The Wilmington morning star., 1944-04-24
VICTORY GARDENS
GREATLY DELAYED
BY H. r. NIsWONGER
N. C. State College

The. excessive rains winch oc-
cured during March have delayed
the planting of early vegetable
crops by many Victory gardeners
because the soil was not prepared
in advance. There are other home
gardeners who waited until March
| to prepare the ground and then
planted the seeds in the cold soil
which was over-supplied W h
water by the heavy rainfall.
Reports are coming in now from
Victory gardeners complaining
about the poor stand of plants
from the seed planted during these
unfavorable growing conditions.
Some seem to contribute this fail
ure to secure good stands to poor
seeds or seeds of low vitality.
There may be instances where
seeds of low vitality were planted;
but, on the other hand, there are
other factors or conditions which
caused the trouble. Some of these
are the packing of the soil after
a hard rain which prevented the
young seedlings from reachin the
surface, or, the rotting of the
seeds before termination because
of the cold, wet soil.
Early Preparation
Let us study another Victory
garden where the soil was plowed
last fall or in the early part of
January of this year, and a good
seed bed prepared for the plant
ing of the seeds in the last part
of January OF the first of Febru-
airy. Where this was done we now
find good stand of spring onions,
garden peas, carrots, beets, and
different kinds of greens.
A few days ago Victory
gardener, who prepared his gar
den soil the first Of January and
planted seeds the last of January
and first OF February, stated that
his family had been eating spring
onions, leaf lettuce, kale. spinach,
Tendergreens, and mustard for a
month and, in addition, he had
a good stand of garden peas.
These two contrasting pictures
are given in order to bring out
the fact that success in growing
the hardy vegetable crops can be
accomplished by early preparation
of soil and early planting.
Victory gardeners who have
been delayed by conditions beyond
their control can plant the follow.
ing the first part of May:cab-
bage plants, beets, leaf lettuce,
tendergreens, and mustard. If one
has spot Of sandy loan soil,
carrots may be planted. Since car
rots are slow in terminating,
soaking the seed for "a hours and |
planting in moist sandy loan soil
will give good stand before hot
weather.
May is the time to begin plant
ing the warm season crops, such
as snap and lima beans, sweet
corn, okra, peppers, squash, and
tomatoes. In Eastern Carolina, in
areas near the coast, a second
planting of snap beans and to-
matoes and collard seeds may be
made. In the Piedmont section of
the state and in and around the
city of Raleigh, it is best to wait
until the middle of May to set out
tomato plants and plant lima
beans.
Transplanting Seedlings
Many Victory gardeners are
growing their own tomato, pepper,
and collard plants in seed boxes
and around the edge of the tobac-
20 beds. After the seedlings reach
height of couple of inches,
Dr. when two or three leaves are
'ormed, they should be thinned
out to 2 or inches apart O. trans
planted to another plant bed spac-
ng them the same distance apart.
This practice will develop sturdy
plants having a good root system.
They will become established
more quickly when set out in
heavy clay soils.
-V-