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Edible landscapes

Now is the time to plan for sumptuous vegetable garden

Oh, to sink your taste buds into the juicy sweetness of a sandwich brimming with tomatoes grown at home. Or to crunch the crispness of a cucumber picked straight from your backyard vines.

It's easier than you think, if you follow a few basic rules for successful vegetable gardening.

Vegetables like a level area with loose, well-drained soil enriched with lots of organic matter. And they need at least six hours of sun - eight to 10 is ideal.

Avoid placing a vegetable garden:

* In low spots where soil can be poor and slow to drain. Raised beds - bordered by boards or cinderblocks and filled with enriched soil - are good solutions to poor growing conditions. You also can grow lots of vegetables in containers nowadays, thanks to the increasing number of compact and bush-like plant varieties.

* In areas where wind can damage plants and fruits.

* Near trees and shrubs that may compete for water and nutrients and may cause too much shading.

* Near buildings that may block sunlight.

When planning your vegetable garden from year to year, practice crop rotation as much as possible to avoid soil-borne disease. And look for plant varieties with labels that say they are disease resistant. Space plants properly so they get good air and light circulations, which also cuts down on pest and disease problems, and keep you garden clean and free of diseased and old plant material.

NEW VEGGIES

New vegetable seed varieties for this season:

* Thai Basil Siam Queen: '97 All-America winner, basil with licorice scent when leaves are crushed; easy to grow.

* Cabbage F1 Hybrid Dynamo: small head perfect for one meal, mild flavor, '97 All-America veggie.

* Okra F1 Hybrid Cajun Delight: '97 All-America, offers tender, immature pods that can be harvested early.

* Melon F1 Hybrid Enchantment: early medium-sized honeydew with small seed cavity.

* Pepper F1 Sizzler: hot pepper on vigorous plants.

* Bush Early Girl tomato: bush-like, space-saving, resistant to disease.

* Sugar Snack: cherry tomato on vigorous plant.

* Top Sirloin: early beefsteak tomato.

* Bolina carrot: golf-sized, round-shaped carrot good for soils too heavy for other carrots.

* Sweet Sunshine carrot: a lemon-yellow version.

* Stix Hybrid cucumber: needs no peeling, best grown on trellis to protect delicate skin.

* Candy Hybrid onion: sweet and mild flavor.

* Gold Standard Hybrid pepper: matures to golden yellow, good for grilling and raw.

* Starship squash: medium to dark-green fruit, open bush for easy harvest.

* Cool Breeze cucumber: sets perfect fruit without cross-pollination, for pickles and salads.

* Liana climbing bean: stringless and sweet.

* Straight 'n Narrow petite French filet bean: good to chill or steam.

* Esmeralda lettuce: butterhead lettuce that resists bolting.

* Deuce of Hearts seedless watermelon: good small size for home gardens.

Source: National Garden Bureau, national seed companies

March 1998

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