EARLY SPRING VEGETABLES
May be classified under two heads: those that remain in the ground over
winter and are ready for use as soon as the frost is out of the ground
and those vegetables that, owing to the short time required to bring to
maturity, are first available from the present year's planting; among
the first may be cited such forms as asparagus, parsnips, salsify,
parsley, kale, onions and a few others.
The latter class include such vegetables as beets, lettuce, radishes,
endive and early peas, all of which may be planted as soon as the
ground can be worked in spring, but for very earliest results use
should be made of the hotbed, sowing the seed in February or March
according to the latitude and transplanting as soon as the ground
can be worked in spring. By doing this from three to six weeks' time
may be gained. At the same time that plants from the hotbeds are
transplanted seed may be sown in the open ground in adjoining rows or
as a continuation of a short row of transplants, to come into use about
the time the first planting is exhausted; in this way a succession may
be maintained and the ground made to produce a more profitable amount
of vegetables as seed may be sown where the transplanted vegetables
were grown as soon as they are removed.
BEETS
Which may be planted in open ground as soon as it can be worked in
spring, do best on a fibrous loamy soil, but any good, warm, rich loam
will grow them satisfactorily; the cleaner the ground and the more
thorough the cultivation, however, the more uniform the crop which
will be produced. Sow the seed in drills fifteen to twenty inches
apart and about ½ inch deep, covering and tramping down the rows. It
is customary to sow the seed rather freely when sown by hand, but if
the seed is good rather better results follow sowing with a seeder,
owing to the more even distribution and the lessened amount of thinning
required; if vegetables of this class did not need thinning their
cultivation would be robbed of its chief burden; unfortunately they do
need it and quite drastic thinning at that; thinning should commence
as soon as the beets are large enough to handle, leaving them standing
about one inch apart. In about two weeks another thinning may be given.
By this time the young beets will be large enough for greens and they
may be thinned to stand two inches apart in the row; a third thinning
will be final and should leave about four inches between the beets;
this will allow room for full maturity and perfectly formed roots.
Beets are at their best when about an inch to an inch and a quarter
in diameter and this is the size which is utilized for canning; when
used of this size about an inch of the top may be left on and they are
served whole, dressed with butter and seasoning.
The old Egyptian beet has long been acknowledged as standard, but
Crosby's Egyptian is a distinct improvement upon the old form. It is
earlier, the color fine and the quality very sweet and tender. Early
Model beet is a new comer with an excellent reputation and both are
good selections for the home or the market garden.
In sowing in the hotbed it is not necessary to cover more than a fourth
of an inch; scatter the seed thinly and transplant in about three to
four weeks from the sowing of the seed, or when the plants and weather
make the successful planting most assured; set the plants about an inch
to an inch and a quarter apart and in using remove every other one;
this leaves abundant room for them to develop and makes cultivating and
freedom from weeds more assured.
A light application of nitrate of soda will work wonders in growing
early beets; scatter the nitrate thinly along the rows and cultivate
in, or the nitrate may be dissolved in water and applied from a
watering can, care being taken to apply to the soil only and not to
the plants. A handful of nitrate, about the usual quantity applied to
a two-gallon watering-pot of water, will be sufficient, or a hundred
pounds to the acre—this would amount to about twenty-five pounds to
the ordinary garden.
Beets may be sown for succession up to the middle of July and will
mature a crop for winter use. Late sown beets are less care to
cultivate owing to the fact that the season's crop of weeds is by that
time pretty well under control.
SWISS CHARD
Has been for several years much exploited by seedsmen as the one
indispensable vegetable for the city garden. It is no doubt a
dependable source of greens, making a rapid growth of succulent leaves
and is one of the showy, effective things in the garden that gives an
air of abundance and successful gardening unsurpassed by any other
vegetable, but, in my opinion, its merit ends right there and if
it were not for its value in furnishing green food in the greatest
quantity in the least time I should not give it space in the garden;
the midrib, so much recommended for cooking like asparagus, has an
unpleasant, earthy taste that, to me at least, is very disagreeable.
