Home Gardens

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 21, 13 February 1948, Page 6

Home Gardens

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) Can Spring Be Far Behind? Carnations prefer a deep light loam in a sunny open position. The soil should be enriched with wellrooted farmyard manure, and light dressings of lime should be applied in winter or early spring. As they have a definite flowering period it is well to group them and interplant with groups of other perennials to give early and late flowering.

Another method is to plant up the border with carnations 18 inches apart and inter-plant with gladioli in November. This will give a succession for the summer. Similarly, Iceland poppies, hyacinths, or tulips may be used for spring colour, but nothing should be used which would crowd or shade the young carnation growths. Incidentally, always lift gladioli when the leaves yellow and before they turn brown. Lifted at this stage, most of the kittens will be removed with the bulbs. Violets should be attended to during dry weather, for they suffer severely and become infected with “red spider.” Keep them well watered and mulched with well-rooted manure if you desire good flowers on long stems next spring. Here again, young plants with a vigorous root system are less subject to damage. A new bed should be established every second year or so in well-prepared ground during the spring or early summer. Fuschias and hydrangeas which provide such a wealth of late summer and autumn flower, should be well watered and given weak liquid manure to help prolong the display.

GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES There’s great satisfaction in growing one’s own, vegetables; and the greens, in particular, are much more appetising when freshly picked. Furthermore, it is an advantage to have a regular and well-balanced supply available at all times. The great art is to plan one’s plantings to maintain this supply throughout every week of the year. There is always a tendency to overplant for December and January, thus using ground which may be better utilised for winter and early spring crops. With such a wide range of vegetables becoming available during this period much smaller quantities are required of each, otherwise there is considerable waste. The vagaries of the weather may hasten the growth of one crop and perhaps retard the growth of another, creating an excess which is difficult to avoid and will often upset the best-laid plans. It’s a good plan to record in a diary the quantities sown, the treatment given, and the results. A glantie back when next sowing these crops will soon give the approximate requirements for your household. We are definitely agreed that crop rotation is essential if one is consistently to secure the best results. While not immediately apparent,) rotation will keep the soil in the best of heart whilst producing good crops of nutritious vegetables with a minimum of loss due to disease. There are several ways in which rotation may be practised) but they will agree in principle and differ only in minor details due to variations in quantities required or the number of plots operated. We have suggested four plots as being most suitable for small gardens. Where the garden is larger, small fruits or other perennial crops may be grown in another section for several years. When this j section is to be replanted it may take the place of No. 4 plot in the rotation and No. 1 crop (potatoes), which normally goes to No; 4 could be planted qp in this extra section, and thus bring it into the annual rotation, whilst No.- 4 plot will stand down during its term in perennial crops. Plotting the Plots No. 1 plot was deeply dug with the addition of. well-rooted stable manure in the early spring. This, with the addition of a potato fertiliser at planting time, should have produced good crops. In the smaller garden the area would confine plantings to first and second early varieties. The first will have been used by now and the second will have ripened off if unused. Any potatoes ripening off at this time of the year should be lifted at once, otherwise rain combined with a warm soil will bring about second growth causing loss of quality and keeping value. When digging, clear all the tops of haulms to one side preparatory to burning, and leave the potatoes on the surface for an hour or so to dry before bagging them up. Pick up all potatoes, grading them into three grades, i.e., table, seed and the remainder (unsuitable for the first two grades) may be bagged and later boiled up in small quantities to feed to the hens or pigs. Sew or tie the tops of the bags to exclude light and store in a cool airy shed.

Where late crops are grown, spray regularly to prevent a late attack of blight, which will greatly impair the keeping qualities of even fullydeveloped potatoes. This well-cultivated d previ-ously-manured plot is just ideal for those crops in plot No. 2 which will take the place of the potatoes. The first sowing in the new programme may take place this month, namely, carrots for spring use. Champion Scarlet Horn or other of the stumprooted varieties should be selected and planted in rows one foot apart. The ground vacated by early potatoes should be in good condition. It may be dug over, firmed evenly by tramping and raked out to a fine, firm seed bed. Sow the seed evenly about three-quarters of an inch deep, and if the weather conditions are dry it may be necessary to water the rows to ensure even germination. If no provision has been made for winter beetroot a small sowing may also be made of this subject, spacing the rows 15 inches apart and using a turnip-rooted variety. This seed, which is larger, may be sown one inch deep at this time of the year. Onions will follow next month .and the remainder of the ground will remain fallow to be planted in parsnips, turnips, swedes, 4 beetroot and carrots in the spring. The Onion Harvest

Plot No. .2 now contains crops of the above-mentijoned vegetables. Early crops of carrots, turnips and beetroot will have been used by now. Main crops of these will still be growing and will require cultivation and spraying. Shallots, if grown, will have been lifted last month or, if not, should be lifted immediately, as development of second growth would decrease their keeping value. Pull them up and lay them out to dry. They may then be stored in light hessian bags. Main-crop onions will have completed their growth and must be thoroughly ripened if they are to keep well. Here again we have the danger of second growth. Pull the bulbs when the tops bend over and are turning yellow and lay them out to dry for several days. Further drying may take place in an airy shed, particularly if the weather is broken. The onions may be cleaned and graded, mis-shaped, damaged and extra large bulbs being placed aside for immediate use. The remainder may be made up in strings and suspended from the roof of a shed where the conditions are cool and ventilation is good. Strings are made by securing the onions to a short length of wire or light rope, securing them either by tying the leaves with twine or taking the leaves around the rope and then under the bulbs, the weight of which will keep them in place. Use the largest bulbs at the base of the string and taper off to the top with smaller ones. Onions with thin necks usually keep best. If your onions were planted late and have not made large bulbs, they will be showing no signs of ripening yet and may be grown on for a couple of months if necessary. It is the large bulbs which need careful ripening. This plot will be carrying a section of root'crops right into the winter. However, it is not required at all until May when a section of the cnion ground may be planted in spring cabbage. The remaining ground coming vacant may now be sown in a green manure crop, which would greatly benefit green crops to be grown next season and help to build up the humus content of the soil.