The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Vegetable Garden
BUIST’S
FAMILY KITCHEN GARDENER.
THE FORMATION OF A VEGETABLE OR KITCHEN
GARDEN, &c.
Before proceeding with the subject of vegetable culture, the attention of the reader is requested to some remarks on the formation of a Kitchen Garden. This subject is forced upon us by a knowledge of how much labor and money are expended in producing one misplaced, badly designed, and unproductive—a most unpleasant attendant upon a country life; when, by the same labor and expense, one could have been obtained that would have yielded liberally every pleasure, every comfort, and even every luxury for a bountiful table.
The situation most suitable is a very gentle inclination toward the east or south-east, that it may have all the advantages of the morning sun. The next preferable exposure is south or south-west; if sheltered from the north or north-west, so much the better. However, avoid the neighborhood of large and spreading trees, as their roots will exhaust the soil, and their shade injure the crops.
In selecting the ground, it is of vast importance to have the soil of a healthy quality, being mellow, dry, and capable of being worked with the spade. The best soils are of a friable and loamy texture; the worst, those of a very light sandy or of a stiff clayey description.
If the bottom or subsoil be retentive, trench the ground at least eighteen inches deep: good vegetables can never be produced on sour soil, nor on thin soil of only a few inches depth. Care and attention are necessary in trenching, as on the proper disposition at first the after good will follow. I most decidedly condemn the mode of trenching ground generally recommended; that is, to bury the top spit, and turn up the cold, sour subsoil. Experience has taught me another lesson: Open the first trench two feet wide, by putting aside the top spit spade deep; then turn up the bottom, where it lies, at least the full depth of the spade, in the same manner as in digging; throw the top of the next trench on the top of the first subsoil, and so on, till the whole is finished. The general method of trenching is to turn the top soil down and the subsoil up. This is attended with evil consequences, as many years will elapse before the bad soil, which has been turned up, can be made equal to the good soil, which has been turned down.
Another point we call attention to—the inclination of the soil. Some authors in this country merely publish the ideas of those of Europe, without regard to their applicability to this climate, and have recommended an inclination of one foot in from fifteen to twenty feet. Such a declivity would, during our heavy rains, sweep soil, manure, seeds, &c., to the lowest ground. An inclination of one foot in forty, or merely sufficient to carry off the water, is all that is requisite. However, the means have frequently to be adapted to the ends. If the situation be necessarily on the side of a rising ground, throw it at once into terraces of any required breadth. Let the steeps be covered with turf, to prevent the washing away of the soil, and arrange the planes into sub-divisions for culture.
The shape or figure of a Garden is a point of little consequence, though the square, or any form approaching it, is the best and most convenient. The boundary lines may be of any form, but the interior sub-divisions work to the best advantage in even lines. With regard to size, that, of course, must depend upon the number of the family, and may vary from a quarter to a whole acre. The walks may be from three to six feet wide, straight or serpentine—the former preferred, however. Where fancy may dictate, the latter can be adopted, cropping the curves of the ground with flowers, fancy plants, or choice fruits.