Its culture, however, is so easy that it is worth while for any one
who likes it to grow it. It can be planted in the open ground as soon
as the ground can be worked in the spring, or sown in the hotbed
and transplanted, thus gaining three weeks or more; sow in drill,
scattering the seed thinly and thin out the plants to stand six inches
apart in the rows. A light dressing of nitrate of soda will hasten the
growth and render the leaves more tender and succulent. This plant
does not need to have successive sowings made as by cutting down to
the ground it will make a new growth, and the outside leaves may be
gathered, the same as is done with spinach, and so produce a continuous
growth of tender, crisp leaves.
There are two varieties of the chard, the Giant Lucullus and the Silver
Beet; the latter variety being more delicate in flavor, having less of
the earthy taste. A novel variety—a cross between the Swiss Chard and
the table beet—is now offered by Luther Burbank which combines with
the usual chard qualities, much beauty of foliage, the leaves being
gorgeous in pink, yellow, green and white and it would certainly add
to the joy of gardening to have so beautiful a thing to tend, for this
reason and because the bunnies must have food, I am growing it in my
garden this year.
CHINESE CABBAGE
Though not a spring vegetable it is so similar in some respects
to Swiss Chard that it may well be a companion vegetable. It much
resembles the Romaine or Coss lettuce in its lush, upright leaves.
It should not, however, be planted until about the first of July as
early plantings run quickly to seed and do not develop the fine big
leaves of the type. It may be planted in short rows and transplanted
to about nine inches apart when large enough to handle. Nitrate is
again indicated for this quick-growing, succulent plant and as soon
as the leaves have attained considerable size they should be confined
by tying with bast or strips of soft cloth, to prevent their falling
apart rather than to blanch them. The outer leaves may be gathered as
they mature, leaving the inner leaves to grow and be gathered later. It
is eaten raw or cooked like cabbage, being more delicate in flavor and
without the objectionable cabbage odor when cooking. The large, fleshy
midribs, stripped off the leaf, may be eaten raw with salt like celery
or cooked like asparagus. When tied up the plant much resembles a very
large, handsome stalk of celery, but with big, broad leaves instead of
the feathery fronds of the latter plant.
ENDIVE
Classes with the foregoing vegetables, requiring practically the
same treatment. It should be started in the hotbed for early use,
transplanting to the open ground when the weather is favorable. As it
does not make very rapid growth at first it may as well remain under
the favorable guardianship of the warm hotbed until the middle of May,
when it should be transplanted in rows, setting the plants six inches
or more apart. When the plants are about two-thirds grown they must
be drawn together and tied for blanching, without which they are unfit
to use; this must be done when the plants are perfectly dry—in the
middle of a bright, sunny forenoon, being the best time for the work,
otherwise they will rot as they are very sensitive to moisture and
prone to decay—as a Japanese friend said of chrysanthemum seed;—"They
are very corruptible."
They are a most acceptable addition to salads and combine acceptably
with lettuce having a tangy bitterness very piquant, but it is as a
garnish that they excel; the fringed and curled fronds, pure white or
tinged with green in the less well-blanched specimens, are beautiful
indeed and they may well be grown for this alone.
Covering with boards is sometimes resorted to instead of tying, two
boards being laid along either side of the row to form a cap. It takes
about three weeks to properly blanch endive and the plants should be
used as soon as ready. If desired plants may be taken up in the fall
and planted in pots or boxes and placed in a light warm cellar or an
upstairs window for winter use. As the endive makes a mass of fibrous
roots it can be lifted without in any way checking its growth.
The Giant Fringed Endive is one of the best kinds. The Self-blanching
Endive is not a satisfactory sort as it lacks the beautiful color of
the blanched sort and is more prone to run to seed; either sort when
running up can be cut and fed to the rabbits and so turned to good
account, in fact I consider it worth planting for this purpose alone.
The Staghorn Endive is an excellent sort for spring growing as, started
in the hotbed and transplanted, it does not run to seed—a fault most
other varieties are addicted to; this sort may be planted for early
salads and the Giant Fringed later for fall and winter. Like all plants
which depend upon rapid growth for crispness and flavor an application
of nitrate is beneficial to endive and mellow, rich soil should be
selected for its growth.
