Salad crops need to be planted where they can recieve six hours of full sunlight each day, an hour less in warmer climates. For best results, they need fertile, well-drained, soil. Maintaining consistent, fairly moist conditions help ensure good results. A step-by-step procedure for starting a vegetable garden is at: Vegetables.    

Leaf Crops

 With fall planting, transplant cabbage seedlings about two months before frost. You can check with the local extension service about which varieties are approriate for your area as well as planting times. As the weather cools, the plants will adjust, becoming "hardened" to the cold. It will then tolerate colder periods. Cabbage grown in cooler periods is sweeter.

 In spring, transplant seedlings early enough to let it mature before hot weather. New seedlings from the greenhouse will need to be "hardened off" by leaving them outside for longer periods each day for a week, giving them time to adjust. To warm the soil, you can place black plastic down the planting row with holes cut out to transplant the cabbages.

 Cabbages should be transplanted deeply, leaving only one-third of the plant above ground. Any leaves that would be buried should be removed. Spacing will be between one and two feet, depending on the size of the variety.

Root Crops

They need six hours a day of sun or more.

  Carrots grow best in very loose sandy soil that drains well. Remember, the plant is growing downward as well as upwards. Clay or heavy soils or compacted soil will impede that growth. You can improve any soil by adding compost and that will improve the culture of carrots and other root crops.

Starting the Garden Indoors
 

Growing Carrots (Australia)

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.... More to come....