Home Vegetable Gardening - F. F. Rockwell (nice books to read .txt) 📗
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from prickers as described above. Prizetaker and Gibraltar are mostly
used for this purpose, growing to the size of the large Spanish onions
sold at grocery stores. For onions to be kept for late winter and
spring use, grow from seed, sowing outdoors as early as possible.
No vegetable needs a richer or more perfectly prepared soil than the
onion; and especial care must be taken never to let the weeds get a
start. They are gathered after the tops dry down and wither, when they
should be pulled, put in broad rows for several days in the sun, and
then spread out flat, not more than four inches deep, under cover with
plenty of light and air. Before severe freezing store in slatted
barrels, as described in Chapter XIV.
Parsnip:—Sow as early as possible, in deep rich soil, but where
no water will stand during fall and winter. The seed germinates very
slowly, so the seed-bed should be very finely prepared. They will be
ready for use in the fall, but are much better after the first frosts.
For method of keeping see Chapter XIV.
Potato:—If your garden is a small one, buy your main supply of
potatoes from some nearby farmer, first trying half a bushel or so to
be sure of the quality. Purchase in late September or October when the
crop is being dug and the price is low.
For an extra early and choice supply for the home garden, start a peck
or so in early March, as follows: Select an early variety, seed of good
size and clean; cut to pieces containing one or two eyes, and pack
closely together on end in flats of coarse sand. Give these full light
and heat, and by the middle to end of April they will have formed dense
masses of roots, and nice, strong, stocky sprouts, well leaved out. Dig
out furrows two and a half feet apart, and incorporate well rotted
manure in the bottom, with the soil covering this until the furrow is
left two to three inches deep. Set the sprouted tubers, pressing firmly
into the soil, about twelve inches apart, and cover in, leaving them
thus three to four inches below the surface. Keep well cultivated, give
a light top dressing of nitrate of soda—and surprise all your
neighbors! This system has not yet come extensively into use, but is
practically certain of producing excellent results.
For the main crop, if you have room, cut good seed to one or two eyes,
leaving as much of the tuber as possible to each piece, and plant
thirteen inches apart in rows three feet apart. Cultivate deeply until
the plants are eight to ten inches high and then shallow but
frequently. As the vines begin to spread, hill up moderately, making a
broad, low ridge. Handle potato-bugs and blight as directed in Chapter
XIII. For harvesting see Chapter XIV.
While big crops may be grown on heavy soils, the quality will be very
much better on sandy, well drained soils. Planting on well rotted sod,
or after green manuring, such as clover or rye, will also improve the
looks and quality of the crop. Like onions, they need a high percentage
of potash in manures or fertilizers used; this may be given in sulphate
of potash. Avoid planting on ground enriched with fresh barnyard manure
or immediately after a dressing of lime.
Salsify:—The “vegetable oyster,” or salsify, is to my taste the
most delicious root vegetable grown. It is handled practically in the
same way as the parsnip, but needs, if possible, ground even more
carefully prepared, in order to keep the main root from sprangling. If
a fine light soil cannot be had for planting, it will pay to hoe or
hand-plow furrows where the drills are to be—not many will be needed,
and put in specially prepared soil, in which the seed may get a good
start.
Radish:—To be of good crisp quality, it is essential with
radishes to grow them just as quickly as possible. The soil should be
rather sandy and not rich in fresh manure or other nitrogenous
fertilizers, as this tends to produce an undesirable amount of leaves
at the expense of the root. If the ground is at all dry give a thorough
wetting after planting, which may be on the surface, as the seeds
germinate so quickly that they will be up before the soil has time to
crust over. Gypsum or land-plaster, sown on white and worked into the
soil, will improve both crop and quality. They are easily raised under
glass, in autumn or spring in frames, requiring only forty to fifty
degrees at night. It is well to plant in the hotbed, after a crop of
lettuce. Or sow as a double crop, as suggested under Carrots.
For outside crops, sow every ten days or two weeks.
Turnip:—While turnips will thrive well on almost any soil, the
quality—which is somewhat questionable at the best—will be much
better on sandy or even gravelly soil. Avoid fresh manures as much as
possible, as the turnip is especially susceptible to scab and worms.
They are best when quite small and for the home table a succession of
sowing, only a few at a time, will give the best results.
LEAF CROPS
Under leaf crops are considered also those of which the stalk or the
flower heads form the edible portion, such as celery and cauliflower.
