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Show HOUSE . (WWL HOME I Author of Sister Mary'i Kitchen" October always is a busy I month, what with planning for next year's garden and taking care of this year's as well as looking forward to as much indoor gardening garden-ing for the winter months as one's windows will accomodate. One of the best things about indoor in-door gardening is that you oan control those factors that are vital to its success. Drainage, soil, temperature tem-perature and light are entirely in your hands. Old flower pots should be thoroughly thor-oughly scrubbed before using again. This prevents the carrying over of mold or any kind of plant disease. New clay pots require a good soaking in water. This has a tendency to retard their absorption absorp-tion of the soil moisture so essential essen-tial to the health of the plants. It's now generally agreed that houseplants can be grown quite as satisfactorily in glazed pots as in the clay ones. Metal containers contain-ers have come into favor, too, so if you want decorative effects you need not worry about the health of your plants. However, you must remember to give plants that are potted in containers without drainage less water than you would give to those in clay pots. The size of the pots has much to do with the health of the plant. A small plant in a large pot is unable to absorb enough soil and moisture to keep the soil sweet. Shift small plants from one pot to the next larger size until they have reached their growth. Of course the soil itself is very important. You may be able to buy potting soil at the florists, but if you want to blend your own take three parts well-rotted leaf-mold, leaf-mold, one part rich garden loam, one part clean sand, and complete, com-plete, balanced plant food in proportion pro-portion to the amount of blended soil. Put a piece of broken crockery crock-ery over the hole in the bottom of the pot, cover with a thin layer of broken charcoal, a layer of sphagum moss and then fill the pot with the blended soil. Are you sure you haven't a corner cor-ner or an end in your kitchen that with the help of your local carpenter you can turn into a cheerful spot for dining this winter? win-ter? With the children away at school and just Mother and Father Fa-ther at home the dining table seems too big and lonesome. In case you have an old-fashioned bay window in the dining room, consider the possibility of putting a small drbp-leaf table big enough for two in this window. A corner in the kitchen can be made attractive and efficient by building in a pair of high-backed wooden settles along each wall and putting In a square table to match the seats. An end of a kitchen or pantry can be filled with plain box seats, one on each opposite wall and one acros the end with a table to fit added. |