Home Vegetable Gardens A Patriotic Duty 
ANNA M. BURKE Ma “ a ' hu - 
MAKING THE MOST OF LIMITED SPACE— VEGETABLES IN CONTINUOUS SUPPLY— USING THE GROUND TWICE 
' OVER— ECONOMICAL LABOR METHODS 
O UR kitchen garden is small — a scant 
fifty feet each way — yet from it are 
gathered practically all the vegetables 
needed for a family of three from the 
middle of May to the first of November, with a 
good surplus sterilized in glass jars for winter 
use. 
Yet, however great the yield, I always con- 
sider that the best crop gathered from the 
garden is experience. I he year that I do not 
discover some new variety, an improved 
method of growing, or some better arrange- 
ment or combination of vegetables, leaves me 
with a barren feeling, conscious of having 
taken a step backward rather than forward in 
garden culture. But let us take things 
specifically in detail. 
Corn. Although the catalogues set the middle 
of May as the time to plant corn, we plant 
half a row about May 1st, or even 
earlier if the season is warm. 1 he 
dwarf yellow varieties (Golden Bantam 
and its successors), are quite hardy, 
and if the weather is good, early plant- 
ing gives a fine start, whereas the loss 
of a few seed is immaterial if conditions 
prove unfavorable. This year I shall 
try the experiment of setting a row of 
io-inch boards along each side of the 
trench and laying sheets of glass on 
top, to form a sort of frame. This 
simple device proved very successful 
with lettuce last fall, keeping it grow- 
ing up to Thanksgiving in the open 
garden. I shall try the same device 
with string beans, and later with cu- 
cumbers [and, we hope tell I he Gar- 
den Magazine of the results — Ed.). 
It took at least two years to impress 
upon me that in this latitude the 
late varieties of corn (such as Sto- 
vvell’s Evergreen), do not mature well 
if planted much after June 1st. Here- 
after, for filling late gaps in the 
garden I shall use some early variety. 
String Beans. After experiencing 
the surfeit of string beans that fol- 
lows a generous planting of this veg- 
etable, I have adopted the plan of 
sowing a very small quantity at in- 
tervals of two weeks. Much seed is wasted 
by planting thickly, because beans need to be 
six inches apart in the row to do well, and eight 
or ten inches apart is better still. By selecting 
only the plumpest and firmest seed, I can set 
them the required distance apart, thus wasting 
no seed and sparing myself the trouble of thin- 
ning thereafter. Our garden is comparatively 
free from cut-worms, thanks to frequent cul- 
tivation and the encouragement of bird neigh- 
bors, but where this pest abounds the seed 
must be sown more thickly to allow for his 
depredations. 
Lima Beans. Having tried without marked 
success the pole varieties and the large-seeded 
bush limas, we have found that the small Sieva 
bean (Henderson’s Bush Lima) can be de- 
pended upon to produce a good crop whether 
the summer be cold or hot, wet or dry. Every 
seed seems to germinate (therefore may. be 
Sown thinly, requiring less seed), and the yield 
of small, but well filled, pods continues until 
frost. 
Tomatoes. We have always trained our 
tomatoes on 6-foot stakes, because they take 
up less room, but after several years’ experi- 
menting I have come to the conclusion that the 
pinching off of all but one stem is a needless 
sacrifice, unless one desires to grow a few speci- 
men fruits. Two and even three or four stalks 
may be allowed to develop, with no appreciable 
loss in size or quality of the tomatoes, and the 
yield is much greater. About the first of 
September pinch off the tip of each branch, 
allowing the strength of the plant to go into 
developing the fruit already set, rather than 
producing more blossoms which could not be 
expected to mature before frost. Contrary 
to the advice of some authorities, we find the 
tomato does best in a fairly rich soil. 
Chinese Cabbage. Although we usually fight 
shy of novelties, we tried the Chinese cabbage 
and found it a most attractive vegetable, 
producing firm, elongated heads of crisp. 
white leaves, which may be used as a salad or 
cooked as a vegetable. It is delicious either 
way. Care must be taken, however, not to 
plant the seed too early, or the heat of mid- 
summer will cause it to send up blossom stalks 
instead of forming heads. If planted about 
the first of July and kept growing steadily, firm 
white heads, weighing two or three pounds, will 
be produced in September. Query: Might 
it not also be started in a frame in March and 
matured before hot weather, as in the case of 
cauliflower? 
