Clinton News-Record, 1976-04-15, Page 44compost
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• Mclik .10; „ -;• : 'gardeners take a leek at these
In the -past, * gardener bad to new composting bins. Either will
build, * box -like structure to .help turn thatwaSte Material late
,caatan ompostiflg Material ,useful organic Material for
Tbe 'Material itself,which didn't gardens.
n your garden,. or
eSi spaef use possible
BY II. Tleasei carrots, beets. spinach and cress,
Departmental! These plots tan be followed by
Horticultural Science beans. Spinach, cress or lettuce
can be sown before the second lot
University of Guelph - In the of beans are planted. Alter the
modern vegetable garden, space first and secondplanting of beans
is usually at a premium. Thus are harvested, they can be
careful planning is necessary to followed by a later planting of
use the space as efficiently as carrots and beans. Section four
possible. A garden plan should can consist of cote crops such as
include the crop to be grawn, the early and late cabbage, turnips,
'amount of each vegetable, the kotdrabi and two crops a yearilof
yarieties, the planting dates, the collards, kale, Brussels sprouts.
location of each crop, and their broccoli and cauliflower.
and -the fertilizer type Sweet corn can be grown with
and rate. This will then permit the tall crops where it will
more accurate assessment of the produce a minimum shade to the
seeds and transplants to par- rest of the garden.
chase. The three areas are mere or
Once the decision has been less equal in size and can be
made on the vegetables to be rotated yearly so that the same
grown, Consider some of the section is planted on the same
general garden principles. area every fourth year.
For tin average -sized garden of
10 by 25 feet, 15 to 20 different
vegetables can be grown. An
example of crop placement from
back to front could be cucum-
bers, tomatoes (stake), bush
squash, peppers. cabbage, let-
tuce, beans, chare, beets,
carrots, spinach. radish, parsley,
green anions, leeks. broccoli and
peas. The spacing between the
rows for these could be two feet
from cucumbers to lettuce, one
and one-half feet from lettuce to
spinach, one foot from spinach to
leeks, and two feet from leeks to
peas.
Two plantings per season can
be made of cabbage. lettuce,
beans. beets, carrots, spinach
and radish. Also in the same
season, early broccoli can be
followed by cauliflower. and peas
can be followed by Brussels
sprouts. Sweet corn can be
planted at the back of the garden
next to the trellised cucumbe
and tomatoes.
The perennials such as
If possible, try to have the rows
run north and south; however,
rows running east and west may
be necessary in sloping land, 'to
avoid soil erosicin. Make
maximum use of the growing
area by mixing short and long
season crops together, either in
the same or in alternate rows.
Grow lettuce and radishes. both
fast growing crops, between rows
of cabbage or tomatoes: for
example. Also two or three fast -
maturing vegetables such as
radishes can be grown in the
same area in one season.
A succession of seedings at
regular intervals may 'also be
desirable to assure a constant
supply of produce throughout the
growing season. Crops in this
category are lettuce, radish,
spinach, beans and sweet corn.
In a small gardengo vertical
wherever possible. Cucumbers.
peas and pole beans are natural.
climbers and can be planted on a
trellis. Vine tomatoes, although
not natural climbers, can also be
staked. Peppers, eggplants and
bush tomatoes are high yielding
compact plants that require little
growing area. -
The crops sown outdciors in
•early spring, when the weather is
stili cool, are beets, chard,
cehbage. broccoli, Brussels
sprouts, lettuce, onions, parsley,
peas, radish, spinach, turnips
and carrots.
Plants sown in warm weather.
are ' beans. beets,- sweet corn,
cucumbers. squash and inelons.
The long season crops (sown
once per season) are sweet corn,
eggplants. tomatoes. peppers.
melons. leeks, onions, squash and
potatoes.
Short season crops (more than
one crop grown per season) atbeans. beets. carrots, lettuce,
radish, spinach and turnips.
Row spacings vary according
to the crop and the tilling
equipment to be used.
For better management
practices. a vegetable garden
can be divided into four sections.
Section one- contains the
perennial crops such as
asparagus. rhubarb, ,,eerenntal
herbs and strawberries. Sections'
two. three and four have the
annual vegetables that would
follow in a three-year rotation.
Section two can be planted to long
season crops such as tomatoes,
eggplants, peppers, onions. leeks,
parsnips. etc. Section three can
be planted to Aces, beans
COMPOM Otatmat mai by allowing plant ellp,
mixed with fertilizer to decay sfUU
season applied as a Mulch for flowerbeds. It is
also =effective vegetable garden soli conditioner.
ew discovery ofold practice
the grey/Inseam:1m mast garden effective but added nitrogen is
Departmentof plants have a large proportion of needed as the organisms
ilorlieulturalSclence their roots in the soil layer near responsible for its breakdown
the surface. if this layer remains require nitrogen and its use will
University of Guelph • The use moist, 'more.roots will Continue to reduce the amount available to
of a mulch - Is an old practice -grow and the whole plant will the garden plants. Chipped bark
intended primarily to conserve beadle does not break clOwn so quickly
moisture by preventing the soil Secondly, the soil temperature and tends to remain in place.
Under some conditions a mulch
may add to the weed control
problem since cultivation will not
be possible. If a few weeds grow
through the mulch it may be
practical to pull them out by
hand. If there are a large num-
ber. a non-selective h*rbicide like
paraquat (Gramoxone) or. for
the home gardener the mixture of
paraquat and diquat (Weedrite or
Weed -Ban) may be used.
A recent development is a
paper mulch. This is a heavy
paper with a thin plastic coating
which extends its life through
most of the growing season. The
paper or coating is usually a dark
color so that it tends to absorb
heat from sunlight and warms
the soil beneath- Plastic or
polyethylene films have also been
used with encouragin-g rosults.
The clear types have not too
successful as they do not pre% ent
weed growth. The black or dark
green films to pre‘ent weed
growth except through the
opening which the crop or garden
plant grows.
•
near the surface from drying out.
This was probably discovered
years ago byprehistoric man as
he or she scraped away some
litter and found that the son
beneath had rot dried out. But
whenever this discovery was
made, it is likely that it happened
independently in many parts of
the world because we know that
the practice of using a mulch has'
been in use since long befute
recorded history.
Just what are the benefits of
using a mulch? First of, all the
soil beneath an effecti,ve mulch
does not dry out so that there are
fewer checks in growth during
asparagus a
feet and r
feet per
crops s
side o
inte
of
spaced two by two
barb three by three
lant. These perennial
ould be together on one
the garden, so as not to
ere when working the rest
garden.
hese are only a few
uggesticms in garden planning.
However, the final decision on
crops, varieties and areas to be
cultivated rests with the in-
dividual gardener.
can be controlled to some extent.
In winter the soil temperature
under a atulch about fruit trees
and Oraarnental •shrubs will be
higher than the temperature at
the same depth in an area where
the/ground is bare. In late winter
and early spring, damage caused
,by alternate freezing and
" thawing can be reduced as the
soil under a .paper or plastic
mulch will be warmer in early
spring. These additional heat
units will encourage growth of
transplants in their early stages
of development and thus ensure
larger more productive plants.
Another benefit derived from
the use of a mulch isthe control of
weeds. This has. however.
frequently been overemphasized.
The amount of weed control
'provided will depend upon the
depth of mulch applied and the
kind of material used. The ap-
plication of straw or bedding
must be heavy to control annual
weeds. Established perennial
weeds will usually grow through
such a mulch. Sawdust can be
Hollyhock ajorette
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