Before you start to plant, sit down 
with pencil and paper and plan your 
garden to fit your space. Just two or 
three feet of row are enough for 
parsley, but allow lots of space for 
beans, corn, peas, and vine crops. 
A string drawn tight between two 
stakes will help you make straight 
rows. Draw a line with a stick for 
shallow furrows, or with a hoe for 
deeper ones, depending on the kind of 
seed to be planted. 
The best time to add fertility to 
your soil is when you spade the gar- 
den. Cover the ground with manure 
if available) or reeommended amounts 
of commercial fertilizer, turning it 
under as you spade. 
SOIL LEVEL 
DIVE & LETTUCE 
CARROT ONION: PARSE 
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Vegetable seeds should be planted 
at the depths indicated on the chart 
above. Some kinds should be just 
barely covered, while others, like 
peas, may be planted even deeper 
than indicated if soil is sandy. 
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Make a fine seed bed. The finished 
condition of your soil, with all clods 
broken and well pulverized, will make 
it possible to attain perfect stands of 
plants and help small seeds to make 
a good start. 
Sow seed thinly, keeping in mind 
the distance apart which the growing 
plants should be spaced in the row. 
Plant somewhat heavier than final 
spacing, and thin out the excess 
plants while still small. 
Draw the soil back into the furrow 
to cover the seed planted. Firm the 
soil over the seed by laying a board 
over the row and walking on it, or by 
tamping with the flat side of the rake. 
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The principal reason for cultivation 
is to kill weeds. It’s not necessary or 
desirable to stir the soil deeply. Cul- 
tivate just deep enough to cut off 
the weeds without disturbing the 
roots of the garden plants. 
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Even where summer rainfall is nor- 
mally enough to support growth, irri- 
gation in the home garden will greatly 
increase yields if practiced during 
dry spells. Follow the plan illustrated 
above. 
hard to keep pests under 
control if you make a daily inspection 
of your garden. Begin spraying or 
dusting at the first sign of damage— 
don’t wait until the plants are seri- 
ously injured. f 
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Additional fertilizer during the 
growing season is of great help for 
many garden plants. Corn, melons, 
onions, celery, and squash particu- 
larly respond to this mid-season 
“spot” fertilizing. 
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Many crops, like cucumbers, sum- 
mer squash, beans, peppers, and egg | 
plant will stop bearing if their fruits — 
aren’t removed. It is important to 
pick these crops daily in order to pro- 
long their bearing period. 
22 
GIVE YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN A COLORFUL BACKGROUND WITH FLOWERS 
