A Vegetable Garden on the Farm Means Health and Wealth

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 64, Issue 4, 15 April 1942, Page 225

A Vegetable Garden on the Farm Means Health and Wealth

■ llltlllllltlliaillllllllllllllllllllllllllliaiiaillllllllllltlllllliaillllß By

D. K. PRITCHARD,

Instructor in Vegetable Culture, Wellington. ■ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

“There is no artificial substitute for vegetables.” Prof. Priestly, Professor of Bio-Chemistry, Sydney, N.S.W. “One of the most interesting duties of the housewife is undoubt- ' edly the selection of vegetables for her family. Some women are privileged to pick the fruit from their own garden, and what a pleasure it is. Rows of green leaves of spinach, carrots and parsley, the runners of luscious' green beans, the firm blue-green cabbage heads, and beautiful red tomatoes. Yet this is not all, the bright colours of carrots, beetroot and turnips are still underneath ground. With all these riches it should not be difficult for the housewife to visualise the delicious and attractive meal which she will serve to her . family. Such young fresh vegetables have always been and always will remain the best foundation of the meal for flavour as well as nutritive value.” Miss S. Waude, in “Farming in South Africa.” FROM information gained through recent investigation, it would appear that the time is opportune for directing the attention of our farming community to the desirability, if not the absolute necessity, of giving more and ever more attention to the farm vegetable garden. Apart from the devastating effects' of the war, there is another war being waged by our agricultural and medical scientists and nutritionists against influences which are manifested by

what appears to be an increase in human disabilities. This, surely, is apparent by the increased and increasing populations of our hospitals and sanatoria. ~ ' Never before have the students of our advancedmedical science been so positive in their affirmation -of the necessity for the increased consumption of 'potatoes and green ..vegetables. Today it is an accepted fact that what may be consumed as food may not altogether be “food” if this is defined as “that which supplies to the human body the greatest proportionate amount of nutriment.” It is indeed possible to starve in the midst of plenty. In a book published in Great Britain last year, “Feeding the People in Wartime,” by Sir John Orr (who is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on nutrition) and David Lubbock, this statement appears: “With' sufficient milk, vegetables and potatoes there need be no malnutrition.” (The position of “vegetables” should be noted, the physical value of which will be dealt with later.)

Planning With the adoption of the home garden —and this should be an important adjunct to the economy of every farm ■—it is recommended that a definite plan be adopted and adhered to. The most important objective of such a plan would be the . continuous supply of fresh vegetables. Location As most of the garden work will be done during odd moments by members of the farm household, the area set apart should be conveniently situated to the homestead. Such . a position would no doubt induce “the hand that rocks the cradle” to spend some time occasionally “pottering about among the vegetables.” A light soil with a ' northerly or north-easterly aspect will warm more quickly in the spring, which would enable planting of early-maturing crops to be undertaken sooner than if the soil were heavy. It will be of great value during dry spells if a good water supply is near the garden site. If no natural protection obtains, artificial shelter should be provided, and young hedges planted as soon as possible. Early production of the best vegetable crops cannot be expected if the garden is exposed to cold southerly wind and rain. Lay-out For convenience of cultivation and economy of production, it will be an

advantage to plant the crops in long rows rather than in beds. When planting potatoes, cabbage, etc., there should be enough space between the rows to permit horse cultivation. When growing lettuce, spinach, beetroot, etc., sufficient distance should be allowed between the rows for the use of a hand-operated wheel-hoe, which is a highly efficient implement for cultivating these and other crops similarly grown.

