THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26630, 28 November 1947, Page 9

THE GARDEN

Contributed by D. TANNOCK, A.H.K.H.ffi.

SALAD VEGETABLES Salad vegetables are most important, especially during spring and summer. By taking care and planning ahead, it is possible to have supplies of suitable plants all the year round. It is also most important that they be young and fresh, and there should be a minimum of delay between the garden and the kitchen or where the salads are prepared. It is said that lettuce starts to deteriorate as soon as it is cut, eyen though it may apoear to be quite fresh. Lettuce.—This is the main salad crop and, although it is a cool-weather plant, it can be obtained practically all the year round by making a sowing on a well-drained border in the autumn, the plants standing through the winter and heading up in the spring. The next supplies are obtained by sowing seed in July or August in boxes and germinating it in a frame or greenhouse, with or without artificial heat. The seedlings are transplanted into other boxes and, after being hardened off, are planted out on a warm, sheltered border in October. Although any kind of soil can be made suitable for lettuce, with good drainage and the addition of well-made compost or farmyard manure, they do like a light, sandy soil, as long as they have plenty of organic matter and water during dry weather. The quicker they can be grown the better, therefore lettuce is a good catch-crop to bring on among slower-developing vegetables, such as peas, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and on the ridges of the celery trench. They do not take up much room in the garden and they are cleared out before the main crops require all the space. The first sowing in the open can be made on a well-drained border as soon as the sou is in good working order in the spring, end small sowings can be made every three or four weeks until the autumn. With lettuce, as all other salad crops, "little and often ”■ should be the motto to secure tender and succulent supplies. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, they can be thinned out to three or four inches apart and, before they become overcrowded, every second plant can be transplanted to another Dosition. Growth can be hastened by giving liquid manure, made by dissolving In ounce of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia in a gallon of water, after thin ning, and again as the plants begin to heart-up. They should never lack either water or food at any time, and during dry weather a mulch of lawn mowings, cocoa husks, spent hops or any other organic matter is an advantage on light soils. There are two types of lettuce—the Cos, which has straight leaves and has to be tied up when fully grown, and the cabbage type which is the most exlensively grown in this country. var * e ties to grow for autumn sowing are All the Year Round and Continuity, and for spring and summer sowing Webbs Wonde^dish n -This X is r another plant which has to be grown quickly and used ratch crop? n it is a £ften sown'along with slower-germinating ones such as and carrots, to mark the rows and to provide supplies before thes£ crons require all the room. To man K SKIS Eff •»«« iHKIsVF«n“ g B«lktes< and Icicle are good varieties for spring and summer sowing, and Long Black Sl Musterd° aml^Cress.—These seedling salads are particularly valuable in winter and Sn? hut they are easily produced all ?he vear round if a greenhouse or frame Is arable in winter and early spr ng thf»v are sown in boxes of fine soil, wie seed beinfpressed Into.the soil but not covered, watered and shaded for a few davs until germination takes place, fo have the two available together the cress has to be sown a few days before the aside fo? P the purpose and sowings made l %X| a On^ns y -The n se bo are obtained by sowing thinly . m the n autumn^and ‘an t b^ in made U a e t Intervals ’from early soring Shallots are just as useful, and they can be planted any time from midSr the young divisions being. used whin fresh, y and ß before they begin to bU wSrthr ! e—This is quite a hardy plant sometimes used in salads instead »of: lettuce Like the lettuce, it requires good Virh soil to obtain tender, succulent growth although it can he sown m soring and at intervals through the sum merit is usually sown to provide supEl sraris Rn k aSr| a at intervals. Endive is of no value untiT ifV blanched, and this can be done in several ways. In the case of the Bata be 1 covered with flower pots, th e drain--age hole being blocked up to exclude light Boards are sometimes used, and also litter For winter use, the plants calf'll 1 lifted with a good bal of soil iU a e«^eek A S S t a o P< Other la plan^— Other salad plants are celery, lamb’s lettuce, tomatoes and chickory, also dandelion and sorrel. The last ar Z no t the common and trouDiesoine mods ll Many of y the other vegetables in the P raw state can be used in making up salads. -