CY 
Stata 
Okan HOME GARDENING GUIDE [nee 
TO START YOUR GARDEN 
‘'First Take A Penceil’’ 
Getting the most food of the best qual- 
ity with the least amount of time and 
labor, starts right at the planning stage 
of your garden. Charting it out to scale 
on paper and keeping your chart as a 
year to year planning record helps you 
correctly rotate crops, as well as plan 
succession crops, catch crops and inter- 
crops. You will save ground space, too, 
that means less weeding and watering 
to be done. Sit down and use the pen- 
cil and you save standing up and using 
the hoe. 
On page 17 of our Garden Annual is a 
comprehensive guide that will give 
you all the information you need to 
plan your garden on paper. The amount 
of seed required, spacing between 
seeds and rows, the growing period 
and the approximate yields are all 
shown in this guide. 
The best procedure is to start with a 
very rough sketch. Try all your ideas 
in combinations during this rough 
sketch stage. When you have what 
you want, convert your rough sketch 
into a final plan, drawn to scale. A 
scale of one quarter of an inch repre- 
senting one foot works very well, be- 
cause by using one sixteenth of an inch 
as three inches, almost any standard 
spacing of the rows can be shown in 
exact scale, 
Divide the garden into three sections 
if possible, (1) Root vegetables (2) Leaf 
vegetables and (3) Fruit vegetables. By 
switching these three groups every 
year you avoid many soil-borne di- 
seases and insects and get better use 
of fertilizers, This isn’t absolutely nec- 
essary, but it is one of those details 
that the smart gardener watches. 
High growing vegetables such as sweet 
corn, pole beans and staked tomatoes 
should preferably be on the north side 
of your garden, otherwise they will 
ultimately cut off the life-giving sun- 
light from your lower growing vege- 
tables, Your sweet corn area is better 
planned if it is grouped in a square 
Tather than a long row or two. This 
insures better and easier pollinization. 
Crops that remain in the garden 
throughout the entire growing season 
should be located where they will not 
be disturbed, 
Early crops should be planted to- 
gether. When they are harvested, the 
space can be used again for fall crops. 
Successive cropping should be prac- 
ticed in every garden. This may be 
carried out in two ways. One crop may 
follow another in the same season... 
late cabbage or sweet corn may be 
planted in the space from which early 
peas, beans, lettuce or radishes have 
been harvested. Or successive plant- 
ings of the same crop may be made at 
intervals of seven to ten days. This 
will provide a continuous supply of 
such crops as sweet corn string beans, 
spinach and radishes. 
Companion cropping is also important. 
This is the growing of two or more 
crops on the same area at the same 
time. Quick maturing crops like spin- 
ach, beans, kale, lettuce and radishes 
may be planted between the rows or 
in the rows of eggplant, tomatoes, 
melons, okra or other crops that oc- 
cupy the ground during the entire 
season. The early crops will have time 
to mature and be harvested before the 
later ones will require the entire space 
for full development, 
With the plans complete, you are now 
ready to order your fertilizer, seeds, 
tools and insecticides. It is to your 
advantage to do this as early as you 
can. Late in the season many desirable 
varieties may be sold out. 
‘Use Those Carrot Thinnings,’’ says Old Gardener 
Carrots are a triple- 
treat crop—you can 
; freeze them, store 
them or can them, 
in addition to serv- 
ing them fresh. All 
three methods will 
save the delicious 
carrot sweetness for 
winter eating. Better 
have plenty for eat: 
ing fresh, too, espe- 
cially the finger-size thinnings from the 
row. Commercial growers throw these 
away but they're the choicest morsels 
the garden produces. The new coreless 
types are best for eating fresh, canning 
or freezing. They have less fibre, taste 
sweeter. 
If you must store carrots in a cellar or 
outdoor barrel, you'll want something a 
little firmer, like Danvers Half Long. If 
your soil is stiff, stubborn clay, use Ox- 
heart, which grows straight, while the 
longer kinds will corkscrew as they try 
to grow in clay. 
Heavy, clay soils because of their dens- 
ity resist the downward growth of long, 
slender rooted vegetables. For instance, 
Imperator Carrots and Icicle Radishes 
will twist and bend to follow the lines of 
least resistance ot growth in heavy soil. 
This unusual appearance is called ‘’Cork- 
screwing” and it visually indicates lack 
of soil porosity and humus. 