Maintaining Soil Fertility

If the garden is looked upon as an industrial undertaking, the soil will constitute the machinery by which the output may be maintained, and the necessity for it being kept in the best possible condition must be obvious. If plenty of well-rotted manure, preferably the stable output, is available and applied in liberal quantities, there should not be any great need for the use of artificial fertilisers. . Phosphoric acid necessary and indispensable vegetable plant nutrient —is likely to be in short supply in the soil, as it is in almost all animal manures, and an occasional dressing over the garden of superphosphate at the rate of 2 to 3 oz. per square yard would be beneficial. In addition, and at the beginning of each gardening season, an application of blood and bone fertiliser at the rate of 3 oz. per square yard, together with a small quantity of potash (sulphate or muriate) , would materially assist in the maintenance of soil fertility. The blood and bone contains water-in? soluble plant nutrients, and will last much longer in the soil- than' those which may be water-soluble. If potash is unobtainable —and whether it is or not—it will be an advantage to save all available supplies of woodashes and soot for future application to the garden. Wood-ashes are valuable for their potash-content, and soot, in addition to its nitrogen-content, is valuable for the destruction of such pests as slugs. Lime is as necessary to the garden as it is to any other part of the farm land, and a dressing of carbonate of lime once a year at the rate of half a ton per acre should prevent the development of acid conditions in the vegetable cropping area. This is best applied just before planting the crops.

Cropping

Should the area of the garden be restricted, it may be necessary to have a succession of crops of different vari-

eties following each other on the same piece of land during the same season. Savoy cabbages may follow early potatoes, and French beans may follow early lettuce ; similarly, early spring cabbage may be followed by main crop tomatoes. Seed for such crops as lettuce, spinach and radishes may be sown every three weeks, so. that a continuous and fresh supply of these (especially the first two) particularly desirable vegetables may always be available. This . system, which is known as “succession cropping,” will, of necessity, rob . the. soil of considerable quantities, of plant food, which must be replaced if vegetables of high quality are to be produced. In this connection it should be realised that, when the time of growing and maturing green vegetables is unduly prolonged, the edible portions become stringy and develop an undesirable and unpalatable flavour. As this article only deals with the vegetable production of .the farm garden, it is competent to define the advantages which may accrue to the home-life of the farm as economic and physical. Economic If it is assumed that the gross financial return from the average ’dairy farm is £ 10 per acre, what return may reasonably be expected from a similar area of land of the same .quality utilised, as a .vegetable garden? (The unit referred to can be modified to suit the requirements of individual farmers.) ./. One-third of the acre may be sown with a green crop for manure pur-

poses, and one-third planted to potatoes small part with an early variety, and the balance in a main crop. The remainder of the area can be utilised as the vegetable section. This would establish a three-year crop rotating system. Nominally, the area suggested should produce 25 cwt. of edible potatoes; actually, it ought to be much more. This estimate is just .half the average per acre production of Dominion crops. If, for five adults, the daily consumption of : potatoes is 5 lb., this would use 16%cwt. during the year, and leave B|cwt. to be sold or fed to stock on the farm. The cost of production at current prices, including Government certified mother seed, fertiliser and spraying, would be about £6, and, taking the low estimate of £lO as the landed cost on the farm of 1| tons of potatoes, a credit balance of nearly £4 is seen. An allowance of Bd. per week per head surely not an exaggerated amount — vegetables for the family of five adults would mean an annual expenditure of £8 13s. 4d., and, assuming that the production of vegetables from the farm garden was, at least, , the equivalent of this amount, it will be readily seen that the vegetable garden is, _as an. economic unit, the equal of any part of the farm of similar dimensions. It should be remembered that vegetables • purchased from a retailer will be loaded with the. price realised at auction, and, in addition, marketing and retail charges. 'Should the retailer be the producer, as sometimes happens, the price charged must at least

cover the cost of production and delivery if this has to be done.

Physical

The foregoing is a brief reference to the economic relationship of the vegetable garden to the farmer as a whole. What, it may be asked, is its value to the health of the farm family? Unfortunately, the nutritional value of vegetables produced and consumed on the farm cannot be measured by any monetary standard. If this were possible the products’ of the farm garden would be more highly appreciated. It is not, perhaps, as widely known as it might be that once the edible portion of a green vegetable is separated from the growing stem the process of deterioration begins, and the greater the length of time that elapses between cutting and consumption the faster the rate of deterioration proceeds, until finally the vegetable becomes unfit for human food. A news item which recently appeared in the New Zealand Press intimated that scurvy had made its appearance in Great Britain, no doubt due to a scarcity of green vegetables, which contain the antiscorbutic Vitamin C. The accompanying table gives a summarised indication of the nutri-

tional value of some varieties of vegetables in accordance with their vitamin content.

