Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical advice on growing food and flowers, improving soil, and making the most of small spaces. Start anywhere — the garden will meet you.
Beets will root far deeper and wider than most people realize--in uncompacted, nonacid soils. Double or triple dig the subsoil directly below the seed row. _Sowing date:_ Early April at Elkton, late M...
Besides the tree-fruits discussed in the preceding chapters, there is another class which should be represented in every home garden--the berries and small fruits. These have the advantage of occupyin...
It is my purpose in this chapter to assist the gardener of limited experience to select varieties sure to give satisfaction. To the man or woman planning a garden for the first time there is no one th...
As with the other small fruits, so many varieties are being introduced that it is difficult to give a list of the best for home use. Any selections from the following, however, will prove satisfactory...
Italian-style broccoli needs abundant moisture to be tender and make large flowers. Given enough elbow room, many varieties can endure long periods of moisture stress, but the smaller, woody, slow-dev...
_Spacing:_ Grow like broccoli, 3 to 4 feet apart. _Sowing date:_ It is easiest to sow in April or early May, minimally fertigate a somewhat gnarly plant through the summer, push it for size in fall an...
Without irrigation, most of the plant's water supply is obtained by expansion into new earth that hasn't been desiccated by other competing roots. Eliminating any obstacles to rapid growth of root sys...
The Rose is preeminently the Queen of Flowers. It has no rival in the floral kingdom, and will always stand at the head in the catalogue of Flora's choicest gems. To it alone belongs that subtle perfu...
Forget those delicate, green supermarket cabbages unless you have unlimited amounts of water. But easiest-to-grow savoy types will do surprisingly well with surprisingly little support. Besides, savoy...
Dry-gardening carrots requires patiently waiting until the weather stabilizes before tilling and sowing. To avoid even a little bit of soil compaction, I try to sprout the seed without irrigation but...
Ordinary varieties cannot forage for moisture. Worse, moisture stress at any time during the growth cycle prevents proper formation of curds. The only important cauliflowers suitable for dry gardening...