PART II. VEGETABLE GROWING 



Fall and Winter Vegetables. 



It is August and what green food, good for pullets, and wJiat vege- 

 tables, good for ourselves, can be planted at this time of the year on a 

 southeast slope in Alameda County at late as this? 



It is not late in the season ; it is early. The gardening year in Cali- 

 fornia breaks into the calendar on July 1st; so you are just a little ahead 

 of the autumnal spring time which is ushered in by the early rains, 

 usually in September or October. You can grow by starting now with 

 irrigation or as soon as the ground is in good condition by rainfall, all 

 vegetables except those which are strictly tender, like tomatoes, peppers, 

 squashes, corn, beans, etc. Even those which are counted "half hardy" 

 in Eastern catalogues are usually safe, but must be kept going along well 

 by good cultivation during the intervals between early rains. 



Good things to grow in quantity for fowls are beets, cabbages, peas. 

 Vetches and early sown grains are often very useful. Alfalfa can also 

 be successfully started where frosts are absent during the autumn 

 months. 



Sunshine and Moonshine in the Garden. 



I intended planting some tomato, pepper and cucumber plants along 

 the north side of the house, where they will not get any sun until about 

 10 a. m., but my neighbor tells me that they will not amount to anything 

 without the morning sun. Is he right? What do you think about plant- 

 ing corn, potatoes and other garden truck "when the moon is right" f 



There is only a sentimental difference between morning sunshine and 

 any other kind, and we have no reason to think that the vegetable is 

 affected thereby, as mankind sometimes is. Morning sunshine is, how- 

 ever, a mild article and shade-loving plants tolerate, and perhaps enjoy 

 it, while midday and afternoon sunshine might be too fierce for them. 

 But the plants you ask about are sun-loving, and they will be quite satis- 

 fied with the stronger kind, of which they will get enough from the mid- 

 dle of the morning until sunset. We invariably plant seeds "when the 

 moon is right" but then the moon is always right when the earth and 

 the sun are. 



Vegetables After Alfalfa. 



/ have three acres of alfalfa that I would like to put into garden 

 truck. How and when, would you prepare the soil? 



Plow the stuff under deeply as soon as the land is moist enough 

 in the fall and disk harrow it. Cut out any alfalfa that tries to grow 



