Many Vegetables and Few Neighbors.
If a person doesn’t have all the vegetables he can use, it is his own
fault, as they can be raised at _any_ time of the year here. I notice
cabbages just beginning to head-up now, and tomatoes are plentiful, as
the vines seldom are killed by frost. Cabbages grow best in winter,
and, to make this short, I will say that people are making garden all
the time--while some are harvesting, others are planting. I planted
peas, lettuce, radishes and cabbages to-day (Dec. 14th). I have only
been here three months, and have raised one crop, and we do not have
the time to devote to our garden that it needs, to make a real success
of it, still we can, with very little trouble, have all the vegetables
we need.
Sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, onions, carrots, artichokes, and celery
are all paying crops here. Every known variety of melons do well. There
are plenty of ripe water-melons now, and I see new vines coming up.
Now, all of this may seem flattering, but it is true, nevertheless.
But this is a new country, out from the towns, and thinly settled.
Willie and Charlie say they traveled nearly all one day--about 20
miles--without seeing a house, and it was a public highway, too, or
what we call a “county road;” so you see there is room here for _you_.
But you must be content to live without a near neighbor, for awhile, at
least.