Preparing Soil
from
Keeping Hearth & Home in Old Colorado
compiled and edited by Carol
Padgett. Menasha Ridge Press, 2002.
| Prepare
soil carefully. To prepare earth for
seeds or small plants or for filling pots or window boxes, mix one part
by bulk of well-rotted manure, two parts of good garden loam, and one
part
of sharp fine sand. Choose for this purpose manure which has been
thoroughly
rotted but not exposed to leaching from the weather. Mix all together
in
a heap, stir well with the shovel, sift, and place in bores or in the
bed
prepared for the seed. If convenient, bake the soil for an hour in a
hot
oven. This will kill all weed seed and spores of fungus disease.
|
|
Protect
plants
from the weather. To protect
small plants from heat, drive stakes into the ground slanting toward
the
north and lean boards against them to shade the rows. Or use light
frames
on lath or wooden slate and cover them with cotton cloth. To protect
crops
planted in winter from cold and give and early start to spring, set the
stakes slanting to the south and lean boards against them on the north
side. Or cover with a mulch of manure, straw, or leaves. But take care
that this is not so thick as to keep the air from the plants. |
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|
Keeping
Hearth and Home in Old Colorado
A Practical Primer for Daily
Living
Drawing from Colorado's
newspapers, books and magaziness of the 19th century, Carol Padgett has
compiled a hope chest full of tips, recipes, advice and instructions
for
the gardener and homemaker. While many of the maxims and counsels are
quaintly
old-fashioned, much of the practical guidance is timeless and practical
for today's readers.
Weeds of
the Northeast
Garden Knee Pads
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