Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-17
THE HOME GARDEN FOR
PLEASURE AND PROFIT
Living on the Fat of the Land
By JOHN BARTRAM

T HAVE never won any blue ribbons at
i our county fair for prize vegetables
What have been raised on our patch have
been too good for exhibition purposes.
Their freshness and Homegrown flavor
increased the appetite for them and the
demand kept pretty lively pace with the
crop.
My pumpkin vines never grew so lux
uriantly that 1t was necessary to demolIsh
the garden fence that their growth might
not be stunted. | was never able to run
lima beans along the cornstalks and pro-
duce succotash all ready to add hot water
and serve" I never had to use dynamite
TO blast out the mammoth stalks Of the
celery crop, or to cut the huge asparagus
spears with an AK.
But l have had corn of the most de-
llcous flavor-from the stalk to the cook
pot Is the only way to get the true value
of corn-and the lima beans were SO
rich that they hardly needed butter. Pump
kins have been si2able enough, few
vines of them, to furnishthe interior depart
ment OF numerous pies for Thanksgiving
and beyond. Celery, with paintings of
the so-called summer kinds and the later
self-blanching for storing. has been avail
able from late August till Easter. The
asparagus bed, after II got its start of
n couple Of years careful cultivation from
roots, has furnished the table with cut
tings enough for four or five meals week
we'll nigh to the Fourth of July, spanning
the period before tomatoes and beets and
beans and Swiss chard were coming to
bearing In the early varieties
From that time till late fall, gardening
life has been one crop after another. Some
th,ngs--parsnlps, turnips, carrots cab
bage, satisfy, beets onions. brussels sprouts
and herbs. in addition to celery and pump
kins--it has been easy to store for VIM
ter, This is only by way Of casual en-
couragement here: storing of vegetables
will be discussed practically later-after
you have grown them.
Just how much time and space does n
garden of the common or Bartram variety
require? Astonlshngly little, is the mod
est fact.
The expenses, too. have been trlhing-
operation charges l suppose business
man would call them-aslde from the ini-
tial value OF the land, but had that any
how.
The numerous fruits of the land were,
and in my present reckoning, are. purely
by-products OF desire for recreation IN
some activity away from things and peo-
pie that, as | grow older, interest me no
longer. a complete change from the feVer-
ish utilities and maddlng throng of the
and the rush for blessed calm and healthful
exercise. l get the exercise. the chance
for meditation, as dividends for my IN
vestment of time and labor, and In addi-
ton the garden declares extra DIVIDENDS
that have commercial value out of all
proportion to the capital entailed, Any
body can do the same and. by stressing
the profit instead of the recreation, live
better at less cost through home garden
ing.
| have found this possible on patch
less than so by 100 feet, with about one
union days work per week.
Why Is this so. and how? The old days
of home labor-weaving, sewing, baking
are past, you will argue. True. in most
activities II Is cheaper to buy the COM
mercal articles. Production costs have
been reduced per item through combina-
tion and cooperative methods. Garden
ing Is an exception. Labor is the big fac
tor. BY using your own efforts you can
eliminate this cost. You will not have TO
reckon on perishabillty and glutted mar
kets, for you will use all the crops. 1t
costs less to grow vegetables than to buy
them
They are better vegetables, too. You
do not have to grow for size, the way the
market gardener does. You can eat them
fresh as the dew that glistens on them.
You can eat delicate varieties-Golden
Bantam corn, Mignonette lettuce sTauus
peas, young beet tops etc-that the
truckman does not raise because he gar
dens for bulk and not for flavor, Nothing
limp or stale about the homegrown Vege-
tables They have not come In freight
cars. Nothing expensive about them,
either, and no stint in the supply.
The time and labor involved are small.
The next article will tell just how little
of each is required. and succeeding arti-
cles will point out how the dream garden
that most of us have had can be realized.