The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-04-28
Victory
Gardens
BY II. e. Laino

Other crops often planted early
are onions, cabbage, caulitlower,
broccoli, beets, carrots, chard. par
ships and satisfy. While these
crops are benefited by the cool,
moist grow ing-per!od OF spring,
nevertheless they are able to en-
dure the summer weather of this To-
cality. Therefore, the date OF
planting depends upon the ideas OF
the gardener. Personally, | have
noticed no benefit in planting par
ships and satisfy before May !, but
certainly object to postponing
their planting TO a later date.
Parsnips are particularly difficult
to terminate. The weather before
May l is too cold and that fol-
lowing May may at times be too
dry. Therefore, | favor May ! and
| have not been disappointed since
adopted that date which was about
Is years ago.
Chard and beets can be planted
earlier than May but they usually
fail TO grow well and sometimes
are attacked by damping-off fungi
II planted much earlier II planted
ca Her than April %, they are sub
iect TO a frost hazard which re-
tards the plants il II doesn't kill
them outright. May ! also suits
me Just about right for planting
early carrots ! have tried many
dates, but none was better than
May /. or course. later paintings
OF beets and carrots can be made
for the la crop. Onion seeds
should be planted early, preferab-
ly before May in order to give the
plants the b neft of the early grow
ing season and TO allow time for
proper maturity Onion sets may
be put into the ground any time
during April or early May. The
earlier they are planted the sooner
there will be green onions to eat.
When planted before May I, onion
sets should be completely covered
with soil to ay' i'd severe frost in
Jury: after May /. the frosts are
not often sufficiently severe TO
harm the bulbs Sweet Spanish
and Bermuda onions should not be
transplante much before May l.
because Of frost hazard; neither
should their transplanting be post
poned very long after May l, be-
cause these varieties normally rip
en- during late August and they re-
auire as much time as there is
available in order to produce nice
large onions to store for winter.
Italian green sprouting broccoli
and early varieties OF cabbage may
be started indoors during Febru-
airy or March and transplanted
about April % TO May l, or the
seeds may be sown outdoors about
tie same time as the earliest plant
ings OF radish. Large cabbage
plants transplanted in late April
irto fertile garden soil normally
produce their first heads to use
about June q TO % and occasion
ally a few days earlier. Seeds
planted outdoors seldom produce
heads much before the last OF July
For outdoor seeding. the various
strains OF "All Seasons or Mid
season" varieties are preferable,
although I have noticed that Cop
enhagen Market does fairly well as
a substitute for the midseason vari-
cites. Large plants OF broccoli set
before Nav ! will produce sue
cession of heads and tips from July
until frost. Seeds planted outdoors
do equally well C:cept tha' the
edible heads are not ready until
August. Early cauliflower plants
must be large and must be set in
the garden about April % to- May
in order to produce good results
in this climate. Early cauliHower
does not endure our summers very
well, but we can raise excellent
late cauliflower as will be describ-
ed IN another article in connection
with the production OF late cabbage
and Brussels sprouts.