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THE PATRIOTIC GARDEN 



FOOD F'O-B THE 



He also Fights who 



KITCHEN DOOP^ 



helps a Fighter Fight 



H-HOOVEB^. 



EAT'NUTS ^AND^TTF 



Planting for Canning KJeeds f. f. Rockwell 



Putting the War Garden on a Definite Production Plan to Fill the Pantry for Winter 



WE EAT what we can, and what we 

 can't we can," — is not the proper 

 basis on which to plan a winter's 

 supply of vegetables. 

 So much has been said, about saving surplus 

 garden products for winter, that many persons 

 are in danger of being led to the idea that the 

 mere prevention of waste should be the principle 

 object in preparing food for winter use. 

 That is getting the "cart before the horse," 

 and — like so many other "makeshift reme- 

 dies" — tends to aggravate rather than to help 

 the situation it is supposed to cure. If 

 people get the idea that they may can or de- 

 hydrate any part of the crop which happens 

 to be left over, they will naturally become 

 careless about planting the exact amount 

 required to supply their summer needs. 

 Every home gardener and every war gardener, 

 therefore, who proposes to help support him- 

 self and his family during the winter as well 

 as during the summer, should, first of all, get 

 the viewpoint straight. 



/^\BVIOUSLY, if one depends upon usual 

 ^~* summer surpluses for the winter supply,, 

 it will be impossible to meet the above con- 

 ditions. Small quantities only will be avail- 



It is just as important to plant a garden 

 for winter as for summer. 



/^ROWING vegetables for winter is just 

 ^-* as important as growing them for sum- 

 mer. Depending upon "surplus products" 

 from the summer garden for the winter supply 

 is wholly inadequate and always very unsatis- 

 factory. 



When growing vegetables for summer use, 

 the object is to have them of as many varieties 

 as possible and in small quantities at a time, 

 so that the season for each will 

 be prolonged and the vegetables, 

 when used, will be in the best table 

 condition. For putting up vege- 

 tables for the winter, however, 

 it is of advantage to have them 

 all ready for gathering at one 

 time, when they can be most con- 

 veniently handled. For canning 

 it is preferable to have them when 

 the weather is not too hot. In 

 most cases, this will be in early 

 fall. For dehydrating, they should 

 be ready a little earlier as they 

 will dry out more quickly be- 

 fore the weather begins to get 

 cool. For winter storage crops 

 must be planned to mature 

 two weeks before those needed 

 for latest table use, so that 

 they will not be over-grown 

 before being ready for storage — 

 which cannot be done, of course, 

 before cold weather is just set- 

 ting in. 



Three Ways War Gardens Help 



PREACH and practice war gardens. 

 The effect of war gardens in pro- 

 viding food, saving labor and 

 relieving the railroads cannot be over- 

 estimated. Three of the important 

 factors in this war are FOOD, LABOR 

 and TRANSPORTATION. The war 

 garden helps solve all three. 



Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor of the Food 

 Administration, speaking from accu- 

 rate knowledge, declares, "It is no ex- 

 aggeration to say that the war gardens 

 in Europe have in the case of Germany, 

 for instance, pulled her through two 

 summers and that she would probably 

 not have been able to pull through if it 

 had not been for her war gardens. In 

 the largest cities of Germany, as much 

 as 25 or 30 per cent, of the food con- 

 sumption of those people during those 

 months was fresh vegetables, largely 

 relieving the cereal situation." 



What Can be Saved for Winter 



OF COURSE, the number of vegetables 

 to be planted in the garden planned 

 especially for winter will be somewhat fewer 

 than the full list grown in the complete garden 

 for summer. Nevertheless, the range is 

 much wider than ordinarily realized. 



Before giving too much thought to how 

 many different things can be saved, however, 

 the beginner should learn to realize fully the 

 importance of the different factors or condi- 

 tions which effect the success of saving food 

 for winter. Apart from the inherent keeping 

 qualities of the different vegetables there is the 

 important matter of the condition of the 

 product which is to be put up. 



able at a time; and likely enough they will 

 be ready at times when it is inconvenient to 

 take care of them; moreover they will not be 

 uniform in maturity nor in the very best condi- 

 tion for table use. 