Sand added to heavy soil will assist in 
relieving density but it should be ac- 
companied with peat moss or one of the 
new Vermiculite materials. 
Peat moss is a selected, organic material 
formed years ago by the growth and de- 
cay of various aquatic plants. It, too, 
relieves soil density as well as supplying 
organic material and contributing to the 
formation of humus, 
CABBAGE—Continued 
Standard Early Varieties 
COPENHAGEN MARKET—FExcellent, early 
short season type. Short stems, 6]2 in., 342 
to 4-lb, heads. 65 to 70 days. 
GOLDEN ACRE—Extra early variety pro- 
ducing uniform well-balanced head. Weighs 
about 3 lbs, Excellent quality, 65 days. 
Late or Winter Varieties 
DANISH BALL HEAD OR HOLLANDER— 
A widely used late type, Deep, round, hard, 
compact heads, 7 to 8-in., 6 to 7-lb. Tender, 
crisp, fine for kraut. 100 to 105 days. 
PREMIUM LATE FLAT DUTCH—The best 
late variety. Large, round, flat solid heads 
of perfect shape. Less inclined to burst 
than many varieties. Tender; fine quality. 
Red Variety 
MAMMOTH RED ROCK—Best of the red 
cabbages, Hard, round, Purplish-red heads. 
Good keeper, 6 to 8-in., 7 to 8 lb, heads. 
100 days. 
CHINESE CABBAGE 
Must never be grown as a spring crop 
since it will only go to seed. Plant after 
June 15, as days are getting shorter, 
then it will head. An excellent succession 
crop to follow early peas. 
CHIHILI OR IMPROVED PEKIN—Depend- 
able, early. Solid, tapered heads, 3 to 4 
in. thick, 18 to 20-in. long. 75 days, 
CARROTS 
CHANTENAY, RED CORED (fr)—Root has 
thick shoulder and tapers to slight stump 
root, S-in. long. Red cored. 70 days to ma- 
turity. 
DANVERS HALF LONG—Sweet, tender roots, 
6 to 7-in. long tapering to a blunt point. 
Fine for storing, 75 days. 
IMPROVED IMPERATOR (fr)—Fine-grained, 
tender. Rich orange, indistinct core, Roots 
smooth, tapered to semi-blunt, 77 days. 
NANTES IMPROVED CORELESS (fr)—Excel- 
lent for forcing. Tops small, roots bright 
orange, blunt ended. Flesh reddish orange 
and practically coreless, 70 days. 
OXHEART OR GUERANDE—Fxcellent for 
shallow soil, easy to harvest. Chunky, 
tender and sweet. Bright orange. Keeps 
well, 72 to 75 days. 
CAULIFLOWER 
PACKET, 25c 
Needs rich soil and abundant watering. 
Cultivate same as cabbage but protect 
heads from sunlight to insure the prized 
white curd. This is done by gathering 
leaves together loosely as soon as heads 
begin forming, and tying them well at 
the top. 
EARLY SNOWBALL (fr)—Best and most 
widely used early variety. Medium, firm 
compact heads of fine flavor, 6-7 inches in 
diameter, 55 days. 
CELERIAC 
LARGE SMOOTH PRAGUE—(Turnip rooted 
celery). Smooth spherical roots, 2 to 3-in. 
thick, 120 days. 
CELERY 
Start in shaded hotbed 60 days before 
needed. Cover seeds V4”. Transplant 
when 6” high. In setting outdoors, don’t 
get soil in or over crown. Set 7” to 12” 
apart. Soil must be rich, moist and loose. 
As soon as plants have grown to 14” to 
15” tall, set 12” boards on both sides 
of row and hold in place with earth. 
Or 4” drain tile can be used to blanch 
individual stalks. Celery must have warm, 
settled weathers. If chilled, plants are 
likely to go to seed. Keep soil well 
fertilized and moist. Crop matures in 
cool weather of autumn. 
GIANT PASCAL—Late variety for winter 
use, Large plant, dark green leaves. Big 
Aas, stalks that blanch to yellow white. 135 
ays. 
GOLDEN SELF BLANCHING, DWARF— 
Compact plants, yellowish green foliage, 
Broad solid stalks, nutty flavor, Blanches 
readily, 120 days. 
WONDERFUL OR GOLDEN PLUME—Farly, 
medium plant with compact, full heart, 
Blanches easily to golden yellow, 112 to 
115 days. 
7—N 
