Cape Breton's Magazine

as Golden Acre; for winter, Danish and Pennsylvania Ballhead (1 pkt/175 lbs). Carrot, Vesey's Hipak Elite Hybrid, Red Chantenay, Touchon-Nantes (1 oz/lOO lbs). Cauliflower, Early Snowball (1 pkt/45 heads). Celery, Utah. Corn, Dominion's mini Early Xtra Sweet, Dominion's Sun- nyvee Hybrid, Perron's Sugar and Gold (4 oz/lOO ears). Plan on a couple plant? ings, and to plant in blocks of at least three rows to facilitate pollination. Cu- cumber (Pickling), National Pickling. Cu? cumber (SlicingT* Marketer, Straight 8, Taxpayer Cl/2 oz/150 lb). Lettuce (Head), Great Lakes, Imperial • Butterking. Let? tuce (Leaf), Black Simpson, Grand Rapids (1/2 oz/50 lb). Onion (Seed). Yellow Globe, Sweet Spanish (1 oz/75-100 lb). Onion (Set). Multipliers (300 plants/75-100 lbs). Parsnip. Hollow Crown (1/4 oz/lOO lb). Pea, for very early crop Little Marvel, but at the same time get in a main crop of Lin? coln, Laxtonian Giant or Jade (1 lb/40 lb). Peas (Edible Pod). Be sure to grow some, as they do very well on the island. You eat the pod and all while it is still flat. So sweet, it can be eaten raw. To cook, you put it in boiling water for seconds. Radish. Scarlet Globe, Cherry Belle (1 oz/ 1200). Rutabaga (Swedish Turnip), Lauren- tian (1/4 oz/150 lb). Spinach, Bloomsdale (1 oz/50 lb). Squash (Summer), Vegetable Marrow, Zuchini, Chefini (1/2 oz/lOO fruits), Squash (Winter). Golden Delicious, Hubbard, waltham Butternut (1/2 oz/lOO fruits). Swiss Chard, Lucullus, Fordhook (1 pkt should sup? ply a family unless a lot is to be frozen). Tomatoes, you can buy plants from local greenhouses or to get exactly the variety you want you can start from seed at home. Bonnie Best is a good medium early (65- 68 days), but you might want to try extra early varieties. Don't overlook Coldset Outdoor Seeder. They were developed for conditions such as ours, and much worse; started right in the garden they have given ripe fruit in dark, cool summers. Turnips (Summer). Purple Top, Golden Ball (1/2 oz/ 100 lbs). ' A packet each of your favorite herbs is a good idea, not only for eating but for the double job some of them will do in the gar? den. Mint, Thyme and Dill planted right in the rows are good repellents of pests that attack the whole cabbage family (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc.) Basil and Mint should be planted among the toma? toes. And no one needs any excuse for planting parsley. Some flowers are useful right in the vegetable garden: nasturtiums protect squash, cucumbers and melons by hiding the vegetable odor from insects;and marigold, the workhorse deterrent, should be planted throughout the garden, including the potato patch. A useful and inexpensive guide is The Basic Book of Organic Gardening, edited by Robert Rodale. It's a $1.25 paperback put together by the people who publish "Organic Gardening and Farming" magazine, and is easily avail? able on the island. The magazine itself has been a long-time guide and encouragement to gardeners. It sells for 60<;i, but you can get a lO-month introductory subscription for $3.00. Write to them at Organic Park, Emmaus, Pennsylvania 18049. A "Handbook for Northern Gardeners" is available free from the Canada Department of Agriculture, Otta? wa; and it's a good idea to write to them and the Nova Scotia Department of Agricul? ture and Marketing, Halifax, and ask for a list of available publications. STARTING YOUR TOMJVTOES INDOORS If you don't have some kind of heated porch or greenhouse, you are probably better off not trying to make flats to start your tomatoes. People who start thera in the house find it convenient to use fi;uit cans with holes punched in the bottom or milk cartons with the bottom corners cut away. To get even better drainage, it is a good idea to put in a few small stones before adding ordinary garden soil. Make sure the soil contains enough humus not to dry out easily and pack hard. Plant a couple seeds to each carton to a depth about 3 times the diameter of the seed (always a good rule of thumb); and once the seedlings are well up carefully thin to one plant per carton. The rules are simple: keep plants comfortably warm; never allow the soil to dry out or become muddy; always use tepid water. Never let the seedlings touch as crowding can cause damping off. Give a southern exposure at a window; the cans and cartons will sit neatly on the sill. With the first fine days, open the window a little or take the plants outside awhile • gradually hardening them off. Don't let them be burned by the early spring winds. You can plant outside in very early June, putting a basket overturned over the plants at night; but you will do just as well waiting till between the 10th and 15th of June. Disturb the roots as little as possible by cutting the can or carton and taking the soil and roots out Cape Breton's Magazine/8