How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acre — John Shaqi
How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acreDarlington, E. D.
Science
How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acre
Darlington, E. D.
Kitchen gardens; Vegetable gardening
While one of the most troublesome vegetables to bring to perfection
in the ordinary garden, this is one of the most desirable, as well as
one of the most profitable, when well grown. The Michigan celery that
is being shipped to our eastern cities in such large quantities does
not seem to have lowered the price materially, but has crowded all the
inferior and less finely-grown plants out of the markets, and the high
express charges still guarantee a good profit to the near-by grower.
When the ground has become fairly warm in the spring, a bed should be
made in some shady corner for the seed; if such situation is not to
be had, the seed can be sown in a spent hotbed, cold frame or other
convenient place, and can be artificially shaded with fresh brush or
lath shades through the hottest part of the day. Celery is naturally a
swamp plant, and to make a rapid growth should have the ground as rich
as possible, and also as much water as possible, without making the
ground heavy and sour. The soil should not be allowed to become dry or
baked, and the weeds should be pulled out as soon as they appear. This
bed, and, indeed, all other seed beds, should be made very rich with
well-rotted manure; not with horse-stable manure or phosphate, as both
of them are dry and heating, and in dry weather would stunt or entirely
burn up the young plants. The seed should be sown in drills about six
inches apart, to admit of working the soil with a narrow hoe, as the
continued watering will harden the surface of the bed and check the
growth of the young plants. When the plants are well up they should
be thinned out so as to stand an inch apart in the drills, and if the
plants are ready some little time before they are wanted for setting
out, they can be made more stocky and stronger by shearing off about
half of the tops.
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