I'll bet you didn’t know that
potatoes and tomatoes are closely
related. You did? “Well, I swan!”
as they say in Missouri.

I’m sorry you interrupted me
because I was all set to tell you
that they are both members of the
Nightshade family. You say you
knew that too?! Hmmmmmm.

Let me re-adjust my thinking on
this. You gardeners turned out to
oe a lot more knowledgeable than
I had expected, so I'll have to be
super cautious, and not make any
errors, no matter how small. More
hmmmmmmms.

Softly, and humbly, let’s start off
talking about potatoes. Always buy
certified seed potatoes to start your
first season. After that you may, if
your spuds were disease-free over
the winter, use your own potatoes
as seed.

I usually use small whole ones,
setting them out on a tray in the
greenhouse in full sun for two
weeks to allow them to sprout.
This is called “chitting” and is
supposed to speed up potato
growth by at least two weeks.

You mean to say you knew that
as well?! I'll bet you have been
reading the same books!

If your vegetable plot remains
sodden you might gain time by
planting your small potatoes in
soil in four-inch pots, transfering
them to the garden when beds
becomes workable.

If your seed potatoes are large,
then each may be cut into pieces,
making sure that each piece con-
tains at least one eye. These cut
potato-pieces should be allowed to
dry off for some hours, or over-
night, to seal the cuts, before being

planted.

"Out in the garden, planting holes
should be about 8-10 inches deep.
Into each hole put about a table-
spoon of 4-10-10 fertilizer, cover
this with about an inch of soil, and
then add a big handful of dam-
pened peatmoss, and put your
potato, with the eye up, on top.

Cover with another handful of
dampened peatmoss, and put
another tablespoon of 4-10-10 on
each side of your spud about two
inches out, and then fill each hole
to ground level. Plants should, at
maturity, be about 18-inches apart
each way, to allow you to “hill
them up” as they grow.

Let’s think about this for a
minute ... Instead of hilling them
up, why not plant them closer
together, and thickly cover the soil
in-between with straw or spoiled
hay?

All we are trying to do is keep
maturing spuds away from the
light. This method should work
beautifully if you don’t have
ground-dwelling slugs. If you do,
then forget it! These really rotten

Smokes disappear

A recently-arrived shipment of
63 cartons of cigarettes worth
$2,800 disappeared from the back
room of the Tru- Value Food Centre
in Brentwood Bay during the after-
noon March 17.

Police ask that persons
approached by people selling ciga-
rettes call Crime Stoppers at 386-
8477.

Car break-in

A gold and red Chrysler New
Yorker parked overnight March
16-17 at Flint Motors in Sidney
had a window smashed out, the
glovebox opened and the dash-
board ripped apart. A Pentax cam-
era in a case was stolen.

Potatoes and tomatoes members of same family

creatures, if given even half a
chance, will completely detroy
your crop.

When planting potatoes grown

in four-inch pots, again use a hole
about eight-inches deep, adding
4-10-10 as above, then soil and
damp peat, before gently sliding
your plant into the hole and adding
soil up to the bottom of the leaves.

Sprinkle some 4-10-10 on the
Surrounding soil, and gradually fill
in the hole as your plants grow.
Last year we grew the variety
Yukon Gold and it was a delicious
potato, with pale gold mealy flesh.

Now, about tomatoes: This is
almost certainly the vegetable
most often grown by anyone who
has a few inches of earth in his
garden or a large pot of soil.

If you are going to grow in a
container, make it as large as
possible, and be sure it will sit in

sunshine most of each day.
Choose a variety suitable for

- container growing, that is, a dwarf

bush type. Don’t, in spite of all the
rave reports on Sweet 1,000,000,
plant IT in a pot!

Last year in our greenhouse a
Sweet 1,000,000 grew 15-feet tall
... Up to the rafters, then along, and
finally half-way back down. You
could’t move for the shrubbery,
but that is a mighty nice tasting
tomato, so we put up with the
inconvenience!

There are lots of dwarf varieties
such as Small Fry or Sweetie
(Territorial Seed) for you to start at
home, or you can always buy
growing plants from a nursery,
sometimes with fruit already on
them.

Most of you will be aware that
there are important differences in
tomatoes. We have dealt with the
dwarves. Others, called “indeter-
minate’’ require long stakes, as
well as tomato cages, since they
grow to great heights unless you
cut off their tops in August.

Others, called “determinate”’
grow to a pre-determined height,
usually about three feet. These

Barnes

suBJEcT: Bahau lah
The Glory of God
Founder of the Bahai
Faith.
The messenger of God
for Today.
Wed., April Ist
4:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m.
Thurs., April 2nd
7-30 a.m., 12:30 p.m.

may be allowed to sprawl on the
ground, but in this part of the
world are better when supported,
since contact with wet soil causes
rotting.

Determinate tomatoes will
likely need a short stake driven in
through each tomato cage, as they
bear a heavy crop, although
usually a short-lived one.

Tomato seed should be planted
inside, six to eight weeks ahead of
seedlings being moved into the
garden. Most years the middle of
May is about the time to put in
tomato transplants, so seed should
be started about the end of March.
Since tomatoes have enormous
root systems you will need to dig
each of them a sizeable hole.

Into the bottom of the hole we
put either a shovel full of seaweed,
or a heap of shredded newspaper
soaked in diluted fish fertilizer.

This is topped with two or three
inches of soil, then the tomato
tucked in, and soil added up to the
lowest leaves. A slight depression
left around the plants helps to hold
water.

The final touch is to sprinkle a
tablespoon of lime around every
plant. This helps prevent the
unpleasant condition called “blos-
som end rot.”

Tomatoes should be kept deeply
watered until about the third week
in August when the withdrawal of*
water seems to hasten ripening.

PS. When buying tomato seed
look for the letters V F N after the

wine.

anniversary gala ball.

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Reservations Required
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For Information or Reservations Please Call: Toll Free 1-800-

TheReview Wednesday, April 1, 1992 — AlG@®

Saanich North and
The Islands Constituency
CLIVE TANNER M.L.A.

Residents of the Constituency are invited
to visit or call their new office at

#11 - 9843 Second Sireet
(Marina Court, behind the Landmark)
Sidney, B.C., V8L 3C7
Telephone: 656-0488

Fax: 655-4906
Open |
Monday. 11 a.m. - 4-p:m.
Tuesday - Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
_ Other times by Appointment

variety name. This indicates the
tomato resistance to wilt diseases.
MANURE

The Saanich Peninsula 4-H
Club is offering cow manure to
seniors for free. Members will
even deliver it. There is a maxi-
mum of four bags per household.
Call and leave a message at 721-
4556 or 652-0897.

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a