This chapter is devoted to hints on the cultivation of the more important vegetables, together with some mention of varieties suited for “war-garden” planting.
Artichoke, Jerusalem.—This has about the same food value as the potato, but, unfortunately, it is a rather tasteless product. Proper cooking, with the addition of sauces and condiments, will make it palatable. It is a tall, coarse-growing plant belonging to the sunflower family. If you have an out-of-the-way spot in your garden where nothing else will grow, try a few artichokes. It needs sunshine, but is not particular as to soil. It should be planted in the spring on ground that has had a dressing of barn-yard manure spaded in. Plant the tubers a foot apart in rows two feet apart. The plant is a perennial, and likely to become a troublesome weed unless restricted to one corner of the garden.
Beans.—This group comprises some of the most important of garden vegetables.
The various types of beans differ greatly in their requirements, and there is scarcely any kind of soil or climate that will support vegetation, where beans of one kind or another cannot be grown.
Most of the beans are very susceptible to cold and must not be planted until the soil has warmed up and all danger of frost is past. There is one kind, however, belonging to a different genus than the common beans, which is not harmed by frost and which requires a long, cool season to develop properly. This is the broad, or Windsor, bean. A rich clay loam is best suited to this plant, and the seeds must be planted just as soon as the ground is in condition to be worked on in the spring. Plant them in rows two feet apart, and three inches apart in the rows.
The ordinary garden beans can be divided into two groups—the pole beans, which can be subdivided into those of the string and Lima types; and the bush beans, comprising string-beans, green and wax podded, green-shell beans, dry-shell beans, and Limas.
The pole beans, especially the Limas, are very susceptible to cold and cannot be planted outdoors in the vicinity of New York until toward the end of May, and not until June if it happens to be a cool season. They require a light, fertile soil for their best development. Seeds can be planted in hills three feet apart each way, placing three or four seeds in each hill. Poles must be provided for them to climb on and these should be in place before the seeds are planted. They can also be planted and trained on a trellis, as described in Chapter X.
Bush beans of the string type are less affected by cold than the preceding, but are not very hardy in this respect. They may be planted as soon as danger of frost is past if the ground is not too cold and wet. The distance between the rows should be about eighteen inches, the plants standing from three to four inches apart in the rows. Bush beans will grow in a variety of soils ranging from those of a sandy nature to clay loams, but they grow best in sandy loam. Shell beans of the Improved Navy type (pea-beans) are especially adapted for planting in sandy soils.
Bush Lima beans require the same kind of soil as the pole beans, and should be planted at the same time. Make the rows two feet apart, with the plants from six to nine inches apart in the row.
The following are good varieties. Of the dwarf, wax-podded kinds Rust-proof Golden Wax and Burpee’s Kidney are desirable.