Eben E. Rexford

“ Spring begins the story, summer carries it forward, and autumn seems to complete it, but there is always the promise of the retelling of the story another year to keep us interested from the end of one season to the coming of another. Garden work is a sort of thousand and one days' entertainment, in which the interest is continually kept up—always something to look forward to—always something new. ”

“ And while we are at work at gardening, why not make it as attractive as possible? The pleasing appearance of it will lend additional qualities to the fine flavor of its vegetables if we believe that beauty and practicality ought to work in harmony with each other.
Sage, summer savory, and other garden-grown plants used for seasoning or medicinal purposes should be gathered when in their prime. If one waits until late in the season before cutting them, much of their virtue will have been expended in the ripening process which all plants undergo after they complete their growth. ”

“ A rich soil is absolutely necessary in order to hasten development. Unless a vegetable makes a quick growth it is pretty sure to be lacking in tenderness and flavor. Of course it is possible to apply a greater amount than a plant can make use of, thus forcing an unhealthy growth, but this is not likely to happen if we consult the wise old gardener who knows his garden and the plants he grows in it as a mechanic knows the machine he uses. ”

“ The average gardener doesn't seem to associate the growing of vegetables with an idea of beauty, but he will find, if he looks into the matter, that the vegetable-garden can be made really ornamental. A row of carrots with its feathery green foliage is quite as attractive as many of our decorative plants; and beets, with crimson foliage, are really tropical in their rich coloring. Parsley and lettuce make excellent and ornamental edgings for beds containing other vegetables. Tomatoes, trained to upright trellises, are quite as showy as many kinds of flowers, when their fruit begins to ripen. ”

“ To add to the attractive appearance of the table in winter I would advise growing a few plants of the red or purple cabbage to work up in slaws and salads. Beets are capable of giving a bit of color to the table that will be as pleasing to the eye as the taste of this vegetable is delightful to the palate. A root of parsley, potted in fall, will not only afford much material for the garnishing of the various dishes to which the housewife likes to add a touch of this kind, but it can be made the basis of a really beautiful table decoration. ”

“ A very small amount of systematized labor will be demanded by even a good-sized garden, if it is planned in such a manner that labor-saving tools can be used in its cultivation. If we look back to the gardening days of fifty or even twenty-five years ago, when everything was done at the hardest and the hand had to do a good share of the work that we now do with helpful implements, it is not to be wondered at that the old-time care of a garden discourages many from undertaking to have one. ”

“ Give her a few packages of seeds and arouse in her the enthusiasm to have a garden and she will get the very best kind of exercise out of her attempt to carry out the plan, and the "definite object"—in other words, the garden—that she has in mind will keep her so delightfully busy that she will forget all about the health-features of the undertaking until it dawns upon her with startling suddenness some fine day that she "has got her health back." ”

“ There are more ways than one to secure fertilizers and fine soil for the small garden. If sward is cut from the roadside, chopped into small pieces, and stored away in some corner of the yard that is convenient to get at, and the soapsuds from wash-day are poured over it each week, it will, in a short time, if stirred frequently, become a most excellent substitute for leaf-mold. The grassroots, when decayed, will become a vegetable fertilizer which will be found extremely valuable in the culture of such plants as require a light, rich soil, especially when small. ”

“ Every bit of soil should be made to do its share of work in the production of some vegetable.
If weeds are kept down during the early part of the season there ought not to be many during the latter part of it. But there will be no time when there will not be some to wage warfare against, and every gardener should make it a rule to destroy every one that gets a start as soon as discovered, for, by preventing it from developing seed, we can save ourselves a good deal of work next season. One weed will bear seed enough to fill the whole garden with its progeny if allowed to do so. ”

“ I know several amateur child gardeners who secure enough in this way to pay for all the seed they need. Some of them have regular customers each season, and gardening begins to look to them like a profitable occupation. I don't know that they will become professional gardeners, but they will be learning something as well as earning something while they are fitting themselves for whatever occupation in life they may decide on, and what they learn in the garden will be of benefit in after-life in more ways than one. ”

“ Children should be encouraged to take an interest in the cultivation of small gardens. They will do this if the parents are willing to help them a little at the start. Show them how to spade up the soil in spring, and how to work it over and over until it is fine and mellow. They will make play of this part of garden work, as it is as natural for a child to dig in the dirt as it is for a pig to wallow in a mud-puddle. ”

