Celery

Celery is popular, both in its cooked and its uncooked condition, but, well masticated, it is more nourishing when eaten raw. Boiling removes some of its most valuable properties, which are lost in the water. When, however, it is employed in the preparation of soups and stews we get its full value, and in these it forms a useful addition to the food of the table. About one-tenth of the weight of raw celery consists of nourishing food. Very large weights are grown on small spaces of land by farmers, who, by employing abundance of manure - natural and artificial - produce "sticks" which reach weights of 6 lb., and which sometimes average 2 lb. over a whole field. Celery makes excellent fritters, and every experienced housekeeper knows that it makes equally excellent sauce.

Spinach

Spinach should be grown in every kitchen garden in its winter and summer varieties. The summer variety will produce 1 to 1 1/2 cwt. to a rod of land, and the winter variety as much as 3 1/2 cwt. Spinach is not one of the most nourishing foods in the common acceptation of the term; its value consists in the presence of minerals which are as essential to health and vitality as the more substantial materials in grain, potatoes, and milk; and for this reason it is properly regarded as one of the most important of foods. Spinach can be stewed, made into soup, pudding, or pie, and, indeed, served in numerous ways. The public should, however, refrain from consuming spinach which has been preserved with the assistance of drugs.

Lettuce

Lettuce is the one form of salad which can and should be eaten all the year round. Poor as a foodstuff, like spinach it possesses two properties which make it of inestimable value. It is an excellent laxative, while the minerals it contains not only exert a vitalising influence on the blood, but by their soothing properties assist in the extension of sleep. Lettuce can be cooked like the cabbage, and, eaten with a savoury sauce, it adds to the charm of a well-prepared meal. In a well-managed garden lettuce will produce, in good hands, 3 cwt. of salad on a single rod of land. Lettuce eaten in a salad should be well dressed with olive oil - and this should be pure and guaranteed - but never with vinegar, which possesses no useful property as a condiment. Lemon juice is the best acid to use for this purpose, and this with a sprinkling of chopped chervil will, when no other green salad can be obtained, produce a much-relished dish. A chopped onion, which should be found in every garden in winter as well as in summer, is a useful addition.

Salsify

Salsify is one of the substantial root foods grown in the garden, although it is so little known.

It is superior to the turnip, the carrot, or the parsnip, and contains more of the muscle-building material (protein) and fat than any fresh vegetable, with the exception of the pea, and possibly the Brussels sprout. It may, too, be safely remarked that, with the exception of the potato, salsify stands as one of the heads of the list of all vegetables as a nourishing food. When the potato is boiled, however, it, too, gives way to salsify. One pound of salsify - and the larger it is the better, if it is tender - contains 2 1/2 oz. of nourishing food. The young leaves of the plant may be used as a salad in a similar way to the leaves of chicory, to which it is closely related.

Asparagus

Asparagus, although a tender and delicious vegetable, is a luxury. A pound, which may cost half-a-crown, contains less than an ounce of food, the balance consisting of water and fibre. Asparagus is a tempting addition to the dinner-table, and makes excellent soup, but it finds no place in an economical diet.

Kohlrabi

This plant, which is practically a combination of the turnip and the cabbage, to both of which it is closely allied, is grown for farm stock in this country, but in parts of the Continent it is commonly grown in the garden as a vegetable for the table - the bulb alone being used. It is a richer food than the turnip, although not so sweet to the palate; but, properly cooked, and served with savoury sauce, it is not only most agreeable, but one of the most economical of garden vegetables.

Green Peas

Green Peas may be eaten in the usual way or with the shell. In the latter case it is necessary to grow or to buy a special variety known as the "Sugar Pea" or the "Mange tous." In both forms it provides abundant nourishment, but it is too costly for most people to buy. About one-seventh of the weight of the green pea consists of nutritive matter and is rich in muscle-making food.

French Beans And Scarlet Runners

French Beans And Scarlet Runners are both useful, when consumed in their green condition. The seeds, when ripened and dried, are among the most nourishing of all foods known to man, with the exception of the kernels of nuts. These vegetables are usually eaten with the pod, and are sometimes served as a separate course. They are less rich in their green state than shelled beans; they are less digestible, and are better eaten young and in small quantities by those who are advancing in age. As in the case of the pea, the cost must be taken into consideration when selecting vegetables for home-consumption, as the demand for both foods often exceeds the supply. As in the case of so many other green vegetables, the loss of food material caused by boiling is considerable.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is rich in sulphur, and for this reason it is fertile in the production of gas (wind) in the intestines of those who have not normal powers of digestion. I have eaten it raw as a salad in a mixed form, but cannot recommend it, although it provides more nourishment. Cooked in the ordinary way, made into soup, or baked in milk after steaming, it is one of the most delicious of vegetables, although it is not especially nourishing.

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts are much superior to the cabbage, the savoy, or Scotch kale. When young, tender, and well cooked they are not to be surpassed by any other vegetable of their class, and while they contain about one-tenth of their weight of nourishing food, some of which is lost in boiling, they are rich in muscle-builders - a fact which makes them of less value to the gouty and rheumatic than cabbage.

Cabbage

The best part of a cabbage is the white heart, and there is no more popular dish among our country-people than boiled bacon and this part of the plant cooked with it. Cabbage is the one vegetable which the working man grows in his garden before all others, if he takes any pride in it at all, and for this reason he is usually able to obtain it all the year round. Useful with all kinds of meat, it can be prepared as a separate dish - a stew, a fritter, or stuffed. With the assistance of bread, milk, some spices and herbs, cabbage, formed like an omelette, becomes one of the most delicious of dishes.