Text 1.Strawberries for the Home Garden

Strawberry plants make an excellent addition to the home garden, and are arguably the most popular summer-time fruit. A hardy cultivar placed in a well-chosen site will produce plenty of fruit for fresh eating, freezing, jam and desserts in a relatively small space. In addition to being grown in a traditional bed, strawberries can be grown as a ground cover or landscape ornamental. With adequate winter protection, strawberries may be grown throughout Minnesota.

Three types of strawberries are readily available to the home gardener. June-bearing strawberries produce a large, concentrated crop in late spring. So-called everbearing types produce two smaller crops, one in late spring and the second in early fall. The newer day-neutral plants are capable of producing fruit throughout most of the growing season.

Text 2. Site Selection and Preparation

Strawberries require full sun for optimum fruit production. Plants which receive a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight each day should grow well and produce a harvestable crop, but berries will be fewer and fruit quality reduced compared to plants receiving more sun. Ten or more hours of sunlight each day is ideal.

Choose a site located away from trees and buildings which will cast shade for more than a few hours each day. Because trees will compete for water and nutrients as well as cast shade, the strawberry bed should lay beyond the root zone of large trees. In general, the root zone roughly corresponds to the canopy of a tree.

Soil should be both water-retentive and well-drained as strawberry plants will tolerate neither drought nor standing water. Excessively drained soils should be amended with peat or compost to improve water retention, while heavy clay soils will benefit from the addition of a mixture of peat and a coarsely textured organic material such as chopped leaves or straw to improve drainage and aeration. Strawberry plants perform best in slightly acid soil. A pH of 5.3 to 6.5 is optimum, but readings from 5.0 to 7.0 are acceptable. Conduct a soil test to determine any necessary pH adjustment as well as fertilizer needs.

The site selected should be free from weeds, grubs and soil-borne diseases. For this reason, a site composed of newly-dug sod may present problems since such a site is prone to attack by grubs and perennial weeds. Because solanaceous plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes) can carry a soilborne disease known as Verticillium Wilt, to which many strawberry cultivars are susceptible, avoid planting where these plants have been recently grown. If avoidance is not possible, choose resistant cultivars.

Text 3. Planting

Strawberries should be planted in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Purchase planting stock from a reputable nursery and plant as soon as possible after receipt. Dormant plants may be stored in a cool place for several days if immediate planting is not possible. Do not store plants close to ripening fruits as they could be damaged by gases given off during the ripening process. Do not allow the packing material surrounding the roots to dry out or become soggy. A cool, cloudy planting day will place the least stress on new transplants.

At planting time, damaged roots should be trimmed and excessively long roots cut to 4 - 5 inches in length. In addition, all flowers, runners and old leaves should be removed. Keep the plants protected

from direct sunlight and drying winds during planting. Strawberry plants should always be set with the roots pointed downward and forming a moderate fan.

Planting depth is critical. If the plants are set too shallow, the crown may dry out, while a too-deep position may result in crown damage or rot. Set the plants deep enough so the midpoint of the crown is even with the soil surface. After setting in, firm the soil around the plant and thoroughly water.

Unit VI

CABBAGE

Text 1. Growing cabbage

Growing cabbage successfully every time results in amazing harvests. Plant them all year through - if that's what you want. By choosing cabbage of the right varieties, have enough land, and sow/transplant at the correct times... a non-stop harvest can be yours.

Remember to note that when following the instructions below on planting cabbages - the terms spring, summer and winter refer to the season that the cabbage is harvested in.

Most of us though, tend to be more selective about which cabbage we want to plant in our vegetable garden or when we want to harvest them. I like to sow cabbage seed in the autumn so I can lift them in the spring and enjoy fresh vegetables at a time when there may be few about.

Or, I like growing cabbage varieties which I can sow in the spring so my wife Ros can make her delicious coleslaw or grate some into a salad during the summer and, of course, continue having it with your Sunday roast, I still love my Sunday roast... talk about tradition, my children would riot if they didn`t get one when they visited.

Growing cabbage can still suffer undeservedly from its past reputation. Older generations may still remember the terrible taste and smell of winter cabbages, savoys and those tough spring greens which haunted their childhood.

But over the past thirty years there have been remarkable improvements with cabbages as the newer varieties are more delicate in flavour. In the case of modern cabbage plant flavours - less is indeed more. But even if you still find cabbage overpowering you can grow the mild Chinese cabbage varieties... a definite entry into your - 'Growing Cabbage' - note book.

You will find a host of these newer varieties in the many seed catalogues that you can have delivered to your door free... make sure you take advantage of some of them. They hold lots of tips and instructions on growing cabbage and planting specific vegetable types and varieties, you will find them very usefull. Most of the cabbage varieties will fall neatly into one of the three major groups - spring, summer or winter.