Distribution of Vitamins in Various Vegetables.

Vitamins. Vegetables. . A. 81. 82. B. ' C. Asparagus ... Green Beans .. .. .. .. + —• -|- Beans . .. ... .. .. ...., -f - Carrots .. .. .. -f- -jRaw Carrots .. .. .. .. .. -j - H —F +' H —F Cabbage ... .. .. .. .. .. . + Raw Cabbage .. .. -jCelery .. .. .. .. -jKumaras .. .... .. .. ..' + ' . Lettuce ... .. ... -j F -j--F .-F —‘ H —I —F Onion .. .. ..Oto-}- H —F Green Peas .. ..’ + + Peas .. .. .. .+ Spinach .. .. .. ' .. -} —F ~F 4 —F ' 4I —F Tomatoes .. .. .. .. .. .. —— -}- —F —F 4I —F Orange Juice .. ... .. .. .. .-F ■ . ~F —j— Turnip Root .. .. .. .. .. oto 1 -F ~F Turnip Leaf .. .. .. .. .. 4F 4F —F —F

In addition to their vitamin-content, green and leafy vegetables supply to the body quantities of iron, iodine, protein and lime. They are also particularly valuable as laxatives. The outstanding position of spinach and tomatoes should be noted, and attention directed to the fact —and it is one worthy of appreciation—that, although the vitamins in nearly all

vegetables are adversely affected by cooking, those of the tomato are practically unaltered. Is it any wonder

that the tomato has been described as the “poor man’s orange.”

Production Programme

In endeavouring to outline a production programme which might be followed in' order to realise in practice the objectives aimed at in this article —to stimulate interest in the production and consumption of vegetables on

the farm —the outstanding difficulty is that of evolving a scheme which would be applicable to all parts of the Dominion. In a general way, an indication of group planting is given below. The crops which constitute each group are dealt with in the Home Garden Notes of the “Journal” as fully as space permits. (1) Early Spring Planting. Lettuce, spinach, turnips (early varieties), silver beet, peas, cauliflower, onions (salad and main crop), cabbage (summer), radish and carrots (early). (2) Main Crops for Planting in Late Spring or Early and Mid-summer.— Potatoes, cabbage (savoy), cauliflower, borecole, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips, peas, lettuce, beetroot, celery, tomatoes. (3) Crops liable to damage by Light Frosts. Tomatoes, beans, pumpkins, marrows and all gourds, kumaras. (4) Crops to plant Late Summer and Early Autumn. Savoy cabbage (late), spring cabbage, swede turnips. (5) Perennials. Parsley, rhubarb, asparagus.

Factors Contributing To Success

Diseased plant residues should never be dug or ploughed into the garden; they should be burned. When making a compost heap, use only, material free from disease, supplemented with animal manure, soil and small quantities of artificial fertilisers. Buy only the best seed; this is the basis of all crop production, and always the objective should be to grow quality produce. Only vegetables of the highest grade should be good enough for the farm family. Good seeds, however, will not produce best results unless proper methods of cultivation are adopted. . The substance of the foregoing remarks must not be construed into accusations of neglect or indifference on the part of the farmer; rather are they intended to direct the attention of our farming community to the advantages which may reasonably be expected by the farm „ family from increased vegetable production and consumption. It may be that “time is the alchemist which heals the wounds of war,” but no alchemist can heal the constitutional weaknesses produced by the continued process of unbalanced and improper dieting, and time but accentuates and accelerates the deterioration of the human framework built from material of which a large proportion has been proved unsuitable for its durable construction.

The old adage still holds good; .it is still a fact that “the true wealth of a nation lies in the health of its children.” Greater production and consumption of vegetables on the farm

will not only maintain but will also increase this most desirable and necessary form of wealth.