PLAN No. 280. THE CITY HOME GARDEN
For this following plan we are indebted to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
Fresh vegetables for an average family may be grown upon a large back yard or city lot.
The use of fresh vegetables conserves meats, grains, and other foods produced on farms.
The production of vegetables at home relieves transportation difficulties and solves the marketing problem.
The city home garden utilizes idle land and spare time for food production.
Thousands of acres of idle land that may be used for gardens are still available within the boundaries of our large cities.
Some of the problems that confront the city gardener are more difficult than those connected with the farm garden, and it is the object of this article to discuss these problems from a practical standpoint.
City Farming.
The problems that confront the city gardener are vastly greater than those of the farmer, who is free to select the choicest plat of ground upon the farm for his vegetable garden. The city-lot or back-yard garden as a rule offers little choice of soil or location. The available land is often shaded a part of the day, and the soil frequently consists of hard clay or is covered to a depth of several inches with cinders, broken stone, or other materials unfit for growing plants. The city gardener is usually handicapped by lack of practical experience and for want of suitable tools with which to do the work. Hand methods must be employed for the most part, and numerous local difficulties must be overcome. It is possible, however, to grow certain kinds of vegetables under very adverse conditions, and the results obtained by many city gardeners are truly remarkable.
The many thousands of city gardens have played an important part in providing a substantial increase in the food supply of the country. It is essential that the work so well started should continue and that the many thousands of acres of unoccupied land in and around our cities be utilized for food production. The experimental stage of city gardening has been passed, and, in the language of one of the State workers, “the city garden movement will not have achieved its full purpose until all suitable lands are utilized and every family table is fully supplied.”
Fig. 1.—Small back-yard gardens in a residence section of Washington, D. C.
The city back-yard or vacant-lot garden provides a supply of vegetables at home without transportation or handling costs. Vegetables from the home garden are fresher and more palatable than those brought from a distance. Many persons who work in offices, stores, and factories have time mornings and evenings that may well be devoted to the cultivation of a garden, thus utilizing spare time and idle land for food production. The home vegetable garden should be a family interest and all members of the family who are able to do so should take part in its cultivation. There is no better form of outdoor exercise than moderate working in the home garden, and few lines of recreational work will give greater returns for the time employed. ([Fig. 1].)