“ I have often been told by those who have had years of experience in garden-work that at least half one's living for half the year can be obtained from the garden, even if it happens to be a small one, and my own experience bears out the truth of this statement. If we grow our own vegetables we are quite sure to have a greater variety to add to the daily bill of fare than would be the case if we were to buy them. ”

“ All she knows is that she feels like a new woman. After that there will be no necessity to repeat the prescription, for one year's half-way successful work in the garden fixes "the garden habit" for all time. Nothing else can afford so much pleasure and exercise in happy combination as gardening, or exert a greater fascination over the person who allows herself to come under its influence. ”

“ The entire family will be delighted with the frequent changes that can be made in the bill of fare, and no one more so than the housewife who often finds it a difficult matter to plan for a variety of food when the family income does not warrant a liberal outlay.
No owner of a bit of ground that can be made into a garden can afford to let it remain unused. If he does so he does it in disregard of the economy which most of us are obliged to consider and practise in these days of high prices and the increasing cost of daily living. ”

“ The amateur gardener will find it extremely perplexing work to make a satisfactory selection of varieties of vegetables to grow in his garden. He knows quite well, as a general thing, what kinds he wants to grow, but when he comes to a consultation of the seedsmen's catalogues he discovers that of each kind of vegetable listed therein there are so many varieties mentioned that he is bewildered. ”

“ Those who have never had a garden of their own, but have bought vegetables in the ordinary market, are not in a position to understand [4] the wide difference between the article we buy and the one which is taken directly from the ground and eaten at once. While it is possible to keep most vegetables looking fresh for a considerable time by the use of water and ice, it is not possible to make them retain that delicacy of flavor known only to those whose vegetables go straight from the garden to the kitchen. If you want any vegetable at its best you must grow it in your own garden. ”

“ The currant is one of the garden's indispensables. It furnishes us with fruit of just the right degree of tart acidity to fit the season in which it is at its prime, and who does not get a deal of enjoyment out of a green-currant pie?
No kind of small fruit is easier to grow successfully. Worms frequently attack the bushes in spring, and often ruin the crop unless steps are taken to put a prompt end to their depredations, but spraying with Nicoticide infusion will rout them in most cases. ”

“ If a garden-cultivator is used—and this should be done whenever possible—plan for rows that will enable you to run it the entire length of the garden without turning. Beds are no longer in favor with gardeners who aim to reduce the work to be done to the minimum, for in them the cultivator cannot be used to advantage, and weeding cannot [14] be done with the facility which characterizes row-planting, nor can the hoe be used as effectively. There is really no argument that can be advanced in favor of the old bedding system for gardens in which we propose to use labor-saving implements. ”

“ A tree or a bush sends its roots deeply and widely into the soil, and applies to its uses food that the vegetable cannot send its roots in search of. The roots of most garden plants do not extend far in any direction, nor go very deep; therefore food must be given directly to them if we would secure the best possible result. There are very few gardens in which the natural soil has a sufficient amount of nutriment to produce the effect we aim at without the addition of some kind of plant-food. ”

“ They labor under the impression that a garden, in order to prove a success, requires more land than is at their disposal. Here is where they make a mistake. Of course one cannot grow a large quantity of vegetables on a small piece of ground, but the one who undertakes to make the most of a small piece will be surprised at the amount that can be grown on it. In a garden that is not more than twenty-five feet square a friend of mine grows all the summer vegetables required by his family of four persons. ”

“ One of the unfavorable conditions which seedling plants must struggle against is too much heat, if they are kept in the living-room. An undue amount of warmth forces them into abnormal development in the early stages of their growth, and a little later on there comes a reaction from the weakness thus brought about, and this reaction is almost invariably death to the tender plant.
Another unfavorable condition is the result of indiscriminate watering. The soil is either kept too wet or too dry. To grow good plants there must be an even supply of moisture. ”

“ Weeding should be begun as soon as the plants are of a size that makes it possible to tell which is seedling and which is weed. By beginning the work of clearing the garden at this period, and doing it thoroughly, and continuing it at intervals thereafter, it will be a comparatively easy matter to keep weeds under control. But if they are allowed to get a strong start—as they will in an incredibly short time if let alone—it will be a difficult matter to subdue them and keep the upper hand during the rest of the season. ”

“ Any one who owns a bit of land, and has some time that can be given to garden-work, and an inclination to do so, can make a gardener of himself in a season—and a successful one, too—if he allows himself to be governed by the advice of some one who has had some experience along this line. ”

