
12 


TURNIP, Purple-Top White Globe 


ONIONS, Prizetaker 
HOW? WHEN? 
WHERE? WHY? 

WHEN TO SOW 
Seed catalogs and garden books usually offer you a list of definite 
planting dates. We’d like to do this, too, but experience has 
taught us that such dates are often dangerous. Weather varia- 
tions from year to year are likely to make the most carefully 
compiled dates look foolish. 
Here’s a guide to planting time that doesn’t rely on dates, but 
rather on Nature’s own signs. 
FULLY HARDY CROPS: Sow 
as soon as the ground can be 
worked in spring, or when the 
farmer plants oats. In some 
years crocuses and snowdrops 
may be in bloom at this time, 
but if the ground is ready 
sooner, plant anyway. These 
crops include lettuce, cabbage, 
broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, 
kale, kohlrabi, parsnips, rad- 
ishes, rutabagas, spinach and 
turnips. Also round-seeded 
peas. 
HARDY CROPS: When the 
daffodils and earliest tulips 
bloom, or when maple trees 
are in full flower, plant these: 
Beets, wrinkled peas. Swiss 
chard, and onion sets. 
TENDER CROPS: When the 
Lilacs, Darwin Tulips and 
Apple Blossoms are in full 
bloom, plant these: Bush 
beans, sweet corn, pumpkins, 
and squash are included. 
TROPICAL CROPS: When 
the petals on apple blossoms 
will have fallen and the tall 
late irises are in full bloom 
plant: Okra, Lima beans, Pole 
beans, muskmelons and cu- 
cumbers, and set out plants of 
tomatoes, peppers and egg- 
plant. These can’t stand frost 
and should not be planted un- 
til the weather is warm and 
settled. 

Mulching—Why and How 
A secondary purpose of cultivation 
is to form a dust mulch and help 
check evaporation from the sur- 
face. In many gardens a more sub- 
stantial mulch will do better work 
and also cut down weeding. Any 
clean vegetable matter such as 
lawn clippings, chopped or whole 
hay, ground corn cobs, peat, etc., 
can be used. Vermiculite, a min- 
eral product used as insulation and 
as poultry litter, has proved a 
valuable mulch because in process- 
ing it is heated to over 2,000 de- 
grees, which destroys all life and 
active chemicals. Also, it has high 
waterholding capacity. 
Apply these mulches when ground 
is still moist. If applied after soil 
dries out, light summer rains may 
not be able to penetrate them and 
maintain soil moisture. Remember, 
a mulch does not stop the use of 
water by the plants; it merely 
slows up evaporation from the soil 
itself. 
Do you IRRIGATE your garden? 
In speaking of renewing soil mois- 
ture, irrigation is actually a better 
word than watering, because it 
means long, slow penetration 
rather than surface sprinkling. 
Whether water is added thru over- 
head sprinklers or a hose flowing 
onto a board to prevent washing 
the soil, it should always be sup- 
plied so freely that the soil is 
saturated to a depth of several 
inches. 
If applied in this way, most gar- 
dens need watering less than once 
a week. Less water is used than in 
a daily sprinkling, since sprinkling 
usually wastes a great deal of 
water thru evaporation. Deep ir- 
rigation is valuable because it 
keeps the roots growing down- 
wards, where they are cool and 
moist rather than growing near 
the surface where the heat of sum- 
mer can injure them. 

How to plant fine seed 
In planting fine seed, tear off 
one corner of the packet and, 
if Rootone is used, drop in a 
pinch and shake. The seed can 
be tapped out of the torn cor- 
ner of the packet one at a time. 
Fine seed is often mixed with 
dry sand so that it will spread 
out better, but this will only 
work if seed is not more than 
twice the size of the sand grains. 
