KITCHEN GARDEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19437, 24 October 1925, Page 23 (Supplement)

KITCHEN GARDEN

Plant potatoes. The main crop may be put in as long as the ground is not too wet. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower and onion plants. Plant lettuce. This weather suits them to perfection. * Plant out rhubarb. Plant out tomatoes for early crops. Plant sage and thyme. Asparagus may still be planted with safety. Sow onion seed for the main crop. Sow carrots for early use. It is a bit early for tho main lot in most localities. Sow* lettuce for late planting. Sow turnips at regular intervals. Sow swedes. They may be sown i in their permanent quarters or trans- , planted later as desired. . Sow radishes every 10 to 14 days. ' Sow parsnips if the soil is suitable. !If it is very wet it is only a waste i of time. Sow leeks for later planting. Sow broccoli for early planting. Sow Brussells sprouts. This vegetable is not very successful locally unless it is grown in a piece of very good land. Sow seeds of red cabbage if needed for pickling. Sow spinach at regular intervals. Make ready beds for cucumbers. Use plenty of manure and raise the bed four to six inches. It helps the plants to get an early start. I Sage should be lifted, divided, and i replanted deeply enough to cover all but three or four inches of the ' branches. They will then root right ■ Kilongwthe stems, and strong plants will ibe ready for next season. It must be ' i remembered that each plant must have some of the old root attached or it will not grow. Sage will not grow from cuttings. The jdants should be treated in this way every spring, or ’ they will grow straggly and eventually ' die. The same rules apply to thyme. ! If tho rhubarb has been pulled rtither heavily a little liquid manure . will help it to recover quickly. Give attention to the peas. Do not • Int the slugs got at them, and sec that the weeds do not impede their ’ j growth. Earth them up as soon as i possible. ‘ I Early beans may be put in now, hut they must be in a warm position or 1 ' thev may get nipped by a late frost. i Keep the hoe and rake busy in order ’ to keep the ground from forming U ‘ hard crust and becoming stagnant. It 1 also checks the weeds and prevents , , the slugs becoming too numerous. ’ 1 Prepare beds for runner beans.. Dig 1 i at least two spits deep and work in a ’ fair quantity of manure while doing so. No other vegetable gives such a ’ large crop in comparison to the space ’ it occupies as the runner bean. : i Plant the" seeds about three inches i nnart. and nut them in double tows

with about 18 inches between. Stake , them as soon as possible, and when I the beans appear pick them as soon as they hre ready. This will keep them cropping longer. Tho main thing in inducing beans to crop for a long , period is to dig in a fair quantity of I manure. | The same thing mav bo said of peas. Deep cultivation is the best treatment to get a large crop from a limited space. Pons of course should be sown more thickly, but not too closely. If tho seeds tire allowed a little room they will crop better and tho pods will be larger and better.

The mounds for pumpkins should now be made ready. If space has been left in among the early potatoes, dig a hole and put in half a barrowload of manure and then put the soil back on top. It is no use planting pumpkins unless they are given a liberal supply of manure, as they are very heavy feeders. Spaces for marrows should be prepared in the same way, but they do not need as much manure as pumpkins. They should be given some, however, to induce them to grow quickly, as marrows that Ure grown quickly have a much nicer flavour than those that take some time to mature.