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.