War Gardens: A Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable GrowersFree, Montague
History
War Gardens: A Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers
Free, Montague
Vegetable gardening
The Limas are represented by two forms, the dwarf and the climbing
kinds. Good dwarf Limas are _Burpee’s Improved_, and _Fordhook_. For
planting in the Northern states, _Leviathan_, which is a quick-maturing
variety, is very suitable. This and _King of the Garden_, a very
productive kind, are pole, or climbing, Limas.
Beets are one of the hardy vegetables which can be planted as soon as
the ground has been prepared in the spring. There are two distinct kinds
of beets—those which have a globular or flat root, and those with a
long, tapering root. The latter are of slower growth than the round
kinds, and are very suitable for winter storage, but their cultivation
should not be attempted unless the soil is deep and of a sandy nature.
The globe beets are the best for the home gardener. For the first
planting a quick-maturing kind, such as _Crosby’s Egyptian_, should be
chosen. For later plantings _Detroit Dark Red_ is suitable, and this is
a good variety to plant toward the end of June or early July to form
roots suitable for winter storage. Beets can be planted in rows from
twelve to eighteen inches apart. After the seedlings have reached a
height of two or three inches they should be thinned out to stand four
inches apart in the row. If desired, these thinnings may be taken up
carefully, so as not to break the roots, and transplanted in another
part of the garden. Another plan is to defer thinning until the plants
are from four to six inches in height, and then use the thinnings as
“greens.” Beets will grow in almost any soil, but the best crops are
produced on sandy loams.
Cabbage may be grown as an early crop, to mature around June or July, or
as a late crop, to mature in the fall.
The early crop is usually produced from seeds sown in a greenhouse or
hotbed in February or early March, the young plants being set out in
April. They require plenty of room for development and should be planted
so as to stand from eighteen inches to two feet apart in the rows, the
rows being two and one-half to three feet apart. _Early Jersey
Wakefield_ is the variety commonly grown for an early crop.
Seeds for the late crop can be sown in May. If sown outdoors, a plot of
rich, sandy soil (a square yard will produce an ample supply of
seedlings for most home gardens) should be chosen. If the plot has been
limed a short time previous it is an advantage, as an alkaline soil
lessens the liability to club root, a disease which prevents proper
development of the cabbage. The resultant seedlings should be set out in
July. As late cabbages are stronger growers and form larger heads than
the early kinds, they should be given more room—three feet between the
rows and two feet apart in the rows. A standard variety for late
planting is _Flat Dutch_.
Cabbages will succeed in a variety of soils, but to get best results
heavy applications of decayed stable manure should be incorporated with
the soil before planting. Surface dressings of nitrate of soda are also
beneficial.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account