Spinach is another crop that is highly desirable for use as greens. Spinach thrives in cool weather and should be grown both as a spring and as a fall crop. In the extreme northern part of the country only one crop may be grown. In sections where the winters are mild the seed can be planted in the fall and the plants can remain in the ground all winter. For a spring crop, plant in the open ground as soon as the soil can be worked. The rows may be as close as 7 inches, and 12 to 15 seeds should be sown to a foot of row, the plants being thinned so that they will have 11⁄2 to 2 inches of space for their development.
Spinach requires a very rich soil in order to make it grow quickly. A bed 5 feet wide and 30 feet in length and having about eight rows running the length of the bed will furnish enough spinach for the ordinary family. The entire spinach plant is removed by cutting just above the surface of the ground. From 2 to 3 ounces of seed will be sufficient for a bed 5 by 30 feet in size. Spinach contains large quantities of iron and is especially desirable as a part of the diet in the early spring.
Celery
There is nothing particularly difficult about growing celery after the plants are started. The celery seed bed requires very careful watering until the plants are up and large enough to transplant. As a rule, it will be best for city gardeners to purchase plants that are ready for setting in the garden. Celery requires a rich soil and plenty of moisture.
Anyone desiring to grow it should write to the United States Department of Agriculture for a copy of the Farmers’ Bulletin on celery (No. 282), which gives full directions for growing the crop.
The White Plume, Golden Self-Blanching, and Boston Market are among the best varieties for the home garden.
Lettuce
No early garden would be complete without at least a bed of lettuce; however, only a small space is necessary to grow plenty for the average family. In the old-fashioned garden a small bed was spaded in one corner and the seed sown broadcast and raked into the soil just as soon as the ground was dry enough to work in the spring. As the plants grew and began to crowd each other, they were thinned and those that were pulled out were used on the table. Later, when the plants became larger, they were cut off just above the ground.
Lettuce requires very rich soil and plenty of moisture, and will not withstand continued hot weather. It can be grown in partial shade and is one of the few crops that can be planted in back-yard gardens that are shaded a portion of the time. A 5-cent packet of seed will produce all the plants required for the small garden. A good method is to sow the seed in a box in the house and transplant the small plants to a bed or to rows in the garden. Lettuce is not injured by a light frost, especially if the plants have been grown in the open. The seed or plants may be planted between other crops that require a longer period for their development than the lettuce. Two plantings should be made in the spring and one in the late summer, in order to have a supply for a considerable period.
Grand Rapids is the leading variety of loose-leaf lettuce, while the Big Boston, Iceberg, and California Cream Butter are good heading sorts.