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By mid May, when your potatoes have set bloom, try slipping your hand under the roots to discover golf ball-sized tubers. These, boiled with a dash of salt and a bit of butter will melt in your mouth. The warm days of June bring bountiful harvests of beans, beets, corn, cucumbers and squash. Fresh basil, parsley or chives can only enhance your new squash when tenderly sauteed with green onions and a fresh lettuce salad on the side. The end of June (for early varieties) and July brings mouth watering tomatoes and the long awaited tomato sandwich.
By staggering your seed planting, cucumbers, beans, corn and squash can be harvested all summer. After your first planting, wait two weeks and plant again. When your first crop is spent, pull it up and replant. This will ensure freshly picked vegetables all summer long. Be sure to keep your soil properly prepared and weed-free. Vegetables need more from the soil than other plants to produce full flavor, vitamins and nutrients. Soil conditioners, fertilizers and organic pesticides can be purchased to keep your crops healthy. Learn to create your own mulch using peelings and spent plants from your garden. Also, keep a vigilant eye out for pests.
Growing your own vegetables allows you to be an active part of what you feed your family. It stimulates exercise and good health. It can be great therapy for older adults as well as young children, teaching skills to help us stay in shape mentally, physically spiritually and emotionally.
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