WHEN HOW AND WHERE TO PLANT FOR 



QUALITY VEGETABLES 



ADOLPH KRUHM 



Author of "Home Vegetable Gardening from A to Z," and kindred books 



Time to Think of Details so Little at the Start but Likely 

 to Develop into Mountains of Annoyance if Neglected Now 



IHE properly conducted vegetable garden is really a 

 (series or succession of gardens. The degree of success 

 :you achieve depends entirely on sowing the right seeds 

 |^>at the proper time, on correctly gauging the crops' 

 requirements while growing, and on knowing when they have 

 passed the zenith of their usefulness. There should be no room 

 for sentiment in the home's food factory. It's a case of making 

 the most out of six or seven months of growing season, and fre- 

 quently a few days delay in sowing seeds spells the difference 

 between a crop before frost or a crop for Jack Frost. 



So, let us consider the season's possibilities for an average 

 home garden of, say, 40 x 50 ft. Such a garden between June 

 and October can be made to yield all the vegetables a family of 

 four can eat, besides providing some surplus for canning or stor- 

 age. But to do this, crop rotation must be practised with time- 

 table precision and only varieties of known performance used. 

 It should be understood, too, that the results here considered 

 are matured under high cultivation and exact management — 

 the goal of possibility! 



When it Is Really Time to Start 



IT IS fundamental that the soil be in proper condition to re- 

 ceive the seeds. Whenever you can dig so that the soil 

 crumbles readily, be it March or May, DIG ! But when a hand- 

 ful of the soil, squeezed, forms a mud ball, wait ! There are 

 enough hardy crops that may advantageously be sown in March, 

 even though April brings frost galore. Among these are Peas, 

 Lettuce, Carrots, Cabbage, Endive, and Parsley; also Chinese 

 Cabbage, in the light of recent discoveries. The entire question 

 of when to sow the different vegetables depends largely on two 

 factors: — the relative hardiness of the seeds themselves and the 

 ability of the new-born plants to resist cold. 



For illustration, Parsnip plants are every bit as hardy as 

 Carrots or Parsley or Peas. Yet, Parsnip seed will readily rot 

 (as high as 50 per cent, have rotted for me) in cold, wet soil, 

 hence the early start constitutes a loss rather than gain. Again, 

 the character of the soil is a determining factor. In light, sandy 

 loam with good drainage, Onion seed may be sown as early as 

 Peas. On heavy clay, such early sowing would prove disastrous. 



Summarizing, here are the most popular home vegetables, 

 arranged in order of their relative resistance to cold as seedlings, 

 and immunity from rotting as seeds. 



HARDIEST PLANT 



■ AND SEED 



II. DELICATE SEED III 



. DELICATE PLANT 



{First Sowing) 







{Second Sowing) 



{Last Sowing) 



Cress 







Beets 



Beans 



Peas 







Onions 



Corn 



Lettuce 







Parsnips 



Cucumbers 



Carrots 







Salsify 



Melons 



Cabbage 







Okra 



Pumpkins 



Endive 







New Zealand Spinach 



Squash 



Parsley 







Leek 





Kale 







Chard 





Spinach 











Kohlrabi 







{To be started Indoors) 





Radishes, and 



all 



Tomatoes 





other members 



Egg-plant 





of " Brassica" 



or 



Peppers 





Cabbage 



fan 



lily 



Celery 





will cost more by way of space wasted than a dozen pumpkins 

 purchased in the market at Halloween! Of all the "vining" 

 plants mentioned in the third column above, only Cucumbers 

 merit consideration in the home garden, because they are easily 

 confined to small space. 



A dozen Pepper plants will yield 75 fruits, while twelve Egg- 

 plants will carry 36 perfect "eggs." Okra, Leeks, and Salsify 

 are long-season crops, of little value as food factors, hence of 

 little use for small gardens. We find about a score of vegetables 

 really worthy of cultivation and the accompanying programme 

 is worked out accordingly. 



