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Show ! . ( vvl IT'" ' ' r - hr"" - I'"", -"-.:. --4.. " - , in- n.i. ...i.i .mi ir-tt CHL ".-.-i fcfCUtSr. irlTfmV ' because, like us, she grows; vegetables in a cold climate with a short season. Here is some of her mid-season advice: t , Cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, to-matoes, eggplants and peppers pep-pers need extra moisture and warmth, but cannot stand over-watering. The surrounding surroun-ding soil should always be damp, ; so keep adding mulch. Carry mulch in a bucket while you work in the garden and as you weed and thin cover the tops of exposed carrots o prevent theft: from turning green. Keeping ; weeds suppressed js; perpetual and vital -to . hedth or vegetables. Weeds rpb niitrients from the so3 'indkjim ; a , start' You can carefully; behead weeds ugh) with a -ioe; but if will probably grow back hardier .than evet, but sometimes this, is better than damaging the shallower root of a vegetable. Use your ; , good judgments Crab grass is the worst garden offender It can become a strong tuft in a short time and damage the : vegie roots.; Crab grass cannot stand shade or heavy watering or mulch. Do not work among rows of vegetables, veget-ables, either weeding or mulching, after a rain or while foliage is still wet. Knocking against wet leaves, especially bush beans can lead tQ disease and tramping on wet soil will compact it closing off air supplies. Weeds are best killed ? by pulling in the heat of the mid-day sun when they will bake and shrivel. If you can only work morning or evening, even-ing, be sure to remove all the . weeds or else they may quickly re-establish themselves themsel-ves in the soil. You can carefully fertilize ; sickly plants now by digging a shallow trench ; four inches from the start put in a little , organic energy and' cover ; again with soil.; Mid-season 1 planting is similar to ; early : seed planting; Use a cleared area ?. to sow, l : am fusing squash hills, strawberry bed, broccoli and iutiilbwer beds ' : and spring flowering bulb' beds). Most important Is not to wash away 'the seeds by . over-watering: Sow the seeds deeper - than first : plantings and do 'not 4ll the ! trench completely, full' Use f potting soil or vermicidite in - small amounts on top of seed to hold in the moisture. Ms. Cruso recommends harye!sti ; ing whole sections of crops at once so that these can be replanted with different quick crops. Do you remember remem-ber the cold crops? Roots and cabbages can grow into fall without cold damage. . By Mary Barrena This is a busy time for gardeners; Believe it tr not ; the cultivated starts are , Unally starting to out-number the weeds and to tower over the unwanted aliens. I . rip out the pretty, tittle i : Bindweeds, Whitlow Grass " and Houndstongue unmercifully, unmerci-fully, and. rightry'so. These i ' are the vegetable chokers. The ' rest of bur yard : is testimony to tiiis fact as we : V claim to like the natural look, but we are somewhat over- ; whelmed by the jungle effect of neglect for the surround- ing flora. I only hope this fall ; wUl afford a - break in .my ; other routines to. allow time ' to plant the flower bulbs I ; . a?ave to see in spring. For now, I will concentrate on mid-season care and late planting. A valuable book called Making, Vegetables . 1 Grow; by Thaiassa Cruso is a practical guide to follow My . other sources ' , of . : information, such as the Almanac;ithe Basic Book of - Organic Gardening, by Eo- ; bert:v' Rodale, - tells me to ; ' renieniber lierbs as compan-. ion planters toward off bugs. ; - Qbltuig is the term for plants gbhiB.tbv'Lsee:'leii -makes them tasted bitter, such as lettuce, spinach and roots. Pull them up unless you want a randonrreseed- - ing such as with parsley. . "We caniiot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads and along these sympathetic fibers our ' actions run as causes and return to us as results," , Herman Melville. By nourishing nouris-hing your starts in the beginning you have a better chance to receive a healthy flower in return. I |