New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1916-03-22
KEEP FAMILY GARDEN BUSY.
Twenty-Five by Seventy Foot Plot
Produces Vegetables for Small
Family.

Twenty-Five by Seventy Foot Plot
y Produces Vegetables for Small
Family.
Even the smallest back yard may be
made to yield supply of fresh vege-
tables for the family table at but slight
expense if two or three crops are sue
cessively grown to keep the area occupied
all the time, according to the garden
specialists OF the department. People
who would discharge a clerk if he did
not work the year round will often cul-
tivate a garden at no little trouble and
expense and then allow the soil to lie idle
from the time the first crop natures until
the end of the season. Where two or
~ three crop system is used in connection
with vegetables adapted to small areas, a
space no larger than Is by 10 feet will
produce enough fresh vegetables for a
small family. Corn, melons, cucumbers
and potatoes and other crops which re-
quire large area should not be grown
in a garden of this size. Half an acre
properly cultivated with careful crop
rotation may easily produce $500 worth
>of various garden crops in year.
When to Work Soil.
IF the garden was not broken in the fall,
it should be plowed in the spring as soon
as the frost is out of the ground. Small
areas NAV be worked with spade,
nushinq the blade in to it's full depth and
turning the soil to break up the clods.
Heavy soils should never be worked when
wet. Over-zealous gardeners, ready to
seize the first warm spell as favorable
opportunity to go out and work the heavy
CLAW soil before it is dry, are not only
wasting their energy but are doing a
damage to the soil from which it will take
wears for it to recover. To determine
when heavy soils are ready for blowing, a
handful of earth should be collected from
the surface and the fingers tightly closed
on it. If the ball Of compacted earth
is dry enough for cultivation, it will fall
apart when the hand is opened.
A garden spot near the house is often
more desirable than plot which IS IN
better filth but located at an inconvenient
i distance. A garden which is near the
Mouse will receive many spare hour OF
care from adults and children which
would otherwise be wasted. Where
there is ample room for the selection OF a
garden site, the slope Of the land should
be carefully considered. A gentle slope
toward the South is most desirable for
growing early crops, while it is decided
advantage to have the plot protected on
the north and northwest by either hill,
a group of buildings, or board fence.
Drainage Of the garden is OF great i'm
portance. The land should have suttl-
cient fall to drain off surplus water during
heavy rains and yet not be so steep that
the soil will be washed or quilted. The
surface should be nearly level so the
water will not stand in hollows. Where
the natural slope of the land does not
provide sufficient natural drainage, ditch
es may be dug or tile drain put IN.
This will prevent waste water from the
adjoining land from washing over it..
Such water may carry weed and grass
= seed into the garden, which are later
culled out with difficulty.
How to Fertilize.
The soil in the average back yard is
not only lacking in plant food but also has
been packed until it is hard and unyield-
ing. To loosen up such soil and make
it suitable for garden produce requires
that careful attention be given to its
preparation. After spading the in
closure thoroughly, the upper 3 inches
should be made fine with the use OF hoe
and rake. Stones and rubbish should
be removed and clods of dirt broken.
The surface should be made even and as
level as possible. It may then be marked
of for planting in conformity with the
general plan of the garden.
Barnyard or stable manure is the best
fertilizer because it furnishes both plant
food and humus. An application at the
rate of from 20 to 80 tons to the acre Of
well-rotted manure is very satisfactory
This should be applied after blowing OF
working with spade, and distributed
\ evenly over the surface and later worked
in with hoe and rake. On many soils
it is advisable to apply commercial
fertilizer, especially phosphate, in adj
dition to the manure. An application Of
2OO to 6OO mounds Of acid phosphate to