Application.

The usual rate of application is about two pounds to each ten square feet of garden surface (or four tons to the acre) about every three to five years. I often sprinkle it in the furrow when planting, especially with potatoes. Granite Dust. This is another excellent source of potash, along with small quantities of trace minerals. Application. It should be spread at the rate of about a pound to each ten square feet of garden (or two tons to the acre) every three or five years. If your garden is large and you intend to spread a lot of granite dust, use a dust mask; long exposure to the fine dust can damage the lungs. Table 5 Soil Deficiency Symptoms and Treatments Primary Nutrients Nitrogen (N) Natural Sources of elements Manure tea Bloodmeal Manure Feathers Rock phosphate Bone meal Fish emulsion Waste wool Wood ashes Greensand Tobacco stems Granite dust Granite dust Vetch or clover

Signs of Deficiency Pale leaves, turning to yellow, especially lower leaves, stunted growth

Phosphorus (P)

Reddish purple color on leaves, especially undersides, veins, and stems; thin stems; stunted growth.

Potassium (K)

Bronze coloring, curling, and drying of leaf margins; slow growth; low vigor; poor resistance to disease, heat, and cold

Secondary Nutrients Boron (B) Slow growth; specific symptoms vary according to vegetable: beets and turnips - brown corky spots on roots; Cauliflower - hollow stem, brown curl; Celery - cracking; chard - dark stripe with cracking; tomatoes - stunted stems and curling, yellowing, and drying of terminal shoots. Calcium (Ca) Curling of young leaf tips; wavy, irregular leaf margins; weak stems; poor growth; yellow spots on upper leaves. Slow growth; faded color; flabby leaves

Limestone

Copper (Cu)

Agricultural frit

and stems; lettuce - leaf elongation; onions - thin, pale outer skin; tomatoes - curled leaves and blue-green foliage. Iron (Fe) Spotted, pale areas on new leaves; yellow leaves; yellow leaves on upper part of plant. (Iron is more often unavailable because of insolubility rather than actual soil lack.) Plant may be brittle; yellow mottling on older leaves; margin and tips may be brown; corn shows yellow stripes on older leaves. (Deficiencies ordinarily show up late, near seedling time, when the element is most needed.) Manure Dried blood Tankage (Humus helps make iron more available.) Dolomite Limestone

Magnesium (Mg)

Secondary Nutrients Manganese (Mn)

Signs of Deficiency Slow growth; beets - leaf turns deep red, then yellow and brown; spots develop between veins; onions and corn - narrow yellow stripes on leaves; spinach - pale growing tips. Yellowing of lower leaves; slender, hard stems Drying of leaf margins; stunting; yellow tissue between veins Leaves unusually long and narrow; also yellow and spotted with dead tissue; bean - cotyledon leaves have reddish brown spots; beets - dry margins, yellow areas between veins; corn - wide stripes at leaf bases.

Natural Sources of Elements Manure Compost

Sulfur (S)

Compost

Molybdenum (Mo) Zinc (Zn)

Agricultural frit Rock phosphate Manure

Sources: Editors of Organic Gardening, The Encyclopedia of Organic Pa.: Rodale Press, 1978).

Gardening

(Emmaus,

J.E. Knott, Handbook for Vegetable Growers (New York: John Wiley and 1962). United States Department of Agriculture, Soil, the Yearbook of Agriculture (Washington, D.C.: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1957). Relative Tolerance of Vegetable Crops to Soil Acidity

Sons,

The vegetables in the slightly tolerant group can be grown successfully in soils that are on the alkaline side of neutrality. They do well in soils with a pH up to 7.6 if there is no deficiency of essential nutrients. Calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium are the nutrients most likely to be deficient in more acid soils with a pH less than 6.0. Slightly Tolerant (pH 6.8 to 6.0) Asparagus Beets Broccoli Cabbage Cabbage, Chinese Cauliflower Celery Cress, Garden and Upland Leeks Lettuce Muskmelons Okra Onions Orache Parsnips Salsify Soybeans Spinach Spinach, New Zealand Swiss Chard Watercress Moderately Tolerant (pH 6.8 to 5.5) Beans, Lima Beans, Snap Brussels Sprouts Carrots Collards Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Gherkins Horseradish Kale Kohlrabi Mustard Parsley Peas Peppers Pumpkins Radishes Rutabagas Squash Tomatoes Turnips Very Tolerant (pH 6.8 to 5.0) Chicory Dandelions Endive Fennel Potatoes Rhubarb Shallots Sorrel Sweet Potatoes Watermelons

