首先，卡佛認為農人們應該經營一個菜園，因為一個「好的菜園」能提供一家人食用所需；當時許多農夫僅種植穀物、棉花再銷售賺取金錢，所以這些農夫對種植棉花相當在行、但卻不知道如何種植蔬菜或草本植物。在「幫助人們度過艱困時期」書中，卡佛用淺顯的文字說明如何開始經營一個菜園、何時開始種植、以及如何種植的知識。

人們不需要購買化學肥料來滋養土地，卡佛提倡以自然產物作為肥料：樹葉、樹林中的土壤以及沼澤中的腐植土都是有利栽種的土壤；他建議農夫在三月種植馬鈴薯、豌豆、菠菜、西瓜，四月時多數的菜園則應種植甘藍菜、茄子、棉花種子等作物；卡佛對於賺錢上也有相當多建議，你可以猜出他提出些什麼建議嗎？

First, Carver said farmers should plant a garden. He said that a "good garden" can provide half of the family food. When Carver was writing, many poor farmers grew only one crop, cotton, for money. While many of those farmers knew a lot about growing cotton, they didn't know much about growing vegetables or herbs. In "Help for the Hard Times," Carver used simple language to explain how to start a garden, when to plant, and what to plant.

There's no need to buy chemical fertilizers to get the soil ready. Carver said to use what nature provides: leaves, soil from the woods and "muck from the rich swamps." He said to plant potatoes, peas, spinach, as well as other vegetables and herbs in February, and to plant cauliflower, collards, and watermelon in March. By April, most of the garden should be growing and only a few things like cabbage, eggplant and cotton seed need to be planted. Carver also had lots of suggestions for making money. Can you guess what they were?

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