LETTUCE
For the very earliest use plant seed in hotbed and transplant to open
ground about the middle of May, setting the plants about a foot apart
if head lettuce is desired and, of course, no one who is acquainted
with the superior excellence of head lettuce over the leaf variety
will care to grow the latter. There are so many excellent varieties
of lettuce on the market that one hesitates to recommend any special
sort but some are more reliable headers than others. One of the
surest headers and an excellent sort to plant in summer as it is more
resistant of heat than most sorts, is the Improved Hanson; this variety
makes a large, globe-shaped head, so compact that the inner leaves are
beautifully blanched and the quality is excellent. For those who like a
brown-leaved lettuce and in my opinion this sort excels in flavor all
others, the old May King is one of the best and should always find a
place in the garden whatever other varieties are grown. It is not as
large as lettuce and permits of closer planting than Hanson or All
Season—another most excellent head lettuce—a sure header and slow to
run to seed; it makes an immense head—almost as large as a Flat Dutch
Cabbage, with beautifully blanched inner leaves and a fine, buttery
flavor.
[Illustration: _Gratifying evidences of your own care and industry_]
Of the loose-leaved lettuce the Grand Rapids Forcing Lettuce is the
best known. This is a good sort to grow in the hotbed and may be
allowed to remain after the other vegetables are removed, resetting to
stand a few inches apart. The leaves are upright and loose, beautifully
green and curled and the flavor crisp and delicious. It may be grown to
use while the other sorts are heading.
Romaine or Coss Lettuce is the sort served in the big hotels as
Romaine salad. It requires transplanting either from the hotbed to
the open ground or from the seed row in the open ground to another
row. It should stand about four inches apart in the row as the growth
is upright, rather than spreading, and when of sufficient size the
leaves must be tied together to blanch. It is very crisp and delicious
lettuce when quickly grown by the aid of much fertilizer, good culture
and moisture, but lacking these is rather tough and bitter. Nitrates
may be used to advantage, applied along the rows after the plants are
transplanted.
All lettuce is at best in spring and early summer. It is very difficult
to grow good lettuce in hot weather. If a width of cheese cloth is
stretched over the row and the soil kept moist much better results can
be secured. Leaf lettuce is more easily managed in mid-summer than head
lettuce and unless one can give special attention this is a better sort
to sow for succession.
ONIONS
Are an all-the-year-round vegetable and belong to each season according
to how they are handled. For green onions, early in spring, the White
Potato, or Multiplier, Onions are deservedly popular; these are usually
raised from sets planted in drills where they are to form a permanent
bed and cultivated during summer; they form a clump of tender shoots
which are ready for use in May. If, however, the bed is neglected and
allowed to form sod or weeds the onions deteriorate and become tough
and woody; their principal merit consists in their earliness. For first
class bunching onions, however, onions with bottoms, one should sow
seed in August in a fine, clean seed bed that has been heavily manured,
scattering the seed thinly in drills one foot or fifteen inches apart
and thin the plants to stand two inches apart in the rows. Onions are
quite hardy and will usually winter without protection but in severe
climates a light covering of straw or of evergreen boughs will be
beneficial; this practice gives very fine green onions early in the
spring.
Another practice, very satisfactory for the home garden, consists in
planting in early spring the old onions placed in storage for winter
use; usually these will have begun to grow by March and are useless for
cooking, but if pulled apart and each shoot planted out in good garden
soil they will start at once into growth and in a few weeks' time
produce a delicious green onion, sweet and of the utmost tenderness. I
have found it a good thing to spade the flower beds intended for the
growing of annuals and bedding plants early in the season and plant the
onions in these, thus saving room in the garden and getting a greater
use of the flower beds.
Unlike many vegetables the onion can be grown year after year on the
same ground, providing it is well fertilized each year with barnyard
manure, so that the humus content of the soil is not depleted. Clean
tilth is essential, so that as little hand work as possible may be
required for onions tops are exceedingly tender and injury to them
checks the growth of the bulbs. The garden overalls adopted by many
women for working is a distinct advantage in the onion bed. For onion
sets sow seed in drills early in spring; gather the sets when ripe and
store in a dry place till spring; slight freezing will not injure them
but they must be protected from thawing and freezing.
