The Vegetable Garden . . .

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29051, 13 November 1959, Page 10

The Vegetable Garden . . .

Main crop potatoes should be planted. Those planted earlier should be earthed up after dusting with liberal spread of fertiliser or compost. This manuring is important as it is placed where the young potato roots will receive the food nutrients. Tomatoes should be planted. Choose a sunny open position, not shaded by trees in autumn. They certainly do not succeed beside a walnut tree. The plants form a strong root mat, therefore the ground should be deeply dug. Sheep or cow manure or compost is the best food supply. Put the stakes in position when planting, and see that the plants are left in a slight depression. It is not too late to sow the root vegetables—beet, carrot, parsnip, onion, radish, and turnip, and, of course, do not forget the salad vegetables. Give the asparagus bed a final liquid manuring as the end of the cutting season is in sight. Hand-weed rows of young vegetables and hoe in between the rows, afterwards placing grass clippings or saw dust as a surface mulch' not more than half an inch thick. A dusting of hortnap along both sides of the carrot seedlings will be helpful. If small aphis show as specks on the foliage, spray with an insecticide. Plant out lettuce and early cabbage. Sow winter greens for transplanting in January, also celery, celeriac, leeks and swede turnip. This is an important section which should not be missed. This is also sowing time for many autumn vegetables. Chief among them are dwarf and runner beans, pumpkin, marrow, squash, cucumber, and sweet corn. In the bean section, variety is considerable. The kinds differ in colour and markings of the seed. Thus in the runner section, the Czar has large white seed; the Rajah has black seeds; Sutton’s Prizewinner has rose pink seeds; Emperor and Hurst’s Streamline have the orthodox mottled dark seeds. Similarly in the dwarf section, there are seeds of white, dun, black, brown, speckled with pink

or black like birds' eggs, and in the climbing French bean, either white or flat brown—quite an interesting collection. Sow a good row of maincrop peas for use in February. Choose a large podded sort such as Onward, Greenfeast, Dwarf Defiance, or Stratagem. These should all be staked for good results. And don’t forget Swqet Corn. This dainty vegetable is becoming increasingly popular. There are several varieties with little difference between them. Golden Grain and Alpine are as good as any. •- THINNING Recent rains have produced a marked change in plant growth and given an added impetus to all growing crops. This is especially noticeable where the .soil has received careful culti‘vation and attention, as, at no season of the year, is the effect of manuring and good tillage more apparent than during November—the first month of the summer—and, in consequence, young seedling c»ops are making rapid growth and will need frequent thinning and regulating the crop to prevent them from becoming so crowded as to ■ injure themselves. Thinning is one of the most important items in vegetable culture, ad those who give properand timely attention to it secure much greater value from their crops than those who neglect or only partially thin. Growers may be excused for sowing their seeds too thickly in the drills, but, should a large proportion of the seesi germinate, there is little excuse £pr leaving them to grow until they become so crowded and weaken each other as to render them almost useless. At the time of thinning when the soil is moist is a good time to transplant such plants as turnip-rooted beet, silver beet, lettuce and similar crops to fill any blank where the seedlings have failed. Lift the plants with as many of the roots intact as possible, and in planting dibble the holes deep enough to allow the roots to be placed to their full depth. * i .