The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-04-26
The .Jov of Making Garden.
Progressive Farmer

Did YOU ever make a garoeh from
. niece of bare ground Ihere IL iot9
of fun IN It. ! am COINS IN ~
hing now. and take a great deal OF
Measure in the work, and try TO 90 II
All myseIs for one takes more priue
in his own work than that Whlch ne
hires done. / bought q dwelling Win
= lot fronting 80 feet on one street
and running back $50 feet on ahotheI;
This lot / wanted TO Ia ornamental
with lawn and s~hrubbery and q rev
fruit trees and grape vines. But 1
wanted a kitchen garden, ana right
alongside was another lot OF the same
size.
am out within one block of the
CITY limits. and there are vacant lots
all around. / can remember when L
could have bought all the land around
me for SO an acre before the city
spread out this way. But now L pald
AT the rate of $4,000 an acre for
that vacant lot alongside of me n
every one tS.inl;s l got II very cheap.
A pretty tigh-priced garden, but
never coins to be worth any less, and
it is to be a real garden.
| covered it all over with stable
n from 4ew York that cost 81
a ton on the ground, and | am adding
q h~igh-grade fertilizer. This land mas
been used in truck gardens tor years,
Ill IL q Sood Sdl4bS ooii WIN " i4e>O
way down a clay so hard that only a
pick will touch it. Hence it retains
moisture finely.
fastened to get some peas in IN
February and some early beets, and
then the neighbors' hens began to
cultivate it for me. So l had to make
a fence of poultry wire all around it.
This fence is not pretty. but is sub
stantially bnilt with a 2x4 ~scantling
along the top and a Dashboard to pre-
vent the hens from scratching under.
At the north end outside the west
side, / have planted some peach trees
and plum trees TO make fruit and
act as d W,ind-break to the garden.
And all along n side | have plant
ed eleven sorts of grapes Along the
front fence next the street | have
sweet peas to make it look we'll for
a time. and am going to put ciematis
and Crimson Rambler roses there for
permanent a~dornnlent. Then back
on the sunny side Of the barn ] have
a frame covered With glass sashes in
which tomato plants have been trans
planted and will soon go out into the
garden. and in another frame l have
flower seed sown and growing. /
nave hundreds of dah1iaS coming on
from seed, for one can grow a dah-
liza 10 bloom from seed almost as soon
as from the roots, and it is fun to
see how they turn out in the flowers.
Dn one side the dwelling along the
porch that run around two sides. ]
have a ~Shrubbery border in which |
have planted thirty varieties of bloom
ing ~shrubberN, including white and
pInk crepe mNrtles and a wiStaria to
climb on the porch. The wire fence
in the kitchen garden will be utilized
10 a great extent for my lima beans
and will save poles. On the north
end [ have the tall Champion of Eng
land peas to run on the fence and on
part of the west side where there are
no grape vines l sE hi hive the
climbing naSturtiums-
| do not want a mere truck patch.
and hence have made borders around
the inside of the fences for radishes,
late cabbage plants, mustard, etc.,
ana a walk all around and one across
the garden, making two blocks or
squares The tal-growing hings
will be kept at the north end so as
not to shut out the sunshine from the
l~ower-Srowing plants that are to the
south The early peas will soon he
in bloom, and will be followed by
the Champion of england. Beets are
up thickly. and l will have lots of
thinning to transplant. The early
corn, Taits Early, has been planted,
and a succession will be kept up of
sugar corn. Tait's Early is not "a
corn, but is early, and will be
GU - III touttIN tIcnIIcnan
sweet corn and StowelIs Evergreen.
Onions. l have, of course, and now
that April is bringing us q little rain.
and the weather continues hot. I
shall now try some snaps outside.
April 4th is early in this latitude for
snaps, and short plants and not the
leggy sort one sees from thickly soWn
beds. They will go out about the
middle Of the month. and hope to
have ripe fruit before the end of
June. My early cabbages Will this
season be really a succession crop.
as | did not own the land last fall
and could not plant them. Another
season | hope to haNe some cauli-
flowers, too, but it is too late to set
them now as the hot weather would
catch them before heading. Okra.
of course, I shall have, and satisfy
and parsnips and rhubarb and aspar-
agus. and the chard or asparagus
beet.