Asparagus Brussels Sprouts Cabbage
Cauliflower Celery Endive
Kale Lettuce Parsley
Rhubarb Spinach
The quality of all these will depend largely upon growing them rapidly
and without check from the seed-bed to the table. They are all great
nitrogen-consumers and therefore take kindly to liberal supplies of
yard manure, which is high in nitrogen. For celery the manure is best
applied to some preceding crop, such as early cabbage. The others will
take it “straight.” Most of these plants are best started under glass
or in the seed-bed and transplanted later to permanent positions. They
will all be helped greatly by a top-dressing of nitrate of soda, worked
into the soil as soon as they have become established. This, if it
fails to produce the dark green healthy growth characteristic of its
presence, should be followed by a second application after two or three
weeks—care being taken, of course, to use it with reason and
restraint, as directed in Chapter VI.
Another method of growing good cabbages and similar plants, where the
ground is not sufficiently rich to carry the crop through, is to
“manure in the hill,” either yard or some concentrated manure being
used. If yard manure, incorporate a good forkful with the soil where
each plant is to go. (If any considerable number are being set, it will
of course be covered in a furrow—first being trampled down, with the
plow). Another way, sure of producing results, and not inconvenient for
a few hundred plants, is to mark out the piece, dig out with a spade or
hoe a hole some five inches deep at each mark, dilute poultry manure in
an old pail until about the consistency of thick mud, and put a little
less than half a trowelful in each hole. Mix with the soil and cover,
marking the spot with the back of the hoe, and then set the plants. By
this method, followed by a top-dressing of nitrate of soda, I have
repeatedly grown fine cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and sprouts.
Cottonseed meal is also very valuable for manuring in the hill—about
a handful to a plant, as it is rich in nitrogen and rapidly decomposes.
The cabbage group is sometimes hilled up, but if set well down and
frequently cultivated, on most soils this will not be necessary. They
all do best in very deep, moderately heavy soil, heavily manured and
rather moist. An application of lime some time before planting will be
a beneficial precaution. With this group rotation also is almost
imperative.
The most troublesome enemies attacking these plants are: the flea-beetle, the cabbage-worm, the cabbage-maggot (root) and “club-root”;
directions for fighting all of which will be found in the following
chapter.
Asparagus:—Asparagus is rightly esteemed one of the very best
spring vegetables. There is a general misconception, however—due to
the old methods of growing it—concerning the difficulty of having a
home supply. As now cared for, it is one of the easiest of all
vegetables to grow, when once the beds are set and brought to bearing
condition. Nor is it difficult to make the bed, and the only reason why
asparagus is not more universally found in the home garden, beside that
mentioned above, is because one has to wait a year for results.
In selecting a spot for the asparagus bed, pick out the earliest and
best drained soil available, even if quite sandy it will do well. Plow
or dig out trenches three feet apart and sixteen to twenty inches deep.
In the bottoms of these tramp down firmly six to eight inches of old,
thoroughly rotted manure. Cover with six to eight inches of good soil—
not that coming from the bottom of the trench—and on this set the
crowns or root-clumps—preferably one-year ones—being careful to
spread the roots out evenly, and covering with enough soil to hold in
position, making them firm in the soil. The roots are set one foot
apart. Then fill in level, thus leaving the crowns four to six inches
below the surface. As the stalks appear give a light dressing of
nitrate of soda and keep the crop cleanly cultivated. (Lettuce, beets,
beans or any of the small garden vegetables may be grown between the
asparagus rows during the first part of the season, for the first two
years, thus getting some immediate return from labor and manure). The
stalks should not be cut until the second spring after planting and
then only very lightly. After that full crops may be had.
After the first season, besides keeping cleanly cultivated at all
times, in the fall clear off and burn all tops and weeds and apply a
good coating of manure. Dig or lightly cultivate this in the spring,
applying also a dressing of nitrate of soda, as soon as the stalks
appear. If the yield is not heavy, give a dressing of bone or of the
basic fertilizers mentioned earlier. It is not difficult to grow plants
from seed, but is generally more satisfactory to get the roots from
some reliable seedsman.
_Broccoli:-The broccoli makes a flower head as does the cauliflower.
It is, however, inferior in quality and is not grown to any extent
where the latter will succeed. It has the one advantage of being
hardier and thus can be grown where the cauliflower is too uncertain to
make its culture worth while. For culture directions see Cauliflower.
Brussels Sprouts:—In my opinion this vegetable leaves the
cabbage almost as far behind as the cauliflower does. It is, if
anything, more easily grown than cabbage, except that the young plants
do not seem able to stand quite so much cold. When mature, however, it
seems to stand almost any amount of freezing, and it is greatly
improved by a few smart frosts, although it is very good when
succeeding the spring crop of cauliflower. It takes longer to mature
than either cabbage or cauliflower.
Cabbage:—Cabbage is one of the few vegetables which may be had
in almost as good quality from the green-grocer as it can be grown at
home, and as it takes up considerable space, it may often be advisable
to omit the late sorts from the home garden if space is very limited.
The early supply, however, should come from the garden—some people
think it should
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