Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs

• Sprinkle small seeds evenly by putting them in a shaker. A set of caps for seed sprouting jars will probably include one with appropriate-sized holes for the seeds you are planting. The problem of sowing fine seed too thickly can be reduced by mixing them with sand.

• Cats like to dig in freshly cultivated soil. One way to deter them is to lay crumpled chicken wire over the bed and cut holes in it for planting. As the plants grow, they'll hide the chicken wire, while it continues to discourage cats from using the bed as a litter box.

• When you see ants crawling on garden plants, look for aphids as well. Some ant species protect aphids, moving them from plant to plant and even taking them underground into the anthill for overnight safety. The ants do this to ensure a supply of honeydew, a sugary substance secreted by aphids, on which the ants feed. Discourage aphids by hosing them off your plants with a strong stream of water.

• Mulch raspberry and black currant bushes with well rotted manure or compost. Make sure you first water the soil around the area until it is quite moist.

• Remove runners from strawberries for more fruit production; or try the growth method below...

• Plant new strawberries on top of old ones for a more productive crop. Allow the runners to cover the beds as thick as they can get. Later in fall cover them with about two or three inches of soil. The following spring you will be surprized at the strong production of foliage. The first year may be less productive than years to come.

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