Growing Your Own Plants 
To get an early start, seeds of such 
crops as cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, let- 
tuce, eggplant, brussels sprouts and other 
long-season vegetables can be planted in 
a coldtrame-or hot-bed. Sowing the seed 
six to eight weeks before the plants are to 
be set out will assure you of early crops. 
In preparing the soil use a mixture of one- 
third garden soil, one-third sand, and 
one-third well-decomposed leaf mold. 
Some gardeners prefer to start their 
seed in flats. If flats are used, a caretully 
screened mixture of soil should be tamped 
in evenly with a board or a building brick 
so that the entire surface is level. For con- 
venience in watering, allow at least a half- 
inch of space between the surface of the 
soil and the top ef the flat. Use a wooden 
label or trowel to mark the rows in the 
flats, allowing at least 2 inches between 
rows. Scatter the seed evenly in the furrows. 
Depth of planting depends upon the size 
of the seed. 
After the seed has been evenly spread 
in the rows, cover it with soil and tamp 
so that the surface is even. Water with a 
fine spray, and place the flat in a warm, 
sunny location. Moist newspaper or wet 
burlap can be used to cover it until the 
seed germinates, to help to conserve mois- 
ture, but the cover must be removed as 
soon as the seedlings appear above the 
soil. 
The First Transplanting 
The first transplanting must be done 
shortly after the seedlings have developed 
their first pair of true leaves. A flat can 
be used for this purpose, or they can be 
set out in a coldframe or hot-bed, de- 
pending upon the weather and the accom- 
modations of the individual gardener. The 
same mixture of soil can be used, with 
the proportion of humus or leaf mold in- 
creased. A pointed stick or a wooden plant 
Richmond, Virginia 
label is handy for making holes for the 
young plants. Space the seedlings at least 
2 inches apart each way and firm the 
soil around each one. 
The process known as “hardening off" 
occurs when young plants are subjected 
to a lower temperature. Plants raised in- 
doors can be placed on a porch or near 
an open window on warm days. Those 
grown in coldframes can be directly ex- 
posed to the air during mid-day while the 
temperature is high, making sure of free 
air-circulation. Several days of exposure 
are necessary to condition the plants. Dur- 
ing uncertain spring weather, frames may 
need to be covered with burlap or other 
protective material during cold spells. The 
seedling stage is the most critical period 
for young plants, and they are easily killed 
by either extreme of temperature. 
For an early start most of the vegetables 
producing vines like the melons, pumpkins, 
cucumbers and squash must be planted in 
individual pots so that they can be set in 
the open without disturbing the roots. 
Coldframes and Hot-beds 
In a limited way coldframes and hot- 
beds take the place of a greenhouse in the 
small home garden. A coldframe is an un- 
heated, bottomless, wooden or concrete 
frame with a removable glass top made of 
window sash, used to protect seedling 
plants from cold weather, and it is also a 
most convenient place to start late vege- 
tables. A hot-bed is of similar construction 
but it is filled with steaming fresh stable 
manure which is covered with several inches 
of soil to provide a good starting ground 
for young plants. When the heat of the 
manure is exhausted, the bed can be used 
as a coldframe. 
If you have a window sash on hand, you 
can make your own coldframe or hot-bed: 
the sash can serve as the top and you can 
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