May Gardening
May Gardening - High-Pressure times continue, for the heat increases
daily, and the season of production is already shortened by two months. The most pressing
business is to repair all losses, for even now, if affairs have gone wrong, it is possible
to get up a stock of Winter Greens, and to sow all the sorts of seeds that should have
been sown in March and April, with a reasonable chance of profitable results.
It must not be expected, however, that the most brisk and skilful can overtake those
who have been doing well from the first dawn of spring, and who have not omitted to sow a
single seed at the proper time from the day when seed-sowing became requisite. The heat of
the earth is now sufficient to start many seeds into growth that are customarily sown in
heat a month or two earlier; and, therefore, those who cannot make hot-beds may grow many
choice things if they will be content to have them a week or two later than their more
fortunate neighbours.
In sowing seeds of the more tender subjects, such as Capsicums, Marrows, and Cucumbers,
it will be better to lose a few days, in order to make sure of the result desired, rather
than to be in undue haste and have the seed destroyed by heavy rains, or the young plants
nipped off by frost. Do not, therefore, sow any of these seeds in the open ground until
the weather is somewhat settled and sunny, for if they meet with any serious check they
will scarcely recover during the whole of the season.
Source: The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition
1921, Sutton and Sons