But for winter onions of notable size and quality the New Onion
Culture should be adopted:—This consists in sowing the seed in the
hotbed in early spring and transplanting to the open ground when the
weather is suitable. Set the tiny plants an inch apart in the rows,
thin when big enough to use as green onions, removing every other one
leaving them standing two inches apart, thin again to stand four inches
apart and grow on until fall. If seed of Prizetaker or Ailsa Craig are
used onions quite the equal of the fancy Spanish onions sold in the
fruit stores will be produced. The soil must be more than ordinarily
rich; besides the spring dressing given the garden before ploughing the
space selected for the onions should have well-rotted manure trenched
in at the rate of a wheelbarrow load to every square yard: in trenching
lay back a spade's depth of soil across the end of the onion bed; fill
this space with manure, trench a second row, throwing the soil on top
of the manure, fill the fresh trench with manure and continue till
the whole bed has been worked over. Rake the bed until the surface is
perfectly fine and smooth and sow the seeds in drills fifteen inches
apart or set the plants as directed.
Onions are occasionally attacked by root lice which if not at once
exterminated will quickly destroy the plants; the lice work on the
roots of the onion and the first evidence of their presence is a sickly
yellowing of the tops; if an onion is pulled up and examined the
presence of the tiny white lice will at once be evident: the remedy is
salt and the method of applying is to open a shallow trench beside the
rows and scatter salt quite plentifully along it, filling in the earth
again; one application will exterminate the lice. Attacks of root lice
are by no means common, but the fact that they do occur and are very
deadly should make one watchful for the first sign of discoloration in
the tops.
When the onion tops show signs of ripening they should be broken down;
this is sometimes done by rolling a barrel over them. A light home-made
roller may be easily constructed by taking a length of nine inch stove
pipe, fitting a piece of wood in each end with a hole through the
center to admit a bar of wood or iron which should be attached at the
ends to a handle adjusted so as to allow the cylinder to roll; this
being light can be rolled over the bed, leveling two or more rows at
a time according to the length of the cylinder; it can be quickly
constructed of waste material about the place and any piece of wood of
suitable length—a couple of lathes, even, will answer, will do for
handles. It is a good idea when it is found necessary to employ help
in cultivating the garden to have a few little jobs like this on hand
in case rain interferes with the work; in this way neither the time of
the help nor the money of the employer is wasted and I have found that
it gives far better satisfaction to the help if there is something of
the kind for him to do so that he need not lose his day's or forenoon's
work. Sharpening tools is another job that it pays to remember in the
odd moments. A memorandum of things that can be done when it rains,
tacked up in a conspicuous place in the work room, toolhouse or barn
is a very useful reminder and avoids an awkward delay while one tries
to think of something to do.
If possible onions should be dug on a warm, bright day and allowed to
lie on the ground until dry and clean; they should then be stored in
a dry, airy loft or on a scaffolding. On the hay in a barn is a good
place for onions and they can be left there until freezing weather,
for the shorter time they are in a warm house the better they will
keep. If the temperature drops suddenly a little hay can be thrown over
them. Slight freezing does not injure onions, but repeated freezing
and thawing does. An upstairs room is better for storing than a cellar
unless the latter is unusually dry and not too warm. Onions will,
usually, keep in perfect condition until the middle of February or the
first of March, when they will begin to grow and should be sorted out,
and the sound ones given a cool, dry place and sold or used as quickly
as possible and the remainder saved for planting in the open ground.
PARSLEY
So universally used for garnishing and for flavoring soups and salads
is of very slow germination and for that reason is more successfully
grown when started in hotbeds and transplanted into the open ground
in May. The ancients held that parsley should never be sown as they
claimed that the seed had to make a journey to Hades and remain six
weeks; when sown in the open ground it seems to bear out that theory,
so slow is its appearance above ground. In the hotbed it requires
about three weeks. England, too, has its superstition of the parsley,
believing like the ancients, that it should be planted, not sown, that
it must make the long journey to the infernal regions and return and
that there the devil takes his tithe of it, for proof of which they
point to the fact that a small part only of the seed comes up. A better
explanation would be found, I think, in the quality of the seed, the
home grown seed coming up quite as well as other seed, the boughten
seed sometimes proving unsatisfactory.
The Greeks held the plant in great respect. A crown made of dried
and withered leaves was given to the victors in their games. A crown
together with a bunch of laurel was dedicated to the god of banquets
while all the guests at these feasts wore crowns of parsley under the
impression that the herb created quiet and promoted appetite. The
Romans also decked themselves in like manner upon similar occasions
because they believed that the plant had the power to absorb the fumes
of wine and thus prevent drunkenness.
