Home gardening provides pleas ure and recreation as well as food – if the home gardener does not try to cultivate more land than he can take care of. Family gardens may range from “two by four” window boxes up to a quarter acre in size but, to my mind, a garden measuring 50 by 100 feet is ideal. This size plot, if well planned, will produce sufficient vegetables for a family of five and there will be plenty of surplus that may be canned or frozen.
Such a plot will require an average of one hour’s labor a day throughout the growing season. If your time budget is less, then the plot size should be cut down right at the start, because a small garden well cared for gives greater returns than a large garden allowed to run to weeds.
The gardener is fortunate, indeed, if he has a soil that is mellow and loamy, 6 inches deep, free from stones and debris, fairly level and well drained, for this is ideal. Other types of soil will grow good vegetables but heavy clay or coarse sandy and gravelly soils should be avoided, for they generally do not produce well.
The garden should be located where it will not be shaded or where plants will have to compete with trees or shrubs for food and moisture. The growth of weeds is a fair index of fertility. If a soil supports a good weed crop it can, with proper management, grow a good crop of vegetables with no difficulty.
Many soils are too acid for the best growth of vegetables. This means that most crops will benefit from an application of 30 to 40 pounds of hydrated lime to 1,000 square feet. The need for lime, however, should be ascertained from a soil test made by your nearest state college or experiment station. Home tests can be made too with soil testing kits available.
Find 100′s of Topics – Articles numbering into the 1000′s at plant-care.com for example:
0 Comments on “Fertility And Acidity Of Soil For Home Gardening”
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.