VEGETABLE GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 20966, 19 February 1938, Page 17

VEGETABLE GARDEN

IMPORTANT SOWINGS TO MAKE NOW In northern and Midland districts onions for spring use or for transplanting should be sown during the month. If possible, one or two sowings should be made. This is always a better plan than making only one large sowing, for much depends on the nature of the weather. It often happens that from one sowing the plants may ger too large. From another, they may be too late. By two or more sowings

at intervals, one has a better chance of obtaining really good results. Ground that has been deeply dug and moderately manured should be got ready, making it nicely firm. The seed should be put in in rows at a distance of 10 or 12 inches apart. In cold localities and bleak situations White Lisbon, a very hardy variety, is suitable. This is a popular and useful onion for pulling green in spring. In milder localities such kinds as Golden Globe, Tripoli, Giant Rocca, and Ailsa Craig may be chosen . Ausumn Queen, which is of unequalled keeping quality, and is practically immune from the orfion fly, is also well worth a trial. Cabbage, Spinach, and Saladings Spring cabbages are another much appreciated vegetable which should be sown without delay. Where sowings are made early in the season, there ?s always a risk of the crop “bolting,” but there is now little danger of such trouble. The seed is best put in rows, as transplanting is then more easy than if sown broadcast. Avoid thick sowing, and when the plants are of sufficient size, transplant into deeplydug, rich, and well-drained soil. According to their habit of growth, the plants should stand at distances of from 15 to 18 inches apart. Flower of Spring is a good variety for present sowing. It is of excellent flavour, very compact, and full-heart-ed. Harbinger is particularly recommended as being very early. It is also dwarf and compact, as is Ellam’s Early, another good variety. A small sowing of pickling cabbage, to be wintered in a nursery bed for spring planting, should be got in between now and the end of the month.

Prickly-seeded or winter spinach, is another crop for present sowing. In order to produce large, succulent leaves, the ground should be well dug and thoroughly enriched with old manure. Should dry conditions prevail at the time of sowing, give the seed bed a good watering beforehand. About 13 inches should be allowed between the drills and the seed must be sown thinly. Germination will be much more rapid if the seed is steeped in water for an hour or two before sowing. The plants should be thinned when necessary so th..t they have room to develop fully, and to grow good foliage. This will be helped by frequently stirring the surface of the soil. Do not be in too great a hurry to gather leaves. It is infinitely better to give the plants time to get well established before making a. start. It is a sensible plan, in order to make allowance for variations of seasons, to try two moderate sowings instead of one very big batch. Giantleaved Winter stands the winter well, and is of superior flavour. It has large leaves, very dark and thick.

To keep up a supply of lettuce, seed can be sown in protected situations till the end of February, but care should be taken, if the weather be hot and dry, to keep the plants liberally watered. This will be an aid. to growth and to the production of tender hearts. The application of a little complete fertiliser before watering will coax them to come along quickly, but feeding must on no account be overdone.

Endive should also be given a sheltered border, and if it is on a slight slope, so much the better, as this ensures good drainage.

Again sew in drills 10 inches apart, and when thinning make sure that the plants will be just clear of each other. If treated in this way they will stand the winter better than transplanted seedlings. Endive is most useful during the early months of the year when salading materials are far from plentiful. The Green-curled and Batavian varieties stand the winter best. Where frame accommodation is available, it is a good plan to lift some plants with good balls of earth adhering to the roots and replant quite close together in the frame, but very careful attention must be paid to ventilation, or damping will cause trouble.

There is still time, too, to make one last sowing of parsley, but it must be borne in mind that the plants may require protection during the winteh months. Early sowings of this invaluable herb are always a mistake, as there is then a decided risk of the plants running to seed. Attention to Crops Growing crops must not be allowed to suffer from inattention, despite other work. Runner beans, in full bearing, will appreciate copious doses of weak liquid manure, while, on very dry soils, a mulch will also be appreciated. It is true that up to the present there has been little shortage of soil moisture, but there are few croos which suffer more from parching heat, and it is wise to be prepared for any eventualities. Celery is another crop which will not withstand so much as a suspicion of drought. Once the outer stems are well matured, due attention must also be paid to blanching. Many growers still prefer the old method of earthing up the stalks, but the average amateur will find the use of brown paper collars saves time. A little soil should be drawn over the bottom of the first collar tied in position. Where it has not already been seen to, onions for main crop should now have their foliage growth bent over at the neck to assist the ripening process. Then as soon as the stem begins to dry the bulbs can be lifted and left lying on the beds for a few days. It is a great mistake to delay lifting for even a few days after ripening, for, in the event of rain, they will almost certainly make fresh root growth, and nothing is more certain to ruin them.