It was parsley that Hercules selected for the making of his first
garland of victory. Greek gardens were bordered with parsley and rue,
giving rise to the saying, "Oh, we are only at the parsley and rue."
As these ancients used the plant in their rejoicing and merrymaking,
so, too, it was brought into use in their funeral decorations. Sprigs
of the herb were strewn over their dead. According to old folk lore
parsley should be sown on Good Friday.
Parsley is a biennial plant, making a fine clump of edible leaves the
first year which in mild winters or protected positions survives the
winter and starts into growth the following spring. It soon, however,
runs to seed and is of no further value except to produce seed. If,
however, one wants a small supply of parsley without the annual trouble
of sowing and transplanting a small bed of it may be allowed to go
to seed and self-sow, when it becomes, practically, a perennial but
does not attain the fine quality that the specially grown plant does.
A single row through the garden will furnish parsley for an entire
neighborhood as the older leaves are gathered as needed and the crown
allowed to produce new leaves; this should be done whether the leaves
are needed or not as the quality of the new growth will be finer in
every way, for leaving the old leaves to mature checks the growth of
the crown leaves. Nine inches at least should be allowed between the
plants and twelve is better, though when the tiny plants are first
transplanted it may seem a long and lonely distance between them, but
the plants soon fill up the space.
Very little cultivation is needed between the plants when once they
attain full size; the plants are so dense and spreading that they
effectually choke out the younger weed growth, but the space between
rows should be kept clean.
Of the varieties to plant, only the fine moss curled should be
selected. The Champion Moss Curled is a standard sort and one of the
best, rich green in color and so crumpled and curled as to have the
appearance of moss. Nearly all florists or seedsmen have their own
especial brand of seed and one can select those which promise the
best product. If desired bunches of the parsley may be lifted in the
fall and potted or planted in window-boxes for winter use. They make
a most attractive plant for the window and a pot of parsley, one of
well-blanched endive and one of red celestial peppers make a most
cheerful window decoration for the kitchen or dining-room, as well as
furnishing crisp decorative material for the table.
PARSNIPS
May be classed among the early spring vegetables as they are planted
as early as the ground can be worked in spring and are likewise ready
for use as soon as the frost is out of the ground so that they may be
dug; like all root vegetables they require rich, deeply dug or ploughed
land. Not less than twelve inches in depth is required for successful
cultivation; with shallow cultivation crooked and many branched
roots are produced which are unsalable and of little value for home
consumption. The long, smooth, beautifully white roots—two inches or
more at the crown, are only produced in well-prepared soil.
Parsnips are planted directly in the open ground as soon as the ground
can be worked in spring, sowing the seed in drills an inch and a
quarter deep, covering and tramping down the rows if the weather is
dry. They should be thinned to stand from four to six inches apart in
the row that the roots may make perfect development. The rows should be
eighteen inches apart and the ground kept loose and clean throughout
the growing season.
The usual practice is to let the parsnips remain in the ground over
winter, taking up and storing in boxes of slightly moist earth or sand,
in the cellar, a supply for winter use. The parsnip is improved in
quality by a touch of frost but must be dug before growth starts in the
spring.
Parsnips are eaten quite readily by Belgian hares and imperfect or small
roots may be sorted out and fed to them, avoiding any loss in grading.
PEAS
Of the very earliest kinds, and that is distinctly the smooth peas,
should be gotten into the ground very early in spring. Most of the
early sorts will stand considerable cold, but the wrinkled sorts are
tender and should not be planted until the weather and soil are warm
and reasonably dry. More failures in growing peas come from planting
in cold, wet soil, in a mistaken hurry to get early peas than from any
other cause.
