Evening star., 1943-05-09
GARDEN NEWS.

Many housewives are planning tC
can vegetables this year and in most
cases it is up to the home gar
dener to provide them. Quality
canned foods begin with careful
choice of the kinds and varieties OF
vegetables. as well as good culture
Vegetables to be tender and full of
flavor. as we'll as containing the
essential vitamins and minerals,
must be carefully tended from the
time of planting until harvest.
There is no point in Just grow
ing" vegetables for home use. If
they are worth growing they are
worth taking care of SO that they
are free from fiber and are tender
and nutritious. To reach this stage
they must be well planted, kept
growing vigorously and protected
from insects and diseases that might
check or stunt their growth.
Spring and early summer is the
best period for growing vegetables
for canning. The cool weather
rainfall and relative freedom from
insects and diseases favor rapid
growth. BY midsummer the num-
bers of insects and weeds that in
fest the average garden do much to
prevent the best growth of vegetable
crops Thus, it is not hard to see
that the home gardener should plan
to provide the housewife with her
quota of fresh vegetables for can
ming as early in the season as pos
sible. If the early season crop
should for some reason fail it is
still possible to make new paintings
with the hope that they will reach
maturity in a satisfactory condition
for canning.
Cultivation
important
Cultivation and fertilization as
we'll as protection against insects
and diseases are the most important
factors in determining how success
full the garden program will be.
Other factors are the choice of va
rieties, picking at the right stage
of maturity, canning before willing
and loss Of flavor and vitamins
takes place, and soil and weather.
If nature fails to provide ample
moisture and sunshine for good
growth there is little that the gar
dener can do about it. However,
nature seldom fails us completely.
A garden that is kept we'll titled
from planting time until harvest
seldom suffers severely from drought
or from weeds. Cultivation looSens
the soil so that the roots may OBJ
tain the necessary air, it keeps down
weeds that would otherwise rob the
vegetable crops of food and moist
ure, and it reduces moisture loss
through evaporation. However, hoe
ing too deeply may offset some OF
these benefits by injury to shallow
growing plant roots. Deep hoeing
also tends to expose too much moist
soil to the sun and wind. But fire.
quent shallow cultivation is enc of
the most important operations in
the successful growing of garden
crops.
Feeding Also
Essential
Feeding the garden crops to keep
them growing rapidly is second only
to cultivation in importance. The
home gardener often labors under
the impression that by throwing a
handful of fertilizer on the ground
he has set up a "self-feeder" for
the plants and that they may draw
upon it throughout the season. This
is not quite the case. Fertilizers
are, in large part, highly soluble.
Excess applications provide a high
ly concentrated solution that when
absorbed by the plants burns them.
perhaps kills them. Frequent light
applications Il to pounds per 100
square feet of area are recon-
mended to keep the plants growing
vigorously. Such growth is tender
and succulent. A well-fed plant
contains the desired vitamins and
minerals that are so important to
our health. but poorly developed
or stunted plant seldom contains
the quantities the nutritionists tell
us to expect from them.
Protecting plants from injury by
insects or diseases is placed third
In this list because early planted
spring crops seldom suffer as much
as do the later paintings. How
ever, if insects or diseases should
appear in the garden prompt and
effective steps should be taken to
check them. Insects by eating the
leaves or sucking the sap injure the
plant and stunt its growth so that
the edible parts are seldom tender
and succulent. If insects or dis
eases do appear it is we'll to keep
up more or less regular schedule
OF busting or spraying The ma
terlals used, to be effective, must
be in place before the insect or dis
ease spore arrive. In the spring
when the leaves are making rapid
growth, when showers are frequent
and the air is moist, complete COW
erage OF the foliage cannot be main
tanned without applications every
week or 10 days. Later in the sum-
mer when plant growth is at a SLOW
er rate, when showers are less
frequent, the interval between an
pllcatlons may be extended to two
weeks or even longer.
The choice of varieties for the