HOW? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? 



Cut living costs! Grow your own food! 



Practical answers to every-day 

 questions about home gardening 



Now, more than ever before, YOU NEED A GARDEN! 

 With sky-high food prices, a garden is a better investment than ever! 

 Back in the days when food prices were reasonable, a nation-wide 

 survey snowed that, for every dollar spent on home gardens, the 

 average return in vegetables was more than ten dollars. Today, the 

 ratio is far higher. 



Think of the prices you'll have to pay this year, if you buy fresh 

 vegetables in the markets! It's not a very pleasant thought, is it? 

 But you can beat these high prices — by growing your own! And what's 

 more, you'll have fun doing it. There's no more pleasant and healthful 

 occupation than gardening! 



So make your plans now for a thorough attack on high food prices! 

 Let your own garden provide what you need! 



DON'T expect your garden to grow 

 itself— advance planning will cut 

 down the amount of work needed, 

 will make it more productive and 

 will provide a constant flow of all 

 the fresh vegetables you can eat. 



How Much to Piant 



Figure exactly the number of feet of 

 row to plant. Consult the chart on 

 page 20. Decide how many times 

 during the harvest season you want to 

 eat a certain crop, how much of that 

 crop you ordinarily serve to your fam- 

 ily, and plant accordingly. Thus, if 

 you like beans, and if you want to 

 serve them twice a week, 1 pound at 

 a serving, note that a 50 foot row will 

 produce about 20 pounds. Since beans 

 produce freely for about three weeks, 

 a 30 foot row should give you all the 



snap beans your family cares to eat 

 during that time. Why tend 50 feet 

 of row when 30 will do? 



DO plan to make succession seed- 

 ings. Work your garden full time 

 by planting a good summer garden 

 that will produce tMtil frost. And 

 DO make provision for canning, 

 for freezing and for storing. 



Succession Seeding 



DON'T work more land than you need 

 to. Conserve your energy by inter- 

 cropping, catch cropping and succes- 

 sion cropping. In intercropping, short 

 season crops are grown between slower 

 growing plants (i.e., plant early let- 

 tuce between rows of tomato plants 

 that won't need the space until after 

 the lettuce is eaten). In catch crop- 



ping, plant an early crop before the 

 main crop is planted. In succession 

 cropping the main crop comes first 

 (i.e.. snap beans to be followed by 

 late turnips). In this way you make 

 better use of space, cut down the 

 number of rows to tend, and make 

 better use of water and fertilizers. 



In the smaller garden, concentrate on 

 vegetables that lose quality most rap- 

 idly when shipped any distance — deli- 

 cately flavored green beans, summer 

 squash, early cabbage and leaf lettuce. 

 Unless you have plenty of room, bet- 

 ter leave late cabbage, dry onions, 

 winter squash and potatoes to com- 

 mercial gardeners. 



Poor Soil 



DON'T plant in water-logged or 

 poorly-drained soil. If your garden 

 doesn't drain readily, either find an- 

 other plot or provide tile drainage. 

 No soil will grow good root crops that 

 dries out hard and compact. If the 

 cost of conditioning such soil is too 

 high, as in plots to be used only one 

 year, omit carrots, beets, etc., and 

 concentrate on leafy vegetables and 

 those that produce above ground, such 

 as tomatoes, peppers, etc. You can re- 

 make such soil by adding well-rotted 

 organic matter. This may be old 

 manu , spent mushroom manure, 

 peat t oss, rotted compost, etc. If 

 coal ashes have weathered for at least 

 a year, they will help break up clay 

 also. So will an application of lime. 

 On the other hand, light sands can 

 also be improved by adding liberal 

 amounts of organic matter. 



SQUASH, 

 Table Queen 



