Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Spring tips from Northern Gardener archives
One hundred fifty years! That’s how long Northern Gardener has been publishing gardening advice to those of us living in cold climates. Or as I call us, Extreme Gardeners.
They will be sharing tips from the past over the course of this year. Grab a subscription, check out their online blog. I don’t get paid to say this, it’s simply one of the very best resources for “extreme gardeners”.
Today’s archived tips include Planting a rug garden. In 1944, William H. Alderman wrote about his 9 x 12 ft garden that produced food from may 23rd to October 3rd when the last of the carrots were put in storage!
In mid-April,he planted his first cool-season crops in north-south rows. Lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, beets, onion sets and turnips. The radishes, which germinate and grow quickly, were sprinkled amid lettuce, carrots and beets with the idea of pulling them as they matured to space plants properly. Generally, he planted things close together.
Another tip, enrich your soil!
If you’re applying manure or compost to your vegetable garden, add 4 to 5 cubic feet per 100 square feet of garden space. That from Orrin C. Turnquist in 1972.
In 1890, J.A. Sampson recommended soaking your melon seeds as long as four days to encourage germination. Plant melons in full sun when the soil is warmed to about 65 degrees and watch out for cutworms.
Warm that soil up yourself faster by placing black plastic on the garden bed. Ray Brink mentioned that in 1996.
