War Gardens: a Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers

Part 1

WAR GARDENS

WAR GARDENS

A Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers

BY MONTAGUE FREE Head Gardener Brooklyn Botanic Garden

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON

War Gardens

* * * * *

Copyright, 1918, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published May, 1918

CONTENTS

Chapter Page Preface vii I. The Value of Back-yard and Vacant-lot 1 Gardening II. How to Make a Start—Community Gardens 5 III. Tools 10 IV. The Site—The Soil and Its Preparation 15 V. Fertilizers 26 VI. The Kinds of Vegetables to Grow 32 VII. Planning the Garden 36 VIII. Seeds, Seed-sowing, and Transplanting 40 IX. Hoeing and Thinning 47 X. Staking and Tying 51 XI. Insect Enemies 53 XII. Plant Diseases 64 XIII. The Culture of Vegetables in Detail 69 XIV. Harvesting and Storing 100 Appendix 109

PREFACE

The purpose of this book is to state simply and clearly the ways and means necessary to obtain the largest returns from small plots of land.

The conditions are anything but ideal in the case of many plots that will be used as “war gardens.” To tell how to overcome these adverse conditions, either by adapting the crop to soil and situation, or by modifying the soil to suit the crop, is one of the primary objects of this book.

In the writer’s varied experience with back-yard and vacant-lot gardens, questions relating to soils and fertilizers, insects and diseases, when and what to plant, etc., are continually cropping up. Answers to these questions are given here without theorizing or going into needless details.

This is essentially a practical book, designed to help those who desire to raise their own vegetables in a limited space.

M. F.

WAR GARDENS

I THE VALUE OF BACK-YARD AND VACANT-LOT GARDENING

The National War Garden Commission has estimated that “the people of this country in 1917 produced a crop valued at three hundred and fifty million dollars in gardens cultivated in back yards, on vacant lots, and on other land previously untilled.” This may seem a small amount when compared with the value of the crops raised by the farmers and market gardeners, but it is not to be despised, and it shows that something can be done to increase the food supply by home gardening.

The raising of vegetables at home not only increases food production, but also stimulates the consumption of vegetables, thus releasing staples, such as wheat and meat, for the use of our soldiers and the Allies. This result is attained partly because fresh vegetables are more appetizing than shop-worn products and partly because of the attitude of the raiser, who says, “We have the stuff and may as well eat it.”

The reduction in the cost of living is also a factor that must be considered. When vegetables are bought their purchase price is quite a considerable item in the household budget. Of course if labor is figured in the cost of raising vegetables at home the financial returns are not likely to be large unless you take into consideration the fact that the necessity of paying dues for gymnasium, tennis, or golf is entirely eliminated. Plenty of fresh air and exercise can be obtained in gardening.

Home gardening, too, should help the transportation problem to a certain extent. Most of the vegetables consumed in the large cities are transported a considerable distance, and if those people who eat these much-traveled vegetables raise their own, the transportation system will be relieved to that amount.

The raising and caring for plants is certain to broaden one’s interest. Very few people who cultivate a vegetable-garden, or any other kind of garden, for that matter, are likely to be satisfied until they know something of the physiology of plants, how and why they grow, and the principles underlying successful plant culture. The insects, both beneficial and otherwise, that one becomes acquainted with in the garden also add their quota of interest. The life histories of many of them are strange and marvelous, and it is worth while, both from the point of view of the welfare of the crops and from the educational standpoint, to learn something of their habits.

But it is probably in the larger aspects of the situation that the home-garden movement will ultimately be of greatest value to the nation. America is not a gardening nation judged from European standards, but this agitation for the production of food by every one who has, or can obtain, a plot of ground is going to make us one. Those people who have once cultivated the ground and raised plants will have had their interest stimulated, and when the food shortage is over their activities will find an outlet in the production of flowers, which cannot but result in more beautiful cities and happier citizens.

A healthier population will result from the exercise in the open air and we shall become a less nervous and restless people through our association with the vital soil and living, growing plants.

II HOW TO MAKE A START—COMMUNITY GARDENS

In casting about for ways and means of starting a food-garden, by all means investigate the advisability of joining up with, or inaugurating, a community garden. There are tremendous possibilities in connection with co-operative efforts in developing vacant lots and making them productive, not in the sense of the real-estate man, but as food-producing plots, designed to reduce the cost of living, and, incidentally, in many cases, to clean up and make presentable what was formerly a neighborhood eyesore.

There are many advantages to be gained by a neighborhood group combining together for gardening operations. Usually it is not difficult in most cities to find large plots of vacant land with owners who are only too glad to have them cultivated. By co-operative effort it is possible to hire a team and plow and have such plots plowed at a trifling expense, whereas by individual effort it is seldom possible to obtain sufficient land to warrant the expense of hiring a team for plowing, even though the plot were large enough for the team to turn around on. A community garden organization can buy garden tools, such as wheelbarrows, wheel-hoes, a sprayer, and other comparatively costly tools, which greatly facilitate the work of caring for the plot, but which it would be impossible or unwise for an individual to buy if he wished to come anywhere near making a profit on his garden. Seeds and fertilizers can be bought to much greater advantage, and more cheaply when obtained in bulk, with the added advantage that of such seeds as tomato, egg-plant, peppers and celery, one packet is usually enough for the whole organization, whereas by individual effort it would be necessary for each gardener to buy his own packet of seed, resulting in considerable waste. Waste is not to be condoned at any time, especially now when seeds of some vegetables are scarce.

Part 2

I have in mind a community organization a description of which will serve to illustrate what can be done by organized effort of this kind.

A piece of land about three acres in extent was available for cultivation in this case. It was fairly good land, but had served to some extent as a dumping-ground for cellar excavations, and had a considerable amount of rubbish of one kind and another deposited upon it. The principal of an adjacent school decided that this land ought not to remain idle, so he obtained permission from the owner to use it, and then, with some other energetic people of the community, got together and started to do things. The ground was first plowed and harrowed free of charge by the city park department and the largest of the stones removed. It was then decided that the plot should be fenced, in order to keep out cats, dogs, small boys, and other undesirables, and to insure that those who raised the crops should receive the benefit. Material, consisting of two-by-four-inch posts eight feet long, chicken netting five feet wide, and a strand of barbed wire to go around the top, was bought for this purpose at a cost of about $112. The fence was erected by volunteers in their spare time, and six padlocked gates provided, to which each plot-holder had a key. Water-pipe was laid all over the area so that the crops could be cared for in time of drought. The expense incurred for the purchase of pipe and installation, together with that of seeds, fertilizers, and the larger garden implements, was borne by the association. The area was divided into fifty plots each 100 × 23½ feet. Each plot-holder was asked to keep an account of his expenses, and also of the yields obtained. The results are interesting. The average cost of each plot, including expenses incurred for fencing, seeds, fertilizer, etc., was a little over $11; the value of the crops obtained was around $34; giving an average profit of between $22 and $23.

When one considers the smallness of these plots, it must be admitted that the results were worth while, and the whole adventure is very encouraging to those who contemplate a similar enterprise. Of course no allowance was made for the cost of labor involved in preparing and caring for these plots; but to offset this one should remember that the soil was not especially good, the workers not experienced, and then one must take into account the large initial expense of fencing the land, buying tools, etc. This year the expenses will be considerably less and the yields ought to be greatly increased because of the improvement of the soil through the cultivation of the preceding year.

Continue reading War Gardens: a Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers free in the Wunder reader →