Throughout the growing directions that follow in this chapter, the

reader will be referred to a specific company only for varieties that are not widely available. I have again come to appreciate the older style of vegetable-- sprawling, large framed, later maturing, longer yielding, vigorously rooting. However, many of these old-timers have not seen the



attentions of a professional plant breeder for many years and throw a fair percentage of bizarre, misshapen, nonproductive plants. These "off types" can be compensated for by growing a somewhat larger garden and allowing for some waste. Dr. Alan Kapuler, who runs Peace Seeds, has brilliantly pointed out to me why heirloom varieties are likely to be more nutritious. Propagated by centuries of isolated homesteaders, heirlooms that survived did so because these superior varieties helped the gardeners' better-nourished babies pass through the gauntlet of childhood illnesses.

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Next: Plant Spacing: The Key to Water-Wise Gardening

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