13 Mapping out the Garden

Once the soil has been prepared, its time to find the planting plan we doodled over by the late-winter fire. Already much erased and revised, it will no doubt be changed once again as we confront the reality of freshly raked soil and extra last-minute seed purchase. Subject to revision though it may be, the planting plan is a valuable gardening tool. Although I wouldnt presume to prescribe what form your plan should take, I would like to suggest several considerations to keep in mind while poring over the graph paper with seed orders and pencil in hand.

Planning Rows
If you are planning a row garden, consider the lay of the garden and the spacing of the rows. Orientation of Rows. Your first decision, as you face that blank pieces of paper, is to determine in which direction your rows will run. If possible, choose a north-south direction so that sun striking the garden from the east and west will cast a plants shadow onto the space between the rows rather than onto the next plant.

On a sloping plot, where rain tends to carry loose soil downhill, contouring the rows so that they run parallel to the hill (and at right angles to the direction of the slope) will have to conserve much valuable topsoil. Mulching will help, too, as will terracing on a very steep slope. Row Spacing. The space you leave between rows will be determined by the kind of plants you grow, the amount of mulch you can get, and the sort of equipment you plan to use to cultivate the garden. Rows much be separated for enough to give the plant sufficient room to grow and the gardener space to walk and often space to till or hoe. Single rows of nonspreading plants like beets, lettuce, peas, carrots, and such are giving way, in more and more gardens, to 4- to 36-inch-wide bands of these vegetables. Weve had good results with garlic, lettuce, carrots, peas, herbs, and beans planted in wide rows. Careful hand weeding between the vegetables in necessary in the early stages, but later the plants help to take care of each other by shading out weeds and keeping soil moist. Wide rows use space more efficiently than narrow drills. Row middles that will be tilled should be about six to eight inches wider than the tine-to-tine measurement of the tiller. (You can adapt some front-end tillers to work row spaces as narrow as eight inches by removing the two outer tines and reversing the center tines so that their blades face inward rather than outward.) Mulched rows may be closely spaced, but if you have a lot coarse mulch, as we do, you will want to plan your garden so that the loose, shaggy stuff will be used to mulch wide rows like tomatoes. The finer mulches like sawdust or old leaves, or neat bundles like hay, can be saved for narrow rows.

Garden Beds
Rows are customary, but not necessarily traditional. There are many good arguments for planting vegetables, herbs, or flowers, closely spaced, in small plots or blocks. Soil may be intensively improved. The beds may be raised to improve drainage. Weeding and harvesting are convenient. When well cared for, small garden beds are delightfully attractive. Many arrangements are possible. You can divide your garden area into blocks separated by paths. Each block will be solidly planted to a single vegetable or an especially chosen combination of vegetables. You might want to keep a grassy path between a double row of narrow vegetable beds. Vegetable beds may be located on the lawn, next to the house, or along a walkway. One practical problem with garden beds bordered by grass is the encroachment of the grass into the bed. This may often be solved by sinking a thin metal edging strip between vegetable bed and grass or by building a raised vegetable bed. Some gardeners support the deeper soil with wooden boards or railroad ties, but such enclosures are not really necessary. Plant roots will hold the soil in place. When you form the beds, slope them slightly from the base to the top surface. Raised Beds. If I were starting a new garden today, Id plant intensively in raised beds. Heres why: Raised bed are easy to work (once established). The deep, loose soil encourages excellent root growth. The absence of foot traffic prevents soil compaction. Compost and other soil improving additions can be concentrated where they will be effective, not wasted on footpaths.