Witloof Chicory. If you relish the bitter 
tang of this salad (sometimes called French 
Endive), for which restaurants and markets 
ask such good prices, you may be interested 
to know that it can be forced all winter in your 
own cellar. An article by Frances K. Porter in 
the April, 1916, Garden Magazine prompted 
me to try this vegetable, and my almost per- 
fect success makes me anxious to add a word in 
its favor. Seed was sown in drills eighteen 
inches apart about the middle of May, thinned 
to stand six inches apart in the row, and kept 
cultivated all summer, with an occasional dose 
of nitrate of soda. The larger the roots, the 
better they will'force. About the first of Novem- 
ber the parsnip-like roots were dug and piled in 
a sheltered corner next the house, covering 
them with coarse litter. A dozen roots were 
forced at a time, setting them upright in a deep 
box (an orange box with two compartments is 
ideal) and filling in around them with good 
garden loam, mixed with fine bone meal. I he 
box should be deep enough so that the soil may 
cover the tops to a depth of three or four 
inches, and this top soil should be sifted. The 
box was placed beside the heater in the cellar, 
given a good watering with lukewarm water, 
and covered with papers to keep out the light. 
In a few days white shoots began to show and 
in two weeks we had thick cones of tightly 
folded leaves, crisp and perfectly blanched. 
We cut them an inch or two below the surface 
of the soil, and the plants continued to 
send up more shoots. By bringing in 
roots at intervals of two weeks, salad 
may be enjoyed all winter. 
Peas. \\ e used to be quite satisfied 
if this delectable vegetable graced our 
Fourth of July dinner table, but after 
observing an old Italian, who tilled a 
vacant lot nearby, pick well grown 
peas by the middle of June, I set out 
to learn his secret. It was really very 
simple — merely early planting in the 
sunniest spot available. Now we do 
not wait until the ground has dried 
out, but just as soon as it can be 
worked (about April 1st to 9th, lati- 
tude of Boston), the first sowing of 
peas is made in a 2-inch trench. If 
possible, the trench is opened the day 
before, which gives the sun a chance to 
warm and dry the soil. Only an inch 
of covering is put on the seed, the rest 
being filled in as the little plants grow. 
These early planted peas have a larger 
and better root system than those 
planted later, with consequent increase 
in quality and quantity of pods. 
Another “experience”: By plant- 
ing medium and late varieties at one 
time in the latter part of April we get 
a longer yielding season than if early 
varieties are planted at intervals in succes- 
sion. The early varieties all strive to make 
up for lost time the moment they get 
into the ground, and rush to maturity in 
quantities that glut the market, leaving a 
dearth to follow. The late varieties are 
planted in a 6-inch trench, which gives their 
roots better foraging ground through the heat 
of midsummer. Indeed, this season I am 
planting the late peas in a 10- or 12-inch 
trench (like Sweet Peas), filling in the trench 
gradually, of course. This should help them 
to weather quite a severe dry spell. 
Potatoes. Most books on gardening state 
that the potato has no place in a small garden 
— although after the exorbitant prices com- 
manded by this plebeian vegetable during the 
past winter, one expects to see even the front 
lawns turned into potato patches! But even 
under normal conditions I think it pays to 
plant a row or two of early potatoes, and to 
plant them early. My neighbors used to scoff 
until I “showed” them by having potatoes for 
the table by July Fourth, when theirs were 
scarcely in blossom. If the ground is at all fit, 
Plan of Garden 50-ft. Square 
- Radish and Early Cabbage 
- Mustard and Summer Squash - 
Turnip, followed by Late Lettuce 
Early Peas, followed by Celery = 
- Tomatoes, with Lettuce between - 
Early Peas, followed by Chinese Cabbage 
■ Tomatoes with Endive between 
Early Potatoes 
Late Com. with Squash 
Early Potatoes 
Onion Sets, and Sweet Peppers 
Late Peas 
2nd planting of Early Com. with Pumpkin 
-■ Late Pea* - 1 -- 
Lima Beans 
Carrots 
Lima Beans 
— Beets — 
’ Parsnips, with Radish 
Kohl Rabi 
String Beans 
Early Com, with Cucumbers 
Bush Bean, followed by Endive 
Brussels Sprouts 
Witloof Chicory • 
Cauliflower — 
— indicate ordinal planltn fj. 
- indicate j companion planting 
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