No garden is complete without at least a few plants of peppers, gumbo
and leeks. To grow PEPPERS to perfection, the young plants should be
grown in the hotbed and be transplanted to very rich soil, from twelve
to eighteen inches apart, according to variety. When they commence
blooming, a liberal quantity of hen manure should be strewn around each
plant and be hoed in. This will increase the product wonderfully.
_Burpee’s Ruby King_ and _Golden Dawn_ are two superb new varieties.
GUMBO, or OKRA, is grown for its seed pods, which are used in soups and
stews. Plant the seed eighteen inches apart, when the ground is warm,
in spring, and use the pods while young and tender.
Sow LEEK seed very early, in a seed bed, in a sheltered place, if
possible. When plants are about six inches long, transplant them to
trenches six inches deep, with very rich soil at the bottom. Fill up
the trenches as the plants grow, and later draw soil up to them. As a
result, you will have fine, large leeks, blanched a foot long, which
may be kept all winter if dug up with the roots on, and stored in moist
sand in the cellar. Aside from being valuable for soups and salads,
blanched leek makes an excellent dish when sliced and cooked like green
peas. This fact does not seem to be generally known, as well-grown leek
is so seldom seen in kitchen gardens.[25]
We will now go back again to the ground adjoining the parsnips and
salsify. The early vegetables will mature and be harvested one after
the other, so that there will be enough vacant ground in time for--
CELERY, ENDIVE, TURNIPS, WINTER RADISHES, KALE,
CORN SALAD, WINTER LETTUCE AND WINTER
SPINACH.
Sow CELERY seed in a hotbed or cold frame. When a few inches high,
plant five inches apart, in a bed, in the open ground, which should be
especially prepared for the purpose by extra heavy manuring. Let the
plants remain in this bed, to grow strong and stocky. Never let the
ground in this bed become dry; give thorough cultivation and cut off
the tops of the plants once or twice, to make them grow stocky. When
six or eight inches high, lift the plants carefully and set them six or
eight inches apart, in trenches a foot wide and fourteen or more inches
in depth. Several inches of rotted stable manure should be mixed with
the soil at the bottom of the trench. When planting, firm the ground
well around each plant. Supply enough water to keep the ground at the
bottom of the trench very moist all the time. As the plants grow, press
soil around the bottom of each plant and tie together at the top with
string, to keep the stems straight and in an upright position. The
blanching or earthing up is done by gradually filling up the trench
with ground as the plants grow. Care should be taken not to get any
ground into the hearts of the plants and never to earth up while they
are wet. Sowing seed in the open ground and growing plants on the
level surface may do for cool northern latitudes, but my experience
is that it will not do here in southern Illinois. _Boston Market_ and
_Crawford’s Half Dwarf_ are as good as any of the taller varieties, and
are more easily blanched.[26]
Seed of ENDIVE should not be sown early, as this plant is grown chiefly
for late summer and autumn salad. In this latitude we sow at intervals
from the middle of June to the 1st of August. Seed may be sown either
broadcast or in drills, but the plants should be thinned so as to stand
from six to nine inches apart. It may also be sown in a seed bed and
be transplanted to the proper distance apart. When the plants are full
grown, tie all the outside leaves together over the heart, to blanch
the inner leaves, which will take about a week. To keep up a constant
supply, some should be tied up every few days. Never tie up when the
leaves are wet or they will soon decay. _Green Curled_ and _Batavian_
are both very good.[27]
TURNIP and winter RADISH seed may be sown from the latter part of July
to the middle of August. If the ground is reasonably free from weed
seeds it is advisable to sow broadcast, otherwise it is better to sow
in drills. In either case, it is well to remember that the plants
should be, like the first settlers, without a near neighbor. The size
and quality of the turnips and radishes will depend, to a great extent,
upon thin sowing of the seed, or, what is still better, a judicious
thinning of the plants when young. The largest and sweetest turnips
we have ever grown were of the _Purple Top Strap-leaved_ variety, and
were grown as a second crop after onions. The seed was sown broadcast,
and no further attention given the plants except thinning while young.
In the same manner and on similar soil we raised _White_ and _Black
Spanish_ winter radishes of excellent quality, that weighed from four
to seven pounds each. The _Chinese Rose_, though not so large, is the
handsomest and one of the best winter radishes grown. The _California
Mammoth_ is a superb fall radish, but does not keep well in winter. The
_White Stuttgart_ is regarded as a summer radish, but I have had it,
grown as a winter radish, to keep firm and solid till April.
KALE, or BORECOLE, is a valuable plant for spring greens. The variety
called _Dwarf German Greens_ is best for this purpose. Sow seed in
drills about September 1st, and give thorough cultivation till the
approach of cold weather. When winter sets in, give protection with a
covering of straw or similar material, put on so as not to smother the
plants. The most effective way of doing this is to place a layer of
fine brush or cornstalks between the drills, to a height equal to or
exceeding the height of the plants in the drills. Then cover all with a
layer of clean straw, six inches deep. The object of putting the brush
between the drills is to provide an air cavity between the plants and
the covering.[28]
CORN SALAD, or VETTICOST, is a valuable little plant which is used
for salad, the same as lettuce. For spring use, sow the seed any time
during the month of September, and at the approach of cold weather
cover the bed with a few inches of straw or hay. It should be used
very early in spring, as it soon runs to seed when warm weather sets
in. Although this plant will bear neglect, it will also repay good
treatment.
Seed of winter SPINACH and winter LETTUCE should also be sown during
the month of September, and the plants should be protected with a
covering of straw, or similar material, during winter. Put on part
of the covering when the ground begins to freeze, and as the cold
increases, add covering till it reaches a depth of four or five inches.
In regions where heavy snowfalls can be depended upon, it may not
be necessary to protect any of the above-named plants, but here and
elsewhere, where winters are severe and the snowfall light, it is of
the utmost importance to provide protection, or no success need be
expected. _Hammersmith_ is the best winter lettuce, and _Round Leaf_
and _Prickly Winter_ are two good varieties of spinach for fall sowing.
The beds of kale, corn salad, winter lettuce and winter spinach should
be arranged side by side, and alongside of the parsnips and salsify,
so as not to interfere with the plowing of the ground in fall and in
spring. As some of the parsnips and salsify will be left in the ground
to be dug at leisure in spring, it is best to have all these vegetables
side by side, so that when the parsnips and salsify[29] are dug, and
the crop of kale, corn salad, etc., harvested, the whole ground can be
plowed at once.
Before closing, a few words in regard to watering and transplanting may
not prove amiss.
The best time for watering is in the evening. Though water may be
given to the roots at any time, it should never be sprinkled on the
foliage in the hot sun, as that causes brown spots or blisters where
it comes in contact with the leaves. More injury than good results
from beginning to water a plant, and then not keeping it up till
the necessity ceases. As soon as the ground begins to get dry after
watering, the soil should be stirred with the hoe. When you start to
water a plant, do it thoroughly, so as to give the roots a soaking at
every watering, or else do not water at all.
The main points to be regarded in transplanting, are handling the plant
carefully, so as to injure the roots as little as possible, planting
firmly and shading to prevent the sun from withering or scorching the
leaves. It should be borne in mind, that it is not nature’s design that
a plant should be transplanted, and we ought to show sympathy for a
plant as well as for our fellow-creatures.
And now, having taken a walk with you through the kitchen garden, all
I have further to say is, may you be favored with seasonable rain
and sunshine, for, be it remembered, without the co-operation of the
elements all our efforts are in vain.