PLANTING TABLE FOR VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE 



DATES TO SOW TO HAVE PRODUCT IN GOOD CONDITION, AND READY WHEN CANNING OR DEHYDRATING 



CAN BE DONE BEST 



VEGETABLE 



Beans bush 



" lima 



" pole 

 Beets. 



Brussels Sprouts 

 Cabbage . 

 Carrot . 

 Cauliflower 

 Celery . 

 Corn . 

 Greens 



Chard . 



Spinach 



Beets, small 



Mustard 

 Okra . . 

 Onions 

 Parsnips . 

 Peas . 



Peppers . 

 Salsify 

 Squash . 

 Tomato . 

 Turnip 



FOR DRYING 



May i; — July I 

 May 15 — June 15 

 May 15 — June 15 

 April 15 — July I 

 Apr. I — May 15 

 Apr. I — June I 

 Apr. 15 — June I 

 Apr. 10 — June I 

 Apr. 15 — May 15 

 May I — June 15 



Apr. I — June I 



Apr. 15 — July 1-10 



Apr. 15 — June 1 



Apr. 1 — May i-July I 



June I 



Apr. I — May 15 



Apr. 1 — 15 



April IS — May IS 



May 15 — June 15 

 Apr. 1 — May is 

 May 15 — June 15 

 May 15 — June IS 

 Apr. 1 — May 15 



FOR CANNING 



May 



IS 



— Aug. 



I 



May 



IS 



— June 



15 



Apr. 



is- 



-Tuly 



IS 



Apr. 



1— 



-June 



5 



Apr. 



I— 



-June 



5 



Apr. 



IS- 



-luly 



I 



Apr. 



10- 



-July 



10 



May 1- 

 Apr. I- 



-July I 



-July I 

 Apr. I-is — July I-Aug. 15 

 Apr. 15 — Aug. 1 

 Apr. I-IS — July I-Aug. IS 

 June I 



Apr. 15-June 1 — July IS- 



Aug. 15 

 May 15 — June 15 



May 15- 

 May 15- 

 June 15- 



-July 10 

 -July 15 

 -Aug. I 



Growing food for winter is a distinctly 

 different proposition from growing vegetables 

 for the summer supply. 



Get the Raw Materials Right 



r?IRST of all, every vegetable used for 

 *■ either canning, dehydrating, or storing 

 should be in perfect condition — better con- 

 dition really than you can expect to get from 

 your summer garden, because the entire 

 crop can be taken at one time, at its prime, 

 instead of being used a little at a time, as 

 has to be done with summer crops. 



Neglect in getting the crops in just the 

 right condition probably causes more loss 

 and trouble in saving vegetables for winter 

 use than any other one thing. For thoroughly 

 satisfactory results it is necessary not only 

 to have products which are ab- 

 solutely free from decay, but to 

 have them at just the right 

 stage of development or ripe- 

 ness. A great deal of the pre- 

 judice against canned vegetables 

 and fruit in the past has been 

 due to the fact that the usual 

 source of raw materials was 

 "surpluses" from the garden, 

 which were not made use of for 

 canningorfor dryinguntil they had 

 passed their prime table quality. 

 Over mature vegetables, even 

 if perfectly sound, are not satis- 

 factory for canning because most 

 vegetables undergo a decided 

 change in texture as they reach 

 maturity and become fibrous or 

 pithy, which makes them not 

 only poor in quality but greatly 

 increases the work of preparing 

 them for canning or for drying 

 and, incidentally, the ultimate 

 work of cooking. 



FOR STORING (DRY) 



May 15 — June 15 

 May 15 — June IS 

 May 13 — June 15 

 June 15 — July I 

 June 1 — July 1 

 June 15 — Aug. 1 

 June 1 — 15 

 June 15 — July 20 

 May 15— July 15 



Apr. 1 — is 

 May 15 — June I 



May 15 — June I 

 May 15 — July 1 



June 15 — July 15 



229 



