|
Previous to preparing a
kitchen-garden, the gardener should provide a blank-book, and
prepare a map of his ground, on which he should first lay out a plan
of his garden, allotting a place for all the different kinds of
vegetables he intends to cultivate. As he proceeds in the business
of planting his grounds, if he should keep an account of everything
he does relative to his garden, he would soon obtain some knowledge
of the art.
If gardeners would accustom themselves to record the dates and
particulars of their transactions relative to tillage, planting,
etc., they would always know when to expect their seed to come up,
and how to regulate their crops for succession; and when it is
considered that plants of the brassica, or Cabbage tribe, are apt to
get infected at the roots, if too frequently planted in the same
ground, and that a rotation of crops in general is beneficial, it
will appear evident that a complete register of everything relative
to culture is as essential to success in the kitchen-garden as in
agriculture proper.
By Thomas Bridgeman, from his 1866 book, THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S
ASSISTANT
The most convenient mode
of arranging the different kinds of vegetables is to; 1st, place the
perennial plants in one bed, running the entire length of the
ground; 2d, Plant the vegetables side by side which are to remain
out all winter, so as not to interfere with next spring's plowing;
3d, Arrange side by side those varieties which require the whole
season to mature; and, 4th, put beside each other the quickly
maturing kinds, which may be succeeded by other varieties, in order
that the ground to be occupied by a second crop may be all in one
piece.
From the 1888 book, HOW
AND WHAT TO GROW IN A KITCHEN GARDEN OF ONE ACRE
If desirable, a border may be formed around the whole garden, from
five to ten feet wide, according to the size of the piece of land.
Next to this border, a walk may be made from three to six feet wide;
and the middle of the garden may be divided into squares, on the
sides of which a border may be laid out three or four feet wide, in
which the various kinds of herbs may be raised, and also
gooseberries, currants, raspberries, strawberries, etc. The centre
beds may be planted with various kinds of vegetables, The outside
borders will be useful for raising the earliest fruits and
vegetables, and serve for raising and picking out such young plants,
herbs, and cuttings, as require to be screened from the intense heat
of the sun.
All standard trees
should be excluded from a kitchen garden, as their roots spread so
widely, and imbibe so much moisture from the ground, that little is
left for the nourishment of any plant within the range of their
influence; and when in full leaf, they shade a large space, and
obstruct the free circulation of the air, so essential to the
well-being of all plants. Moreover, the droppings from some trees
are particularly injurious to whatever vegetation they fall upon.
When any plants require a shade it is infinitely better to make a
temporary protection with wide boards placed on stones, or billets
of wood, than to attempt to plant in the shade of trees. In the
absence of wide boards for screening plants from the intense heat of
the sun, two or more narrow boards may be placed side by side.
From the 1866 book, THE
AMERICAN GARDENER'S ASSISTANT
Where there is no lack
of land, it may be well to make the garden of double size, so that
each one-half (divided lengthwise) may be renewed and rendered clean
from time to time by seeding to clover and mowing once or twice
before it is cropped again with vegetables. Or one-half may be
planted to potatoes, corn, or tomatoes, or other field crops, and
the two halves used alternately for garden purposes. The great
advantage of a thorough system of rotation can hardly be pointed out
too often.
From the 1894 book, HOW TO MAKE THE GARDEN PAY
It is of great
importance to rapid work and good gardening that all this should be
arranged and settled in the gardener's mind, or better, plotted out
on paper, before the first plowing is done in the spring. The plan
being kept would be valuable in laying out the garden the succeeding
year, as it would show just where each vegetable had been grown and
where the different kinds of manure had been applied. If, in
addition, the success of the various crops and notes of their growth
were marked upon it, it would form a most valuable text-book for the
study of improved gardening, each garden being an experimental
station and each gardener a student in pursuit of knowledge and
advancement in his work, feeding at the same time both physical and
intellectual needs.
From the 1888 book, HOW
AND WHAT TO GROW IN A KITCHEN GARDEN OF ONE ACRE
This
is part of an article from the book The Kitchen Garden Guide
Read more sample articles
Browse the book's Contents and get more information
Download a free copy of the book |
