per barrel, 

 and various other so-called winter vege- 

 tables. Splendid results can be obtained 

 from celery which can be banked with 

 earth just before frost time and either 

 kept out-of-doors or in the cellar, until 

 well into the winter. In fact, I have 

 neighbors who have celery way into 

 January. 



As it is necessary for me to travel con- 

 tinuously beginning with the fall, I plant 

 only what I personally can take care of 

 as a matter of recreation. I have avoided 

 planting vegetables which require exces- 

 sive care as well as avoiding an excessive 

 quantity which would make the garden 

 work instead of recreation. What I have 

 done can be followed by a million other 

 men, who are wasting this opportunity. 

 Therefore, as above stated, I have not 

 attempted to raise any vegetables for 

 winter use; although if I had, the profits 

 of the garden could have been nearly 

 doubled without much more work. In 

 fact, after the first of August the garden 

 was practically no care whatever, and 

 during the last four weeks I did not lift a 

 hand to it; as even the collecting of the 

 vegetables was performed by members of my 

 household. 



The value of a cellar full of winter 

 vegetables is so well appreciated, however, 

 that telling about them is not the purpose 

 of this article. Instead, I wish to speak 

 about preserving, canning and pickling 

 as a' means of reducing the cost of living 

 through the backyard garden. If you will 

 remember when a boy your mother "put 

 up" preserves as she called it, buying 

 peaches and other fruits at wholesale 

 and preserving them by cooking and 

 placing in air tight glass jars. When 

 September came, mother commenced her 

 pickling, using cucumbers, green tomatoes 

 and other left-overs from the garden and 

 making pickles thereof. If your mother 

 came from an especially frugal part of the 



country, she also preserved certain vege- 

 tables, such as string beans, beets, etc. 

 Preserving of vegetables, is especially 

 common among families of hardy French 

 descent. 



In the first article of this series, I stated 

 that the increased cost of living is primarily 

 due to two factors; first, decreased pro- 

 duction and, secondly, increased waste. 

 I showed that during the past ten years 

 our population has increased more than 20 

 per cent., and our production of leading 

 foodstuffs less than 2 per cent.; while 

 less than 5 per cent, additional land has 

 been placed under cultivation. In short, 

 the production per capita is continually 

 decreasing. This is primarily the cause 

 of the increased cost of living. This is 

 closely followed by the second, namely, 

 the lack of economy, for as production has 

 decreased, waste has increased. Not only 

 do our families produce less than the 

 families of our ancestors; but we waste 

 very much more. 



One of the greatest curses of American 

 civilization to-day is the fact that it is 

 unfashionable to save and that the people 

 are ashamed to save; while extravagance, 

 waste, and carelessness are looked upon 

 as smart and signs of prosperity. Now 

 probably this can in no other way be more 

 distinctly shown than by the fact that our 

 wives are not doing the preserving and 

 pickling that our mothers used to do. The 

 very fact that great manufacturing firms 

 producing pickles, canned goods, soups, 

 etc., have thrived so during the past ten 

 years proves this point. These great 

 factories with their "fifty-seven varieties" 

 are thriving on the laziness and unpro- 

 ductiveness of our wives and sisters. They 

 could not have existed in the days of our 

 mothers, who insisted on doing their own 

 preserving and making their pickles; but 

 our wives and children are too lazy to do 

 these things and our maids do not know 

 enough. Therefore, in solving this in- 

 creased cost of living problem, we not only 

 must produce more, but we must save 

 more; not only raise more vegetables, 

 but save more vegetables for winter use. 



Probably the most profitable and useful 

 vegetable to raise for winter use is the 

 tomato. Some day the tomato will be 

 recognized. As yet, it has never been 

 fully appreciated. To begin with, the 

 tomato is very easy to raise. Then again, 

 the plant can be used as a hedge, both 

 for practical and decorative purposes. A 

 hedge of tomatoes presents a beautiful 

 background of green with yellow flowers 

 during the early summer, which later 

 turn to beautiful red tomatoes. During 

 the summer the tomatoes will mature as 

 wanted for table use; but on the night 

 before the first frost all should be picked. 



57 



I usually pick several bushels from my 

 vines on that night. These I divide into 

 three lots; first, those that are ripe and 

 ready to be eaten, which are preserved, 

 as I will explain later; secondly, those 

 which are green but are ripening, and which 



1 place in my cellar to be brought out as 

 they are desired, allowing them to ripen 

 gradually. (A tomato goes through the 

 same process of ripening as does a banana 

 and other foreign fruit which is picked 

 green and allowed to ripen during trans- 

 portation, thus being ready to eat when 

 arriving in this country. An average 

 person thinks that tomatoes must ripen 

 on the vines, but there is no more need 

 of this than for bananas or other tropical 

 fruits. Yes, up to Thanksgiving we have 

 had raw sliced tomatoes on our table, 

 although these tomatoes had been picked 

 two months before.) There, however, is 

 a third lot which are too green to ripen, 

 and these are made into pickles after my 

 family has stewed and put in glass jars 

 the excess of ripe tomatoes which could 

 not be kept. 



Now, just notice what comes from the 

 tomato plant; first, we have a fine hedge, 

 suitable for decorative purposes, next, we 

 have raw sliced tomatoes during the summer 

 and through the dark ripening process, 

 up to November; next, we have stewed 

 tomatoes which are prepared by a very 

 simple process, it being possible to put up 

 several dozen jars in half a day which can 

 be opened as required during the entire 

 winter. Too ripe tomatoes can in addition 

 be used for making ketchup, and what 

 your wife makes I'll guarantee will be 

 much better than what you buy in bottles ! 

 Probably the average family spends at 

 least $2 or $3 a year on ketchup, all of 

 which ' can be saved if this work is done 

 by your wife. But this is not all; in my 

 opinion the finest pickle of all is made from 

 green tomatoes, both sour and sweet 

 pickles. The famous "piccalilli" "which 

 mother used to make " was made from green 

 tomatoes which were too green to ripen 

 when frost came. For you readers who 

 were not brought up in the country, let 

 me give some of the simple rules for making 

 these delightful relishes from the surplus 

 of the backyard garden. 



PICCALILLI 



Slice 1 pk. green tomatoes, 6 large onions, and 

 sprinkle with salt and let stand over night. 



After draining, chop and boil in 1 qt. of water 

 for 15 minutes. Drain again, throwing away the 

 liquid. 

 Then add 

 3 lbs. brown sugar Ground ginger 



2 qts. vinegar Ground cassia 

 1 dessert spoon each: Ground clove 



Ground allspice Celery seed 



Mustard seed \ teaspoon Cayenne 



Boil 30 minutes or until soft. Bottle when cold. 



