The year 1980 brought us an early
winter. Even in the lowlands it set in at least one month earlier than usual.
In the highlands the snow abruptly cut short the work still left to do in the
garden. And even in low-lying areas where there is seldom or ever any snow,
there was a white blanket by November. Normally there is sufficient time left
in late autumn to do all the work in the garden, and there is no need to hurry
with preparing the beds for sowing. The walnut trees usually have shed their
leaves and these are used to cover the beds. Walnut leaves, we would like to
say, are good to keep mice away. But this year the leaves were still on the
trees when the first snow came. 1y the way, small pine branches and twigs of
arbor vitae also serve to keep the mice at bay from our gardens.
CARROTS
The original German word “vtoorrübe”
indicates that carrots like marshy soil, for which reason the beds intended for
them should not only be given compost but also peat, and these should be mixed
well with the soil using a rake. A person should sow the seed while there is
still winter moisture in the ground, first removing the cover of leaves, pine
and arbor vitae twigs that was put on in the autumn, and then throwing what is
left on the new compost heap.
ALTERNATING WITH LEEKS
We divide up a bed of 1.2 meters
(4 feet) width as follows: Using a string as a guideline, make a groove about 2
cms deep and 5 cms wide with a tool handle; the first groove is 10 ems from the
edge of the bed, then at a distance of every 25 ems, make ftiur more groc)ves,
leaving another 10 cm margin from the edge of the other side.. In the first
groove we sow leeks, then alternatingly carrot seed and leeks again, giving us
three rows of leeks and two of carrots. The more sparingly, that is, thinner we
sow the seed the less work we will have later on thinning out the plants. If
you overlook this fact the crop will suffer considerably, because carrots
require plenty of room to develop. As a rule, we like to grow leek seedlings
first, planting these in alternate rows along with carrots. This helps to keep
carrot flies away.
WEED CONTROL
Beds being prepared for sowing
should be free of weed seed. This means to say that weeding should be done
diligently throughout the year before the weeds go to seed. The farmland thus
remains free from weed seed, and you save yourself the annoyance of constantly
having to bend down. The soil is best kept free from weeds by loosening it
regularly around the plants with a push-pull hoe and then covering the ground
with new grass or peat. Weeds will seldom grow then, and the few that do can
easily be pulled out. Following this pattern, we can plant all our seeds and
care for them. Of course, we must expect the wind to bring us some weeds. But
the above suggested chore is worthwhile because it will save a lot of time and
energy in the long run. After being away for some tinie and coming back to a
garden overgrown with weeds, you should take great care that the ones with ripe
seeds are not thrown on the compost heap, because the seeds will not die but
will be sewn the following year when the compost is spread over the ground, and
this, of course, will cause even more work. Weeds with ripe seeds should be
buried very deep. This is especially recommended for the kinds of weeds that
sprout even when only a small piece of root remains.
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