“ There is really no drudgery in gardening as it is done to-day. On the contrary, there is positive pleasure in the operation of the machinery which inventive genius has furnished for the up-to-date gardener's use. ”

“ Every season some enterprising seedsman comes out with an announcement that he has developed or discovered a remarkable new variety of some standard vegetable so far superior to any other variety on the market that, as soon as its merits become fully known, it will drive all competitors out of the field. ”

“ Some quite artistic effects can be secured in the vegetable-garden by the exercise of a little thought. The large-leaved beet has foliage of a dark, rich crimson quite as ornamental as that of many plants used by gardeners to produce the "tropical effects" [82] which many persons admire. When planted in the background, with fine-foliaged plants like carrot or parsley in front of it, the effect will be extremely pleasing because of the contrast of color, and also of habit. ”

“ In the ordinary garden plants stand close to one another, and the varieties we grow are almost sure to mix, by one variety being pollenized by another. The seed from these plants will seldom produce plants like either parent variety. Sometimes they may be equal to them in most respects, but we cannot depend on their being so. Therefore, if we desire to grow superior varieties that are of pure blood, it becomes necessary for us to procure fresh seed each season from dealers who take pains to see that there shall be no "mixing" among their plants. ”

“ I insist on their getting out of doors, where the air is pure, and the sunshine bright and warm, and Nature is waiting to give her pleasant companionship to whoever signifies a desire to make her acquaintance. ”

“ Fresh air will be found a most important factor in the growth of seedling plants indoors. Unless it can be given it will be almost impossible to grow any plant well in the ordinary dwelling. It should be admitted to the room on every pleasant day by opening a window at the top, or a door at some distance from the plants. The fresh, cold air should be allowed to mix with the warm air in the room before it comes in contact with the plants, as a chill will often do about as much damage as a touch of frost. ”

“ There can be no real and lasting improvement in civic undertaking unless the individual home takes up the matter. The civic improvement society that starts out with the idea of improving things generally, but does not begin the good work at the home is working on the idea of making clean the outside of the cup and ignoring the condition inside it. Just as the home is the foundation of society, so must it be made the pivotal point at which any substantial and lasting improvement finds its beginning. ”

“ Not everybody has a garden. Some deny themselves the pleasure and the profit of one because they have never had any experience in gardening, and have somehow got the impression that special training is necessary to make a success of the undertaking. ”

“ Lassitude, ennui—these do not give us a knowledge of genuine tiredness, therefore we are not in a condition to receive the full benefit of that rest which means a reaction of the physical system until we have done some kind of work that makes reaction necessary in order to establish a normal equilibrium. The rest that comes after getting really tired is so full of delightful sensations that we admit to ourselves that it is richly worth the price we have to pay for it. ”

“ The amateur gardener may begin work with the belief that one crop in a season is all he can expect from his garden. He will soon discover his mistake. The early radishes and the first crop of lettuce will mature before midsummer, and the ground they occupied can be planted to later varieties from which a fully developed second crop can be expected. Or other vegetables, like beets and onions, can be planted where they grew, to furnish material for the pickling season. ”

“ We breathe in the wine of a new life, and we thrill with a thousand sensations that can come only from putting ourselves in close touch with Nature. You can tell a woman who needs a change from indoors to outdoors that she ought to take more exercise, but if you advise walking the chances are that she won't walk much. ”

“ Good drainage must be secured in order to grow good vegetables, and the use of tile will be found a most effective remedy for the evil of a soil unduly retentive of moisture.
In almost all localities there will be families who have no garden, but who would make liberal use of vegetables if they were easily procurable. There is a chance for boys and girls to earn an "honest penny." If it is found that there is likely to be more in the home garden than the family can make use of, canvass the neighborhood for customers for the probable surplus. ”

“ Most women who have some leisure—especially if they are of the housewife class—will be so pleased with the results of gardening that they will be glad to supplement the labors of the man of the family by what they can accomplish in it, if he is employed in work that will not allow him to devote much time to the garden. ”

“ But in good-sized gardens I would advise their culture, because there is nothing else quite equal to them in delicacy of flavor and luscious sweetness. They require a light, rich soil. Plant when the ground is warm, and not before, in hills four feet apart. It is a good plan to put a generous quantity of manure from the henhouse in each hill, working it well into the soil before seed is planted. Put at least a dozen seed in each hill, for some of the seedlings will doubtless be destroyed by the beetle that works on cucumber- and squash-vines. ”