The garden yard

Pot-herb crops are “greens,” grown for their leaves. Unless the growth be quick and continuous, the leaves will not be crisp and tender. Quick and continuous growth can be secured only by having the soil in good condition and giving the crop careful tillage. Furthermore, greens are mostly surface feeders, so that the surface soil must be in excellent tilth, and contain much plant food. They demand cool weather and are usually grown as succession- or companion-crops, because they do not require the whole season to mature.

SPINACH.

Spinach is a spring crop and a fall crop, because spring and fall give the cool, moist temperature it needs to come to perfection. Spinach belongs to the pigweed family and is a cousin to the beet. There are two varieties, the prickly seeded and the round seeded. The prickly seeded is the hardiest, and is most commonly used for fall sowing.

Farmers in the North used to grow spinach extensively under glass, but of late years the large out-door crops grown around Norfolk, Va., have spoiled the profit in that, and the Southern product takes its place. The spinach for early spring is sown in the field or garden in September and should be thoroughly established before winter, with a spread of leaves at least three or four inches.

As far north as New York State it is left out uncovered all winter and does not suffer unless the frost causes the ground to “heave.” If straw or litter can be had without trouble or expense, the spinach can be covered lightly as that often prevents “heaving.” If all goes well, the plants resume growth early in the spring, and may even continue growing during the winter if the season is mild. It is ready for market in April or May and should be off the ground in June to make room for the main crop. Southern spinach is marketed from late November until April or May.

Although spinach is a comparatively easy crop to grow, it needs certain conditions for perfection. The land must be rich and well drained, and liquid fertilizer must be applied after the crop gets started. Some put manure on the plot in the fall, and, as it leaches during the winter, it fertilizes the plants and starts them growing in the spring. Hen manure may be used. But the best way is to apply nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia in a weak solution so that 50 to 75 pounds will be sufficient for an acre. This is generally used in a sprinkler and is applied two or three times at intervals of a week or ten days, using each time, 50 to 75 pounds of fertilizer.

Spinach is sometimes sown in the spring in the place where it is to grow. But in that case, the position chosen must be a warm one, and even then, although a better stand is often obtained, the crop does not mature quickly. It is still occasionally started under glass and transplanted to the garden, and sometimes it is grown in frames all the way through to maturity. Gardeners who want to hasten their crop frequently cover it with glass during February and March, and it responds well to this treatment.

A variety known as New Zealand spinach, which is hardly a true spinach, thrives in summer, but as greens are not greatly in demand in summer, it has not become very popular in this country.

An ounce of spinach seed will sow 150 feet of drill, or 10 to 12 pounds to the acre. It is so necessary to have excellent drainage for spinach, that the land is usually plowed into low ridges or beds six to nine feet wide. The spinach is sown lengthwise of the beds 12 to 18 inches apart, according to the sort of tillage to be used.

CHARD.

One of the best of the pot-herbs, though not so generally known, is the chard or leaf-beet, which usually requires the whole season to mature, although it will give a succession of leaves from early summer until fall. The leaf-blades and midribs of the chard are very broad, and are usually white or slightly tinted, instead of green. Gardeners often blanch them further by tying the leaves together while growing. The seeds are sown in the spring as thickly as the ordinary beet is sown, and the plants are thinned until they stand six to twelve inches apart in the row.

MUSTARD.

Mustard is cultivated more extensively in the South than in the North, as it will grow where the climate is too hot for other greens. In the North it is usually grown only in home gardens for family use; the plants run to seed in midsummer, so seed must be sown very early in the spring. They are ready for use in May or June. Some of the new improved varieties of curly-leaved mustard are among the best of pot-herbs. In the South, the Southern Giant Curled Mustard is much used, taking the place that lettuce and spinach fill in the northerly sections. The Chinese Broad Leaved is a vigorous variety which gives a large amount of foliage. It is easy to grow, and even in the North, if the soil is warm and sandy, seed may be sown in the fall and the plants will be ready for use early in the spring, even though the seeds do not start sprouting in the fall. The seed escapes easily and sows itself in unoccupied areas and spreads rapidly. So, if it is not carefully watched to prevent too general seeding, it can readily become a troublesome weed.

DANDELION.

Everybody knows the wild dandelion, and almost everybody likes it as a pot-herb, but only those who have eaten the improved garden varieties, know its real possibilities. Although the dandelion is perennial, it is treated as an annual for the best results in cultivation, and the seed is sown in early spring and the crop either harvested that fall or allowed to remain in the ground until the next spring. It will grow anywhere, and often persists in growing in its wild type where you don’t want it; but if you want plants with large, cut or frilled leaves, you will see that the soil is rich and deep, and that the plants have good tillage all the season through. The leaves of these varieties are not only good to eat, but they are extensively used for garnishing. If they have been properly cared for, the plants will often measure 12 to 20 inches across, with a crown or rosette of dense foliage.

Dandelion seeds are usually sown where the plants are to stand, although occasionally they are sown in seed-beds and transplanted. As soon as they have made a fair growth they are thinned to about one foot apart: the distance between the rows will depend upon the sort of cultivation the plants are to receive. Hand tools require less space than horse tools, and hand-hoeing less than wheel-hoeing, with more labor and less returns. If the plants are allowed to stand through the winter, they are ready for the market very early in the spring when the demand is briskest and the prices best. In harvesting, the plant is cut off just below the rosette and the roots must then be plowed out so that there is no danger of the herb becoming a weed. It is not worth while to try to sell the small plants, but they should be cut off, to prevent them going to seed and becoming a nuisance. Some growers take the roots up and put them in forcing house or hot-bed for growing greens; or, they may be forced in the dark, which gives white or blanched leaves. This same effect may be obtained in the field by tying up the leaves, thus securing a blanched crown just as is done with endive. We owe much of the improvement of the dandelion to the French.

PURSLANE.

Purslane, or, as it is more generally called, “pusley,” is another herb that the French growers have greatly improved. The common pusley weed is a weak, trailing plant, but the French, cultivated variety stands up stiff with large leaves and juicy stems. It grows easily in any good garden soil, matures quickly and is not hurt by warm weather. The seeds are sown early in the spring and there is little danger of the cultivated sort sowing itself and becoming a pest.

There are some other varieties of greens; but this book aims only to treat of those which are generally grown and for which there is a sure market each year.