Ground for peas should be very rich; it is not sufficient that the
garden plot has been well manured before ploughing;—the strip allotted
to the growing of peas should have additional fertilizer trenched
in, especially is this necessary in growing the wrinkled sorts and
especially the dwarf peas, such as Nott's Excelsior and the like. These
dwarf peas cannot bear a big crop on their abbreviated tops unless
forced to production by heavy feeding, but as the wrinkled, medium
early and mid-season peas are the most delicious of all in quality, the
extra care required is well repaid. Another object in heavy fertilizing
is that by this means a succession of peas may be grown on the same
ground. Personally I prefer peas that require support to the very
dwarf sorts; in the first place you have more vine for the production
of pods. You cannot, with the best intentions, get as big a crop from
one foot of vine as you can from three, all things being equal. Again,
the labor of gathering pods from upright growing vines where the pods
are easily seen and reached is far less than from the prostrate vines
which must be lifted or looked under in search of pods. Wire netting
furnishes a better support than brush and where the gardener is a
woman is much pleasanter to work about. Brush has an unpleasant habit
of catching on the clothing and twisting around, often to the injury
of the vine, but the netting gives a firm support, to which the vine
readily attaches itself.
In the home garden the best way to plant peas is in double rows a foot
apart, making the trench about three inches deep and dropping the peas
as evenly as possible. Early sown peas do not require as deep planting
as the wrinkled sorts which may be planted four or five inches deep to
avoid blight. As the wrinkled sorts are very tender they should not
go into the ground before corn planting time and not then unless the
nights and soil are warm.
An excellent arrangement for a succession of peas in the home garden is
to prepare the rows by trenching in manure and then make two furrows
a foot apart and in one furrow plant the earliest peas and in the
other a second early pea, stretching a four or five foot width of wire
netting between the rows; this extends the bearing season a couple of
weeks. When all the pods have formed on the earliest varieties of vines
a second furrow may be opened beside it and a wrinkled sort of medium
earliness be planted; these will be ready to climb about the time the
first vines are turning yellow when they may be pulled up, leaving
their place for the new vines. This system of succession of planting
may be repeated on the other side of the netting, thus giving four
sowings of peas to one strip of netting and a succession of peas for
several weeks.
The germination of the seed may be hastened by soaking the seed over
night in warm water and when sowing unsoaked seed, in dry weather,
germination is hastened by pouring hot water into the trench before
covering the seed.
The experienced gardener will have his pet variety of peas but the
amateur will be somewhat afield in selection so I would suggest as a
desirable early sort the Gradus or Prosperity Pea, a delicious sort
of the tall kind that has much to recommend it. American Wonder is
another extra early pea of a wrinkled sort that appeals to those who
prefer a dwarf pea, being but a foot in height and compares in general
excellence with Nott's Excelsior. On the same trellis with Gradus
may be planted the Senator Pea; this is a number one pea in every
respect—quality, quantity and appearance; following these one may
plant more Senators and the Telephone; these will give a succession of
peas for several weeks.
So many enemies conspire against the pea that close watch must be kept
from the planting of the seed until the plants are well above the
ground. Usually the chief depredation comes from moles which run along
underneath the seed and destroy it; poisoned bait placed in the trench
along with the seed often destroys the moles before much damage is
done. A mole trap set at each end of the row or at the point where the
mole enters the run will often prove effective. A very successful home
made trap consists of a large can or crock—a lard can is good, sunk
in the ground and a trap consisting of a long, endless box with about
a third of the bottom sawed apart and pivoted on nails driven through
the side, so that anything entering at one end will drop through the
swinging trap into the can beneath, which should be kept full of water;
this arrangement will catch more moles than any steel trap with which I
am familiar, and as the presence of the moles in the garden threatens
other vegetables as well as the peas it will be time well spent to
prepare one or more of these traps for use when occasion arises; the
making of these traps may well be put on the list of rainy day tasks.
Cutworms sometimes take the peas as fast as they appear above the
ground; poisoned bait along the rows before the peas break the ground
will dispose of this enemy. Blackbirds often destroy a planting of peas
before their presence is suspected and English sparrows have been
known to do much damage, so if one would enjoy fresh, home grown peas
one must exercise due vigilance.
The use of Mulford and other cultures for inoculating peas is growing
in practice among the most progressive gardeners and is a very wise
precaution to take; especially is it desirable in intensive culture
suggested by growing two crops of peas on the same strip of land. Peas,
like all legumes, are nitrogen feeders and gatherers and the use of
the culture supplies the young plant, at the start, with nitrogen and
puts it in shape to begin the accumulation of nitrogen from the air by
its own efforts. The nitrogen gathered from the air is stored up on
the roots in the form of nodules or bunches, and it is for this reason
that the growing of all legumes is so beneficial to the soil. If when
the first planting of peas is matured and gathered the vines are cut or
broken off close to the ground, instead of being pulled up, root and
all, this supply of nitrogen will remain in the soil and be available
for the succeeding crop.
