Planting Our Garden

here is the Anderson family at work in  the garden they have planted they've enjoyed working together and if we watch  them we will find out a lot about things hey you gardeners here's a drink okay everyone is ready for a drink  grape juice here yeah uh-huh you certainly deserve it after all  that work in the garden here dear we've certainly been working hard a fillip with  the garden sure looks better than it did a few months ago and sure does remember how it looked  when you first decide to have a garden yes it was March then there was still snow on the ground but  even so it was time to think about planting some plants such as tomatoes cabbage and broccoli that  take longer to grow than others seeds for these plants were started indoors so they would be  big and strong by the time the weather was warm and the ground ready for them Philip prepared a  large flower pot with good earth for the tomatoes he sprinkled the seeds very thickly and then covered them lightly withers Mary was to have the charge of the  cabbages she planted them in a seed box or flat because these seeds are very  small they should not be planted very deep in a few days she was delighted to see the  sprouts begin to appear father had planted broccoli of course it did well because  he took good care and looking after it Mary too watered her cabbages keeping the  soil moist but not too wet and muddy and Philip he looked after the tomatoes or did he  look what happened they sprouted well but then they wilted he forgot to keep them watered  they certainly looked sick and so did Philip but he was lucky they got water in time they were saved Philip told his father what happened to  the tomatoes his father said that he was glad that Philip had found out himself  how important it was to take good care of his plants he explained that you have to  have three things to make plants grow water sunshine and rich soil and to prove  it they decided to try an experiment they filled two separate pots with earth  and in each one planted a healthy plant after they were watered Philip put one on  a sunny windowsill Mary put the other in the dark cupboard both were regularly watered  and left in their places for a week at the end of the week when Mary took the plant out of the  cupboard it had wilted see the difference these two plants had the same amount of water to prove  that plants must have good soil they planted two equally strong plants in two different kinds  of soil one was planted in soil containing the minerals and chemicals needed to produce healthy  plants while the other was planted in fine sand both were watered and set side by side in the Sun  a week later see what happened one had grown much more than the other and so by studying these  four pots Mary and Philip learned that plants need sunlight and rich soil as well as water Mary  proved that they wouldn't grow without sunlight Philip proved that they wouldn't grow well in  poor soil but with water Sun and good soil you could almost see them growing the seedlings  in the boxes soon grew larger and began to need more space so they transplanted the largest  and strongest plants to new boxes with a pencil Mary drilled holes about an inch apart so that  each plant would have room to grow good roots they transplanted the cabbage broccoli and  tomatoes in this way at last the frost was over and it was time to prepare the ground for  the real garden to make sure the soil was rich as that in the seed boxes Mary's scattered  a fertilizer which contained chemical foods that the plants would need and because good  soil also contains decaying vegetable matter and dead insects and microscopic animals  father mixed in the dead leaves raked up last fall Philip cleared away stones so the  ground would be easy to cultivate and father dug it to break up the soil after it had  been raked and leveled Philip and father drove in pegs and tied strings to make sure  the rows would be straight then father made shallow grooves in the soil and Mary dropped in  carrot seeds and covered them the radishes were planted early too Philip dropped the seeds into  a groove and then patted a little earth on them corn seeds are bigger and  the plants are very big so Mary planted the kernels about eight inches apart bean seeds are big ones to marry  follow the directions on the package she showed Philip how to plant them  about 1 inch deep and 3 inches apart now all danger of cold nights was passed and  it was safe to bring out the young plants that grew inside Phillip dug the holes about two  feet apart Mary poured little water into them and father set each cabbage in carefully so  as not to disturb the earth around the roots they planted the tomatoes about two feet  apart to allow for growth and root space broccoli grows to be large too so they  also were set two feet apart and they were planted in a spot where they would  not shade other plants when they grew tall potatoes are planted in a very interesting  way marry cut potatoes into pieces and made sure each piece and at least one I because  it is from the eyes that the new sprouts grow three or four pieces were dropped  together into holes about two feet apart and covered with earth philip watched eagerly  for some sprouts to appear at last the day came the radishes were first up Philip watched them day by  day and secretly sampled them when he thought they were ready he  gave some to the others they were okay and soon there were ripe tomatoes corn crisp lettuce and a whole garden full of fresh and  tasty vegetables to last all summer