Catch Crops for Kitchen Gardens

The very best catch crops for your vegetable plot

Catch crops are vegetables that soon come to maturity; they are grown on the vacant space between rows of other vegetables while the latter are small and are not using the space. Catch crops double the efficiency from the garden. In cooler climates, cloches are very useful for giving protection to plants in early spring; they soon pay for themselves. The best and most convenient form of cloche is made by placing together two sheets of glass, in the shape of an inverted V, and fastening them securely with galvanized wire. It can be taken to pieces easily and stored when not in use during the summer. If cloches are placed over early lettuces and radishes, the vegetables will be ready to eat at least three weeks before their normal time.

Types of Catch Crops

Some gardeners set a pinch of lettuce seed, a pinch of radish seed, and a pinch of carrot seed under each cloche; the radishes are gathered first, then the lettuces and finally the carrots. The cloches are then used to accelerate the growth of the early peas and are afterwards transferred to the strawberry plants.