The inoculating of the seed is very simple: the small bottles, which,
by the way, cost but twenty-five cents for garden size, are only
one-fourth full; simply fill up the bottle with water and moisten the
seed before planting; this is all, and the same bottle will supply
inoculating material for the beans which also being legumes respond
favorably to the treatment.
RADISHES
A few radishes may be grown in the hotbed for very early use, but the
main planting should be in the open ground. It is hardly worth while to
devote any definite part of the garden to radishes as room can be found
for them among the other vegetables. An excellent way to grow them is
to drop seeds at intervals along the rows of beets, carrots, parsnips
and salsify. All these seeds are slow in germinating and by dropping in
occasional radish seeds which germinate in from three to five days the
rows will be marked so that they may be kept cultivated without waiting
for the plants to appear and indicate the rows. A surprising amount of
radishes will be grown in this way, without any special labor and loss
of ground; and they will be out of the way before the ground is needed
for the permanent occupant of the row.
The turnip rooted sorts are the most quickly and easily grown, the
Twenty Day as its name indicates being ready for use in twenty days
and the French Breakfast and Improved Breakfast Radish being ready in
twenty-five; both of these are very tender, crisp and mild sorts and
beautiful in appearance, white at the base and scarlet above, making a
beautiful appearance when prepared for the breakfast table with a bit
of the green top for contrast. For those who prefer a white radish the
Icicle Radish is a fine sort, crisp and tender and does not grow coarse
or pithy until quite large.
If one wishes to devote a definite space to radishes and maintain a
succession of plants it will be a good plan to drop a seed in the
ground for each radish pulled; in this way there will be a constant
supply of young, crisp radishes all summer.
Where only a few are desired it is a good plan to plant a short space
of the rows devoted to other vegetables to radishes and lettuce and
perhaps a few plants of endive and parsley next to the path and near
the house so that they may be easily got at without walking on the
newly cultivated ground.
SALSIFY
Is another plant that is started very early in the spring and eaten
as soon as the frost is out of the ground. It is one of the most
useful and delicious of this class of plants and is not nearly as much
cultivated as it should be. Sliced and cooked tender it makes, when
combined with milk, seasoning and cracker crumbs, a most acceptable
substitute for oyster soup or, cooked, mashed and mixed with a little
flour and seasoning and butter, dipped in egg and bread crumbs, it
makes delicious little cakes when fried. Its culture is simple, any
good, light fertile soil producing a good crop, but to produce clean,
smooth roots it should be deeply dug and well cultivated. Sow the seed
in shallow drills early in the season; thin to stand six inches apart
in the row. It is hardy and may remain in the ground all winter, but
a supply for winter use should be dug at the approach of cold weather
and stored in boxes of sand or earth in the root cellar. As soon as
the frost is out of the ground in spring and before growth starts they
must be dug. If it is desired to grow seed the plants should be set out
again, or may be left where they are if the ground is not needed for
other vegetables, and cultivated the same as seedling plants.
SPINACH
The most important of the vegetables grown for greens, should be sown
in the open ground as early as the ground can be worked if wanted for
early spring and summer use. For fall and winter use sow in September.
For a succession sow every two weeks. Sow in drills one foot apart
and one inch deep, in soil as fertile as one can compass; the soil
cannot be too rich for spinach, as upon the rapidity of its growth
depends the tenderness and succulence of its leaves; in poor soil,
especially if allowed to suffer for water, the leaves will be tough and
ill-flavored. Light applications of nitrate of soda have a magic effect
on spinach and should be applied lightly every two weeks.
The Round Seeded Savoy is a standard sort, with thick, fleshy leaves,
curled and crinkled; the New Zealand is a good sort for summer as it
withstands heat well and is slow to run to seed. In gathering the
spinach the entire top may be cut off a bit above the crown; this
induces a new, quick, tender growth of leaves.
In planting for spring and winter use the beds should be covered with
straw at the approach of cold weather. Spinach often self-sows and
gives a volunteer crop the following spring. When the spinach begins to
send up seed stalks it may be cut and fed to the rabbits and so waste
that would otherwise ensue may be avoided.