Health Notes

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 14, 2 September 1942, Page 5

Health Notes

■ By H. K. & D. W. Adamson, rOsieopaths)

GARDENING FOR HEALTH If you have a bit of space to spare in your back yard, get busy with a spade- „and grow some vegetables. Its more than probable that, you will find them very useful.-. In tact, for some Varieties/ /jour t own. garden may'turn out to lie the 'most "reliable source of supply. This is on account of the extraordinary demand' for. vegetables by the army authorities and this season thousands of tons of. tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots etc are going to be canned in an attempt to satisfy an unprecedented demand. Such being the case some vegetables are likely to be scarce, as scarce as potatoes are at present, and every plot of ground left uncultivated will add to tlie demand. Although the above mentioned are likely to be most favoured for canning purposes, such other vegetables as onions, leeks, potatoes, pumpkins and members, of the cabbage family will assuredly be in restricted supply also. The army will require many of these, but quite apart from its: requirements, don't forget that the areas under cultivation for domestic use have been greatly restricted by losses in manpower froiifl the industry and shortage of equipment.With a little judicious planning, the occupier of the average sized house section should be able to grow sufficient of the more important vegetables to make his family practically independent of commercial .'supplies. For instance, he could grow sufficient salad vegetables to easily maintain his family day in and day out throughout the whole year, and in addition, could produce sufficient runner beans, carrots, parsnips, turnips, cabbage, etc., to greatly augment the rest of his requirements. He may even have

some over for a less fortunate neighbour as well.

Now, the first thing to do is to get busy with a spade and dig up every available square foot oi ground you have to spare. If you know nothing about gardening there is bound to be some one in your locality who does and who won't fail to give you any advicS required. We

don't profess to know much about gardening although we grow our own vegetables, but we can tell you something about what to groAv. II you can get hold of some fertilizer or animal manure so much the better, but don't he dismayed if you can't because it hag been .pur, experience that if the soil is good enougli to grow weeds it is also good enohgh to grow at leitst some vegetables. However, your gardening friend will tell you all about that. In a small garden, the best vegetables to grow are those suitable t'oi the making of salads. They take up least room and they are the vegetables from which you get most oi the vitamins and mineral elements; furthermore there is no comparison between the palatability of freshi} picked salad vegetables to those which ultimately reach the consumer through the marketing channels. So, whatever else you grow, make room for Parsley. Lettuce, Tomatoes Spring Onions, Endives and if you like, spinach and radishes.

Parsley is one of the best vitamin "C" foods obtainable and it lias a multiplicity of uses as an ingredient for sauces and flavourings as well as for salads. Its vitaihin "C" content is double that of oranges or lemons and it may be grown almost as readily as most weeds. Endive is another vegetable that should be made more use of. It it a good summer salad vegetable, but its greatest value is its availability in winter. Sown ill the early autumn, it will provide an abundance of salad material right throughout the winter and when combined with parsley, grated carrot, chopped celery. etc., there need be no lack of variety. Lettuce is of course the main salad green and a year round supply may be maintained by regular sowings. In the spring, the best plan is to' sow two or more varieties of lettuce, every fortnight. Sow in rows and thin out as required. In the autumn, or rather in the early autumn, bite in February, or early in March, sow sufficient to carry you well into the wiuter. If they make sufficient growth before the really cold weather arrives,, most of them will survive and will supply you with no end of salad material. For -winter use. sow ooth lettuce and endive, and parsley of course. .Radishes are another particularly good source of vitamin "C". but. as they contain some oxalic acid and also give rise to considerable flatulence. their value us a salad vegetable is necessarily restricted. Spring onions, multiplying onions, or chives should always be included and, wherever there is a sunny

corner, tomatoes. Tomatoes are ail other valuable vitamin food and one of the most appreciated of the garden products. They are going to l)e scarce this season; make no mistake. Amongst other vegetables worth growing are the various string beans and of these, the runner is particularly profitable. It may not have the delicate flavour of butter and other well known varieties but it is immune from /libit' blights and' is a great cropper. A fence facing

the, sun oilers an ideal sight for a thirty or forty foot row of these beans and if you have never grown them before you will l?e surprised at the harvest you will father regularly ' throughout the sutnmer and autumn. These are only a few sug- ( gestions and perhaps .you have vour V * own ideas about what, to grow r , but the main thing is to grow to the capacity of your garden plot and remember. whatever else you grow, maintain a regular • sequence of salTUl 'Vegetables. ' They will keep you 'Veil.