THE COTTAGE CARDEN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16500, 30 July 1919, Page 4

THE COTTAGE CARDEN.

AN INTERESTING COMPETITION. (By “Delta.”) With the object of increasing tho interest. taxon by tho people oi New Plymouth in the Taranaiu agricultural Society it been decided to otter prizes" for the best cottage garden. Ihe area of tho garden judged is not to exceed a quarter of an acre and vegetables alone are to be considered. Ihe garden will ho inspected about December and prizes of £4, £3, £2, mid £1 will bo given and candidates will have a further opportunity of competing for similar'prizes by exhibiting tho produce of their gardens at the winter show. , . This competition should prove most interesting and almost every resident of the town should be ablo to compote. Tho conditions do- not moan that the whole of tho garden must be given up to vegetables, but merely that those portions on which vegetables are grown will be considered. Thoro is ample time for anyone to set to work non , even if hitherto a spado has not been put into the ground. PLANNING THE GARDEN. Tho first thing to do is to plan out the crops to bo grown, so. that the garden shall be well tilled with a variety ot vegetables in rather moro than tour months’ time. With this end in view it is best to draw a plan of tho area to bo used and to decide where each crop shall he planted so as to provide a wellbalanced variety with due regard for a .succession of crops. , If possible tho rows should run north and south, so as to have the sun on both sides. The rows, except in the ease of potatoes, where it is not oi importance, should not be too long, so if tho plot is of some length it may be divided in tho centre by a narrow path. Eight to ton yards is a reasonable lomnli for a row of peas or beans, Kuan “ordinary household, but experience, and tho size of tho family will bo a guide. Corner pegs should bo put in, so that the plots are strictly rectangular or square and measurements taken before seeds arc sown so that tho rou s are exactly parallel. Tho kitchen gardcu should be a model of neatness wit-b the plants as regular as lines of welltraiuod soldiers. Tho plan should he drawn to scale and worked front just as a builder works from, a plan. VEGETABLES TO PLANT. Potatoes are an all-important crop in a cottage garden, and it is a good plan to allow about half the ground for them. If tho garden is big this space can he exceeded, but when the plan is drawn to allow sufficient ground for other vegetables some idea can bo formed as to the amount left for potatoes. It would, however, not bo wise to let the potato area bo much less than half, unless the garden is extremely small. As the garden is to be looking its best in December it would be inadvisable to put in too many early potatoes, as in that case they may all have been dug before that time. A few rows of an early sort may bo put in and cabbages and cauliflowers planted between the rows after they have boon earthed up. Thus, even if the potatoes have been dug, the ground will not be unoccupied. In a good kitchen garden no ground is ever without a crop in summer. The rest of the ground will contain medium early and lato potatoes growing towards maturity. Wo now come to tho other part of tho garden, and this should show a variety of crops coming on in succession. In arranging those tho taller crops should not bo grown near together as they then shade each other and do nob grow well. This applies to artichokes, broad and runner beans, and tho taller kinds of peas. Between the roM-s of peas and beans the lower growing crop—parsnips, onions, carrots, etc.—can ho grown. The next point to bo noted is that a succession of most seeds should be put in. Two lots of broad beans are probablv enough as they do not do well late in tho year, but there should be at least three sowings of pens, the earliest a dwarf kind which matures quickly and the others the taller sorts. French beans are sown later and two sowings would bo enough. Peas and broad beans can be put in at once and French beans and runner beans a month hence or even later. Roughly speaking, fresh sowings should bo made monthly. Artichokes can be put in at once and should bo grown in rows like potatoes, but with the rows three feet apart and tho tubers 15 inches from their neighbours and four to six inches deep. They produce much bettor crops when grown i,n this way than when allowed' to como up naturally year after year in the same place. If when, the plants are 12 to 18 inches high the tops are pinched out they do' not grow so tall and thus shade the ground less than if allowed to run up. Then wc have onions, which can be grown largely if there is room, carrots, turnips, parsnips, beet, celery, leeks, lettuces, and radishes, and in addition marrows, pumpkins and cucumbers, i Parsley and other herbs can also bo ■ grown*"in small quantities. White turnips, carrots and beet should all bo ■ sown hi succession and in short rows. > It is a great mistake to sow broad - beans, peas or French beans too thickl ly as they do not bear anything like the crops. It is far better to thin theip - out than to leave them to grow withi out enough space. Six inches apart is not too much for bsans or very tall • peas, but dwarf poas may be closer. , Thin sowing saves seed and allows for i several sowings from one packet; far . too many people like to got rid of a [ whole.packet at once. After reading tho above it will be . possible for tho gardener to draw up his plan for tho year. If ground sufj ticcs ho may have two or three rows of artichokes, three rows of peas, two of . broad beans, and one of runner beans r (though half-a-dozen well-grown scarlet runners will provide one or tivo meals j a wook if kept picked). These are tho . tall crops and must bo kept well apart, the spaces being filled with onions, carrots, parsnips, etc., as room is avail--1 able. One may allow two feet on j each" side of peas and broad beans, three feet for artichokes and scarlet j runners and roughly eighteen inches for other crops. Onions may bo a foot apart and lettuces and radishes even less, but unless one’s foot are von’ ’ small it is moro convenient not to put the rows too close. It is worth spending some time in drawing up the plan as it saves much trouble afterwards.