Such suggestions are, of course, subject to wide divergences 

 through personal preferences. In the matter of varieties, how- 

 ever, there is not much room for choice as it is generally necessary 

 to stick to early and extra early kinds. With crops that occupy 

 a row throughout the season there is opportunity for early, 

 midseason, and late kinds. In Tomatoes, for example, grow 

 Globe, or Bonny Best for early; Beauty for midseason; and Stone 

 for main crop. Here follows a selected list of varieties reached 

 by the process of elimination in my own experiences. 



STANDARD VARIETIES THAT HAVE STOOD THE TEST 



[Note: The time required to come into bearing is shown in the first] 

 figure following the name; the second figure is the duration of the yieldj 



Beans {Busb), Bountiful — 60 days — 2 weeks 

 Stringless Green Pod — 65 days — 3 weeks 

 Sure Crop Wax — 60 days — 3 weeks 

 Brittle Wax — 60 days — 2 weeks 

 Fordhook Bush Lima — 85 days — 8 weeks 



Beet, Eclipse — 55 days — 3 weeks 



Crosby's Egyptian — 55 days — 2 weeks 

 Detroit Dark Red — 60 days — 3 weeks 



Cabbage, Jersey Wakefield — 85 days — 4 weeks 

 Copenhagen Market — 100 days — 4 weeks 



Carrot, Paris Forcing — 45 days — 2 weeks 

 Oxheart — 50 days — 3 weeks 

 Chantenay — 60 days — 3 weeks 

 Danvers — 75 days — 2 months 



Celery, Golden Self-Blanching — 100 days — 8 

 weeks 

 Giant Pascal — 120 days — 4 months 



Corn, Peep O'Day — 60 days — 1 week 

 Golden Bantam — 80 days — 2 weeks 

 Howling Mob — 90 days — 2 weeks 



Cucumber, Davis Perfect — 60 days — 2 months 



Endive, Green Curled — 60 days — 30 days 



Koblrabi, White Vienna — 60 days — 2 months 



Lettuce, Wayahead — 50 days — 2 weeks 

 Black Seed Simpson — 50 days — 2 weeks 

 California Cream Butter — 65 days — 2 weeks 

 All Seasons — 75 days — 3 weeks 

 Iceberg— 85 days — 2 weeks 

 Wonderful — 90 days — 2 weeks 

 Kingsholm Cos — 80 days — 4 weeks 



Onion, White Portugal — 90 days — 2 months 

 Yellow Globe Danvers — 100 days — 4 months 

 Southport Red Globe— 120 days — 6 months 



Peas (Smooth) Market Surprise — 50 days — 1 

 week 

 (Wrinkled) Little Marvel — 55 days — 2 weeks 

 Thomas Laxton — 60 days — 2 weeks 

 Potlach — 80 days — 2 weeks 



Radisbes, Rapid Red — 25 days — 1 week 

 Scarlet Globe — 30 days — 10 days 

 Icicle — 40 days — 2 weeks 

 Cincinnati Market — 45 days — 3 weeks 

 White Stuttgart — 60 days — 2 months 

 Black Spanish — 80 to 100 days — all winter 



In the small garden conducted for measured results there is 

 not room for quite a number of these. You may have a senti- 

 mental longing for a big pumpkin; but any pumpkin you raise 



After the variety has stood for the time indicated it had best 

 be pulled up to make room for its successor — the extra yield 

 from retaining it any longer is not a profitable return. 



The planter can gain further time (which means crops) by 

 manipulating parts of rows to produce plants for successive 

 crops. For instance, a small seed flat of Cos Lettuce started 

 June 1 st, will give plants 3 inches tall by June 15th, when 

 Carrots are harvested. The Bush Beans that follow the 

 wrinkled Peas between June 15th and July 1st may bear so 

 well by September 1st that just a plant here and there might be 

 removed to make room for Chinese Cabbage or Kohlrabi. The 

 working out of such details calls for reflection and foresight, 

 which, after all, mark the difference between garden monotony 

 and gardening as a fascinating art. 



Some General Cultural Principles 



SPACE all rows uniformly 2 feet apart at the start; this will 

 permit planting other crops between before the original rows 

 are exhausted. 



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