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Show Reflections, May 24, 1984, Page 2 Theres Plenty Of Room For Your Garden by Duane Hatch, Extension Horticulturist, Utah State University Lack of a large garden area is no excuse for not supplying fresh, homegrown nutritious vegetables and fruits to your family. Even if your yard is small, you may well be surprised at the potential it has for food production. As lot of good eat- ing can be grown from a plot as little as 100 square feet. Thats just 10 feet by 10 feet or 20 feet by 5 feet. Food crops may be planted in parking strips, corners of lots, along fences, surrounding patios and in other spots. Just don't be locked into the traditional idea that a garden has be behind the house and fence." Realize that many food plants are attractive enough to plant as ornamentals, alone or combined with flowers and other border plants. You may choose from rhubarb, chard, leaf lettuce in its many colors, small tomato plants, egg plant, strawberries, carrots, flowering kale and herbs such as opal, basil, parsley and sage. To produce a maximum of food for the family, you must use the limited space wisely. Plant only the crops your family will use and concentrate more on those that you prefer fresh or will process for later use. Snap beans, cucumber, chard, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, beets and onions are exmaples of crops that produce particularly well for the space they occupy. Corn, cauliflower, peas, potatoes, celery, and radishes are examples of crops that dont yield very much food for the space taken. However, in some cases, two crops can be grown in the same space. Radishes and leaf lettuce may be grown in the space while widely spaced plants such as squash and tomatoes are developing. Pole beans may be ; .L Tooele Valley was buried under snow and cold during most of the spring months. But there is still time to plant that garden and lack of a large garden spot is no excuse for not harvesting a bountiful crop of vegetables. A Time To Sow planted with corn when the corn is inches high. The corn provide support for the beans. Get better use of space by training sprawly plants to grow up fences. Use netting for cucumbers, beans and tall peas to climb. Stake tomatoes upright or use a wire cage. Aim for season-loncropping. will 12-1- 5 g Onions, spinach, peas, cabbage, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi and broccoli may be planted very early in the spring. Some of these early planted, crops can be harvested in time for a planting of beans, lettuce, or cauliflower and still have time for them to mature. As another alternative, successive crops of the cool season plants may be planted with a second planting as late as July This will extend the garden season until well after the last frost. Several techniques will allow you to extend the growing season both earlier and later than usual. A clear plastic plant covering suported by wires or frames will give some freeze protection and provide faster growth. Hot caps will protect small newly set plants. The relatively new wall of water consisting of a plastic cylinder containing water-filletubes will provide an amazing degree of cold protection to the plants. short-seaso- OTbfi&E SATELLITE SYSTEM SALES Satellite Systems Include: Dm lOOdwMMh 10 Swii Oi nil 10-1- PWytoy an4 (pamrtd IwkMt OiiMmu .) 0nil HmMi and iiucstiMtal OtMMlt 24 hr. 24 hr. thr Spwft In Ntlwtrh F4f fiMMbiN Own Peywmt Syitemi you con rent (or tho week or weekend (Rental (ee refundable! Coll for details) ""882-578It Alt! n 1 Soil covers of either black or clear plastic will hasten maturity of warm season crops such as melons and tomatoes. Suggested Vegetable Spacing In Inches Bush Beans Pole Beans Beets Broccoli Cabbage Cantaloupe Chard Sweet Corn Cucumbers EggPlant Kohlrabi Lettuce-Lea- f Lettuce-Hea- d Onions Parsnip Peas Peppers Potatoes 6x6 4x36 4x4 18x18 18x18 36x48 2x2 9x24 12x48 18x18 4x4 6x6 12x12 3x3 4x4 2x2 12x12 9x9 lxl Radish Spinach Summer Squash Winter Squash Tomatoes Watermelon 4x4 48x48 60x60 24x24 60x60 d When you decide to lose weight call Diet Center! You Can Lose 17 lo 25 Pounds In Just 6 Weeks. . . And well !( h you how to keep it off! Call today (or a free consultation Gwen Lowery 882-481- 6 Also by using organic mulches such as lawn clippings or leaves, you can greatly reduce the need for hoeing. Aim to destroy any small weeds with shallow, regular cultivation before they compete with the crops for moisture, nutrients and light. Remember that you must provide adequate fertility to get high production. Healthy, adequately nourished plants that get a good, early start will also be less subject to disease and insect attack. You may scatter about 1 fertilizer per 100 12 lbs. of square feet and mix it with about 2 inches of soil before planting. A more 16-16-- efficient method wil be to make a trench 3 inches deep and 2 inches away from the seeds with a hoe and spread a band of 13 to 12 cup of similar fertilizer per 10 feet of row. After 4 to 5 weeks, the plants may begin to turn yellow or pale green Indicating nitrogen deficiency. Green them up quickly by scattering 12 cup of am- monium sulfate ) or 13 cup ammonium nitrate ) per 10 feet of row over the soil surface just before a rain or irrigation. The water will take the fertilizer down to the roots. Before planting, you may improve tilth of the soil and make it hold better by adding 2 to 3 inches of organic matter 6 inches deep. Leaves, sawdust, wood shavings, old hay, straw or such material will serve the purpose inexpensively. However, you need to add 1 pound (1 pint) of ammonium sulfate for each 1 inch of material per 100 square feet to avoid nitrogen deficiency since extra nitrogen is needed to decompose the organic material. Remember that quality, fast growing vegetables contain 90 to 95 percent water. Apply water properly. Consider a dripo system. It uses water more efficiently and can make garden watering more fun. Add to your fun and reduce damage caused by pests by frequently visiting the garden. Apply early treatment before insect or disease problems become widespread. As it comes time to plant your garden, plan your planting and choose varieties suited to your location. Ask your county extension agent about vegetable and fruii varieties tested and recommended by Utah State Univesity. Also ask for further information to make your garden whatever its size produce near its potential in providing (21-0-0- (34-0-0- food for your family. |