Vintage Garden Advice from 1940

My dad gave me a copy of Madison Cooper's Gardening Magazine from 1940, and I wanted to share some of things from this down to earth magazine.

A gardener from Massachusetts shared an experience she had with a winter window garden.

Just as the ground was freezing last fall, I filled three window boxes with young Johnny-Jumps-Ups just coming into bloom. These I placed on the rail next to the glass on a glassed-in, but unheated porch. Of course they froze cold nights and remained frozen several days at a time. Every sunny day all winter some of the blooms would show. Sometimes while the garden is covered with snow we have 30-40 blooms in each box.

Oh my, wouldn't that be awesome? I would love one of you to try this, since I don't have a closed in porch. Let me know if you do.

There is a section entitled Junior Garden Club Lesson which has some neat information
for young gardeners.

When the world was created, there were not any plows, but nature had created a worm that made a very good plow. They are called earthworms. They loosen the soil and bring the bottom to the top, and they eat the soil as they burrow through the ground. They come out at night to eat, or after a heavy rain they can be seen on top of the ground. This is because there is too much water in the little tunnels they have made. These worms are useful in the garden, and are also useful to the fishermen because they are considered good bait.

Reading this reminded me of a little girl my daughter and I talked with at a rainy spring track meet. She was 2 or 3 years old, and was gathering up the earthworms that were on the soil and the sidewalk. She was being very gentle with them and had been doing this for close to an hour. I asked her what she was going to with the worms, and she told me she was going to take them home with her:) I had snapped a picture of her in her little rain poncho to remind me of what she said.


When my kids were little I always talked with them about the worms, insects, spiders and wildlife. I tried to teach them to be respectful, and to never be cruel to the living things around them. Of course I also taught them to be cautious because wildlife and insects aren't our "play things". This may sound trivial but I really believe it made them respect the differences in people too. They are 10, 16 and 17 now. I can honestly say that they all stick up for kids that are being picked on, and they are helpful to those who need it. Teachers have commented on this a lot through out the years. Sometimes it's the little life lessons that kids remember the most.

~Brenda Jean