| Of course, each of the plans
or lists suggested here is only one of many possible combinations. You
should be able to find, or better still to construct, similar ones
better
suited to your individual taste, need and opportunity. That, however,
does
not lessen the necessity of using some such system. It is just as
necessary
an aid to the maximum efficiency in gardening as are modern tools.
Do
not fear that you will
waste time on the planting plan. Master it and use it, for only so can
you make your garden time count for most in producing results. In the
average
small garden there is a very large percentage of waste.
Example:
for two weeks, more
string beans than can be eaten or given away; and then, for a month,
none
at all, for instance. You should determine ahead as nearly as possible
how much of each vegetable your table will require and then try to grow
enough of each for a continuous supply, and no more. It is just this
that
the planting plan enables you to do.
We
shall describe, as briefly
as possible, forms of the planting
plan, planting
table, check
list and record,
which we have found it convenient to use.
To
make the Planting Plan
take a sheet of white paper and a ruler and mark off a space the shape
of your garden--which should be rectangular if possible using a scale
of
one-quarter or one-eighth inch to the foot. Rows fifty feet long will
be
found a convenient length for the average home garden. In a garden
where
many varieties of things are grown it will be best to run the rows the
short way of the piece. We will take a fifty-foot row for the purpose
of
our illustration,
though of course
it can readily be
changed in proportion where rows of that length can not conveniently be
made.
In
a very small garden it
will be better to make the row, say, twenty-five feet long or less, the
aim being always to keep the row a unit and have as few broken ones as
possible, and still not to have to plant more of any one thing than
will
be needed.
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