GARDEN GUIDE POSTS 
WATERING 
Except for transplants, try to avoid 
watering the garden until it really 
needs water. When you do water, 
soak, don’t sprinkle. Do a thorough 
job. The hose or sprinkler should be 
allowed to run on one spot until 
water stands on the surface in a 
pool, 
After watering, the soil should be 
moist to a depth of five to six inches. 
Check this with a spade to be sure. 
Watering tomatoes calls for spe- 
cial care. Cracks and blossom “end 
rot’ (the free or blossom end turn- 
ing black) are both caused by fluc- 
tuating water supply. Never let to- 
matoes be dry one week and wet the 
next, Tomatoes must be kept either 
moist constantly or be grown in dry 
soil and not watered at all. 

Never apply water with such force 
that the top soil is washed away. 
Use a canvas hose which allows 
water to ooze out through the pores, 
or remove the nozzle of the regular 
hose and let the stream run out on 
a board. Overhead sprinklers waste 
some water, but do prevent washing. 
Watering in the evening or early 
morning means that the moisture 
sinks in and is absorbed by the soil 
before the sun can evaporate it. 
CULTIVATION AND 
WEEDING 
1. “Destroy them young” should be 
the first principle in controlling 
weeds. Weeds rob the soil of moist- 
ure and food. Worst of all, if al- 
lowed to grow, they shade the crops 
that require six hours of full sun- 
shine to grow normally. Plan to 
spend half an hour a day hoeing 
weeds and the average garden can 
be kept up without difficulty. 
2. Keep the soil from caking or 
cracking because when rain comes, 
it cannot penetrate the hard surface 
and may run off and be lost. A prong 
cultivator will leave the surface 
loose and ready to absorb rain. 
3. Air is vital to plant growth: stir 
the soil as soon as the ground is dry 
enough after a rain or after water- 
ing. This also saves moisture. Use 
the hoe and save the hose. 
4. When cultivating stay as far 
away from the plants as you can 
to avoid packing the soil around the 
roots. 
MULCHING 
A mulch of straw, leaves or lawn 
clippings will keep the surface moist 
and conserve water. It reduces soil 
32 
temperatures and prevents root in- 
jury from heat. It will also keep 
tomatoes, pepper and eggplant clean 
and will prevent soil insects from 
attacking melons. 
However, if summer rains are light, 
the mulch can do harm, because the 
few drops that do fall cannot pene- 
trate to the soil. In this case, pull 
away the mulch from around the 
plant stem and soak the roots thor- 
oughly with the hose. 
A mulch is particularly beneficial to 
potatoes because tuber formation 
stops in hot soils, As much as 12% 
of straw can be used over potato 
roots. 
HARVESTING 
The big advantage the home gar- 
dener’ has over the commercial 
grower is that he can pick his 
vegetables one minute and have 
them in the kitchen the next. All 
vegetables are better if left on the 
plant until ready to serve. Sweet 
corn in particular loses sweetness 
every minute it is off the stalk. 
Pick only what vegetables you can 
use right away and not until you are 
ready to use them, 
Most vegetables, particularly sum- 
mer squash, sweet corn, cucumbers, 
carrots, beets, peas and string beans, 
should be used much younger than 
usually harvested by the commercial 
grower. Learn the “feel” of an ear 
of corn that is ready to pick. The 
tip of the ear will feel full and the 
silks should be turning brown. 
Muskmelons do not get sweeter 
after. picking. For full flavor leave 
them on the vine until a crack ap- 
pears all around the point of attach- 
ment between the stem and melon. 
The free end should feel definitely 
soft when the melon is ready. 
Avoid harvesting beans while the 
plants are wet with dew or rain, as 
moisture spreads disease. 
HAVE A COMPOST PILE 
To assure having sufficient humus 
for your garden, start a compost 
pile. In a corner of your garden 
(perhaps behind a screen of bushes) 
dig a trench about 1 foot deep, 2 or 
3 feet wide, and 3 or 4 feet long. 
Make frame extending above ground 
level. 
Humus is decomposed vegetable 
or organic matter. In building a ™ 
compost pile the idea is to accu- 
mulate such matter in a way that 
will encourage decomposition and 
increase its plant food value. 
After you have a layer of material 
(grass cuttings, plant leaves, vege- 
table tops, straw, etc.) 6 inches or 
more deep, scatter over it a coating 
of chemicals to aid decomposition 
(sulphate of ammonia, superphos- 
phate, limestone) and water well. 
Forking over occasionally and wet- 
ting well during the season speeds 
decomposition. Place a 1-inch layer 
of earth at about 6-inch intervals to 
prevent bad odors. (Avoid using 
diseased plants or weeds, which 
should be burned.) 









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Orange Ruffles 
COSMOS 
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Flare 

PETUNIA 
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PETUNIA 
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ZINNIA 
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