OCR Text |
Show Get Your Lawn Off to a Good Start By Mrs. Marguerite Mickelsen Right now, even though snow may still be on the ground in some parts of the country, is the time to begin caring for your lawn. Right now is when you should give your lawn its iirst feeding with complete plant food. It's sample. All you have to do is apply four pounds per 100 square feet of lawn area. Spring thaws and rains will work the plant food down to the feeding roots, making watering-in unnecessary. And, it's effective. Com-I Com-I nlete plant food supplies all the nutrients grass must get from son for best growth. That's mighty important when you want a lawn that is deep-rooted, thick and luxuriant. Important, too, is the fact that all these nutrients are available to grass roots just as soon as growth starts. They do not depend upon the action of soil bacteria , to make them available. If you haven't tried an early feeding program previously, I suggest that you do so this year. Come spring, you'll be quite amazed at the way your lawn is coming strong. By summer, you'll have the kind of lawn that can stand up under the bruising treatment it receives from children and a blazing j sun. It will be freer of weeds, ' too, because early feeding gives grass plants a head start on weeds. By the time weeds begin be-gin to grow, there are few spots where they can break through. RIGHT GOOD PLANTING EATING Vegetables have a definite preference as to spacing and depth of planting. Many of my gardener friends sow too much seed and place it too deep. For handy reference, the table indicates indi-cates for a number of vegetables, vege-tables, the number of seeds required re-quired for one foot of row and the best depth for planting: Seeds . : 4 inches wide and Vfe inch deep is sufficient. Remember that thinning is very important in obtaining high quality vegetables. Beets should be thinned to 3 inches I apart, carrots to 2 inches, onions 3 inches, and radishes 1 inch. These distances will allow plenty of room in the soil for root crops to develop into good sized, tasty vegetables that you can be proud of. STORAGE PLACE Now is an excellent time to arrange a good storage place for the food you will can this season. Here are tips from canning specialists for storing food canned in glass jars. Arrange for a cool, dark, dry storage place. Dampness causes metal lids to rust. Heat and light cause food to lose flavor and vitamins. Some foods may lose color as well. Keep canned foods away from hot pipes, radiators, radi-ators, or the furnace. The cooler cool-er the storage place, the better, as long as foods do not freeze. Freezing may crack a jar or break a seal and let in bacteria that will cause spoilage. If freezing does not damage jar or seal, the food will be safe to eat but it will not taste so good. Provide shelves for canned foods not-lcept in cases. If jars of food are put away in cases, stand the cases on racks to keep them off the floor. Inches iper Crop v Depth Foot Pole beans ' 1V4 4 String beans IV2 5 Beets '6 Carrots V2 20 Chard 4 Corn IV2 2 Lettuce V2 10 Radishes V2 15 . Squash 1 10 The planting depths recommended recom-mended are for good, loamy, garden soils. If your soil is heavier, that is, if it contains mpre clay, the seed should be sown somewhat shallower than I indicated. On the very light, sandy soils, they should be sown deeper. In general, seeds should be sown only deep enough to insure that they lie in soil that is moist and are covered deep enough that they will not be splashed out by an ordinary rain. Before preparing" the seed I bed, broadcast complete plant food at the rate of 3 pounds per 100 square feet, then work this in by spading, hoeing and raking until the soil presents a fine, smooth, clod free surface. In making rows about V4 to Vz inch deep for planting small seeds, the end of a handle of a rake or hoe may be drawn thru the soil along the string that marks the row. For larger seeds that are to be planted an inch or more deep, the row is best opened up with the corner of a common hoe. With a little practice you can make a trench of uniform and proper depth. Irregular depth or covering oft- en causes an irregular stand of plants. Carefully cover the seeds, firming but not packing the soil, with a rake or hoe. If your soil tends to pack down or form a crust that may interfere with the seedlings coming through, you should mulch the covered row lightly with peat moss, leaf mold or similar fine moisture holding material. A band of this 3 to |