Herb, kitchen, market, and truck gardens supply man with food. Vegetables raised in market gardens are sold to nearby stores and markets.

Large vegetable gardens are truck gardens from which produce is shipped to distant wholesale markets. Vegetables raised in kitchen or home gardens are for family use. The type of garden depends on the kinds of vegetables that thrive in the area, the location of the garden, its size, type of soil, and the climate.

Herbs, raised for market or home use, are used as food flavoring, in medicines, candy, perfumes, or as tea. Basil, sage, thyme, lavender, and mint are a few herbs that can be raised in home herb gardens.

Kitchen gardens provide delicious, select, low-cost vegetables Some vegetables, such as corn, peas, and lettuce lose much of their fresh flavor soon after they are harvested. Vegetables raised in home garden can be eaten right after they reach maturity and are picked. Tomatoes that are vine-ripened have a more delicious flavor than those sent to markets. Unusual, delicate or rare varieties of vegetables can be raised by the home gardener.

A good vegetable garden should be planned on paper to show the crops that will be raised, the space they will occupy, and the distance between rows. Rows should run across sloping ground to help prevent soil erosion. Crops that grow at the same speed and height should be planted near each other. After they are harvested, new crops can be planted in their place. This is called successive planting.

Leaf lettuce, radishes, beets carrots, beans, onion sets, and tomato plants are good selections for the beginning gardener. The soil must be spaded from 6 to 8 inches (15.24 to 20.32 centimeters) deep and large clods of earth broken into small pieces. Humus should be added so the soil will be soft and workable. Fertilizer adds chemicals that will supply food for the growing plants. Stable manure acts as humus and fertilizer. The surface layer of soil should be raked smooth before seeds or plants are set out.

Information on hardy plants for specific regions, planting times, diseases and pest control, and how to improve soil, can be obtained from nurseries, colleges, local garden centers, seed catalogs, and seed or plant packages. Seed sown directly in the garden is scattered in a drill or shallow trench. More seeds are sown than are needed because not every seed will grow. Seedlings should be thinned out and transplanted when the first true leaves appear. Seedbeds must be kept moist. Rows should be clearly marked with stakes.

The garden should be cultivated once a week to keep the soil soft and kill weeds. The garden should be watered whenever necessary. Plants should be sprayed to protect them from insect pests and diseases.