CHAPTER X
Vegetable Growing for the Home Table
The life of the husbandman,—a life fed by the bounty of earth, and sweetened by the airs of heaven.
Jerrold.
It is predicted that this year,—1917,—will be the greatest year for gardening that the country ever has known!
The high cost of living first stimulated interest. Then after war was declared, the slogan, "Food as important as men or munitions," stirred young and old. Garden clubs sprang up everywhere, and in free lectures people were instructed how to prepare, plant and cultivate whatever ground they could get, from small backyards to vacant lots.
In our neighborhood last year a man with a plot of ground less than half the size of a tennis court, grew $50.00 worth of vegetables,—enough to supply his whole family! He got his planting down to a science, however,—what he called "intensive gardening," so that every foot of the soil was kept busy the whole summer. He fertilized but once, too, at the beginning of the season, when he had a quantity of manure thoroughly worked in. Then between slow growing crops, planted in rows as closely as possible, he planted the quick-growing things, which would be out of the way before their space was needed.
Incidentally he worked out a chart (which he afterwards put on the market), ruled one way for the months, and the other for the number of feet, with name cards for the vegetables that could be fitted in so as to visualize—and make a record of the entire garden the entire season. Such a plan means a great saving of both time and space.
Garden soil must be warm, light and rich. It must be well spaded to begin with, well fertilized, well raked over, and kept well cultivated. Vegetables require plenty of moisture, and during dry weather especially must be thoroughly watered. As I have said before, simply wetting the surface of the ground is almost useless, and often, by causing the ground then to cake over the top as it dries, worse than none at all, if the soil were cultivated instead. Pests must be watched for on all the crops, and treated according to the special needs of each variety when whale-oil, soapsuds, tobacco dust or insect powder seem ineffective. Then with weeding, and reasonable care, you can safely expect to keep your table supplied with that greatest of all luxuries,—your own green vegetables, fresh from the soil.