THE SMALL GARDEN 
AND THE BIG RETURN 
GRACE SAMPLE McCLURE 
Really Fresh Vegetables all through the season to supply the needs of 
the Housekeeper who orders her own Garden according to demands 
THE GARDEN GATE 
Overarching shubbery, fourteen 
or more feet in height, invests 
this simple entrance with a rather 
unusual dignity and allurement 
assurance of a supply of at least a few green vegeta- 
bles for the table is a source of comfort no housekeeper 
can kH t° recognize; and it is surprising what an abun- 
6 bfCP dance can be grown with a little planning (and much 
fertilizing and watering) on a very limited space. 
The garden which has supplied us, a family of five, with 
quantities of vegetables every season now for some fourteen 
years was purely an afterthought. Ample space was reserved 
for house, formal garden, garage, drive-way, stables, dog- 
kennels, compost heap, tool house, and rabbit warren; what 
remained was given over to the vegetables. Scant courtesy, 
indeed; and we blush to say no part of our domain has given so 
rich a return as has this little plot of ground. Truly, this 
after-thought in the shape of a vegetable garden has proved 
more productive of comfort, pleasure and satisfaction than 
many pre-thoughts; which, incidentally, seems frequently' 
the way with after-thoughts. The actual measured space of 
this vegetable garden is 360 square feet; a strip 12 ft. north and 
south by 30 ft. east and west. 
picturesque though it be. The Shakespearean Thyme, pleasing 
the olfactory as well as the ocular sense, will supplant it. People 
passing through my garden gate to the little vegetable plot 
almost invariably exclaim: “This is as lovely in its own way 
as is the formal garden!” And I must agree with them. 
Of Tomatoes and the Savory Chive 
The east end of the garden is reserved always for Tomatoes, 
two varieties, Ponderosa, yellow and red; for this combination 
of color in a salad is pleasing. 
Twenty neat Japanese bamboo poles destined to be sold 
as fish-poles, now yearly have the more pleasant and cleanly 
task of supporting twenty sturdy Tomato plants. In front of 
these and next the drive-way, is a row of Chives; the gift, years 
ago, of a friend. Whenever a salad, made more appetizing by 
the addition of this dainty onionette, is served, 1 always recall 
her words as she dug the original clump of Chives for me out 
of her own garden: “ Chives give a tang to a soup, a salad, and a 
sandwich, which nothing else can give.” How true we have 
found this to be! Though it was first necessary to restrain our 
tastes until the little plants grew strong enough to stand fre- 
quent clippings for the table. In other respects the Chive 
border has required no discipline or reserve on our part. 
Next the Chives and the Tomatoes are rows of Lettuce, 
Parsley, Swiss Chard, Beans, Peppers, Radishes, a tiny bed of 
Mint, and Cucumbers running up the trellised fence. 
Help from the Hotbeds 
Approach to the Garden 
A brick walk and stepping stones beneath an arch of thick 
shrubbery lead from the formal garden to the vegetable garden 
through a simple white gate. This little gate was placed in the 
fourteen foot wall enclosing the formal garden, years after the 
shrubbery was established, through which an arch and passage 
way was made by removing some of the shrubs and trimming 
others. This approach to the vegetable garden is satisfying and 
complete to me except in one charming detail, which 1 mean to 
carry out shortly. It is 
the suggestion of an Eng- 
lish guest, who tells me 
that frequently the brick 
walks in English gardens 
are made beautiful to the 
eye by sowing Thyme in 
the crevices, and that in 
treading these walks the 
Thyme is crushed enough 
to bring out its delightful 
fragrance, but not enough 
to harm it. Hence 1 have 
decided that the Moss, 
which grows naturally in 
these brick crevices — and 
which, after many strug- 
gles, I have at last induced 
the gardener to leave and 
not dig out to make the 
walks “neat” — must go, 
E ARLY in March the hotbeds are started, and in them are 
planted the Tomatoes, also Radishes, Lettuce and Peppers. 
By the middle of April in our climate (central Michigan), the 
Radishes are ready for the table, the Tomato seedlings old 
enough to be transplanted into boxes or pots, and the Lettuce 
and Peppers in condition to be set into their places out of doors. 
Later when the little Tomato plants have developed enough 
to be removed from the boxes and pots to the open ground, 
they are set two feet apart each way in the 8 x 1 1 ft. space 
reserved for them. The one foot just in front of this space and 
along the drive has for 
years been the home of the 
Chives. Thus a space of 
12 x 8 sq. ft. is given to 
the Tomatoes and Chives, 
leaving a space of 12 x 22 
sq. ft. for the rest of the 
vegetables. 
Six of the sturdiest yel- 
low Tomato plants are 
used and fourteen of the 
red. Two packets of this 
seed furnish many more 
plants than we can pos- 
sibly use, but for several 
years now a garden neigh- 
bor and I have exchanged 
hotbed plants, so that 
there is little wasted effort 
and considerable mutual 
benefit. This planting of 
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COMPLETE PLAN OF THE GARDEN 
Here we have an easily followed planting arrangement which 
combines economy of space with prolific, practically continuous 
yield. This 12 x 30 ft. plot amply supplies a family of five 
- 18 
