Every year is a good year to have a vegetable garden, but this is a doubly good one.
As President Truman has pointed out years ago in his appeal for Freedom Gardens, every pound of food raised at home will aid in feeding the hungry abroad and make easier the national aim of peace on earth.
The reward thus indicated to the gardener will be indirect and intangible.
The direct and tangible benefit of his efforts will be found in the crisper salads, the fresher beans, the daintier carrots, and the convenience of having a continuous supply of first-quality vegetables close to the kitchen door.
Cultivating Vegetables For Food Production
In wartime (World War II), many a home gave up to food production a plot, or part of a plot, that normally was employed for some other use, to which it has since been returned.
If a similar contribution is now to be made, or if a new area is to be broken in, the question arises, “What can I do with a small space for vegetables?
Let us suppose the cultivable area to be 15′ by 20′ feet, and the household concerned to be one of the average preferences in food matters.
The indispensables we may take to be tomatoes, beans, and lettuce.
We must first see how much of our limited rows they will require, and we shall assume that the rows run the long way of the plot, roughly north and south, to make the most of the sunshine.
Tomatoes
The tomatoes will go, at the back, to avoid their overshadowing the lower-growing species, and we shall stake them at 2’ feet apart so that there will be 10 tomato plants in our 20-foot row.
At a distance of 3’ feet, we shall have a second row, our total thus being 20 plants which, with luck and good gardening, may yield as much as 150 pounds of tomatoes—a fair allowance for the average family, with a margin for ketchup, juice, and canning.
In most conditions of cultivation, you will find excellent varieties to grow.
However, a few plants of an early variety, or a yellow one, might well be included.
Swiss Chard
Swiss chard will be a good choice for pot-herbs or boiling greensand, as the plants are huge, we shall place these next in line, 2 ½’ feet from the tomatoes.
Half a row, or 10’ feet, is all we can spare, but this will mean 15 to 20 plants, and they are of the cut-and-come-again or self-renewing type.
Unlike most other greens, a few leaves at a time are taken, not the whole plant, which will stand throughout the summer.
Squash
In the other 10’ feet of this row, we have room for four plants or bush, or summer, squash.
For a change, we might try the dark green Black Zucchini.
Four bushes may be sewn a small allotment, but these squashes yield profusely, continuing to blossom and bear the fruits are kept picked, as they should be when they are 6” or 7” inches in length.
Carrots
For the next row, let us say carrots.
One of several good reasons for this choice is that home-grown carrots can be pulled when they are younger and sweeter than those from the stores.
This row should be sown in three sections, at intervals of about 10 days, to provide tender carrots over a longer period.
The cylindrical Nantes is about the best of the older varieties for the garden.
Beans
Now we have space left for three rows in which to place the lettuce and beans that we considered among the essentials, and our best arrangement will probably be two rows of beans and one of the salad components, chiefly lettuce, of course.
Among bush beans, there are many varieties from which to choose.
If round pods are preferred, Tendergreen is the favorite by long odds.
If oval pods are wanted, plant Stringless Black Valentine (black refers to the color of the seeds), while for flatter pods, Plentiful had largely replaced the old Bountiful, which was inclined to develop a string when the pods reached the larger size.
Half of one of our bean rows might be given to a wax-podded sort such as Brittle Wax, with round pods, or the new Cherokee with oval pods, a yellow variation of the Stringless Valentine.
It will be well to sow these lean rows about 5’ feet at a time, at intervals of a week, as with the carrots.
Lettuce
At the front of the garden, the lettuces in our remaining row will be of the non-heading or loose-leaf type.
These are easier to grow successfully than the heading type, richer in vitamins, better able to withstand heat, and like chard, able to replace the leaves that are picked if the picking is in moderation.
Recent arrivals stand longer than any others without going to seed and are, therefore, more valuable in warmer areas and seasons.
Salad Greens
To enhance our salads, let us give space in this row to Upland cress, a sort of watercress come ashore.
Also include the useful and decorative parsley and chives, the daintiest of the onion tribe.
About 2’ or 3’ feet reserved for each will be well-rewarded space.
Soil Preparation For Maximum Production
Two points remain to be noticed.
First, suppose such a plot as this is to be intensively cultivated and made to yield maximum production.
In that case, the soil must be well prepared, corrected for acidity or alkalinity if necessary, and well stocked with plant food.
Weeds must be kept down, and the best way to do this will be to scuffle them off when they are tiny.
Then when the garden plants have had their final thinning and attained sufficient stature, lay down a mulch of soil cover of grass clippings, leaves, or the like, several inches deep.
This mulch will also provide such additional benefits as conserving moisture, helping to maintain an equable soil temperature, and allowing the plant rootlets to spread through, and utilize, the fertile top layers of the soil.
Growing Succession Crops
The second point is the growth of successors to the plants, which mature early.
Once carrots are pulled up, their space is vacant. No matter how carefully cultivated and faithfully picked, beans will complete their term, and the lettuce will eventually peter out.
The soil should then be prepared anew for species adapted to late summer and fall production.
One of the best is the Chinese cabbage (a misnomer, it is not a cabbage although its leaves are closely folded), an excellent salad vegetable and an ingredient in many Chinese recipes.
Endive, either the deeply cut and frilled type or the more solid escarolle, is a very acceptable substitute for lettuce.
Brussels sprouts are traditional for early winter, as are turnips too.
If these succession plants are coining up in scorching weather, it may be advisable to shade them from the violence of the sun.
A constructed frame with a lath or cheesecloth top will repay the slight trouble involved in its construction and use.