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
Sow CELERY seed in a hotbed or cold frame. When a few inches high,
plant five inches apart, in a bed, in the open ground, which should be
especially prepared for the purpose by extra heavy manuring. Let the
plants remain in this bed, to grow strong and stocky. Never let the
ground in this bed become dry; give thorough cultivation and cut off
the tops of the plants once or twice, to make them grow stocky. When
six or eight inches high, lift the plants carefully and set them six or
eight inches apart, in trenches a foot wide and fourteen or more inches
in depth. Several inches of rotted stable manure should be mixed with
the soil at the bottom of the trench. When planting, firm the ground
well around each plant. Supply enough water to keep the ground at the
bottom of the trench very moist all the time. As the plants grow, press
soil around the bottom of each plant and tie together at the top with
string, to keep the stems straight and in an upright position. The
blanching or earthing up is done by gradually filling up the trench
with ground as the plants grow. Care should be taken not to get any
ground into the hearts of the plants and never to earth up while they
are wet. Sowing seed in the open ground and growing plants on the
level surface may do for cool northern latitudes, but my experience
is that it will not do here in southern Illinois. _Boston Market_ and
_Crawford’s Half Dwarf_ are as good as any of the taller varieties, and
are more easily blanched.[26]
Seed of ENDIVE should not be sown early, as this plant is grown chiefly
for late summer and autumn salad. In this latitude we sow at intervals
from the middle of June to the 1st of August. Seed may be sown either
broadcast or in drills, but the plants should be thinned so as to stand
from six to nine inches apart. It may also be sown in a seed bed and
be transplanted to the proper distance apart. When the plants are full
grown, tie all the outside leaves together over the heart, to blanch
the inner leaves, which will take about a week. To keep up a constant
supply, some should be tied up every few days. Never tie up when the
leaves are wet or they will soon decay. _Green Curled_ and _Batavian_
are both very good.[27]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account