Here are two more old-fashioned gardening tips. The dates of the garden tips and where they were published is below the tip.
1. For early melons or cucumbers many plant the seeds on inverted sods cut about four inches square. The sods are placed in a frame of any kind, and covered to the depth of half an inch with mellow, rich earth. The plants root firmly in these sods the same as they would in small flowerpots, and may safely be transplanted as soon as the weather becomes settled and warm. For melons this is an excellent plan, since our seasons are scarcely long enough to ripen them before the cool nights of autumn, when the seeds are planted in the ground in the usual way.
The Farm and Household Cyclopædia – circa 1888
* I heard of planting in sod one year, so of course I had to try it. They say this is a good practice if you want to save money, have a lot of plants to start or have plants that should not have their roots disturbed, like cucumbers and melon transplants. I tried the sod squares and they were OK. I had no strong feeling one way or the other about how they worked. Denise
2. When you cut a cabbage, make two nicks crosswise on the top of the stump, and within a month or six weeks it will sprout again and give you a crop of tender greens. Ministry of Agriculture Allotment and Garden Guide – June 1945
*I have had my first crop of early cabbage come back after being harvested. The head is usually smaller. I didn’t know about making two nicks crossways in the stem for greens. I may have to try this. In allotment gardens they always tired to make as much use out of space and seeds as possible. Denise
Allotment gardens are like the victory gardens and community gardens we had here in the United States. Allotment gardens is a term used in the UK. They are still used today and by law must be provided to a community if they are asked for.
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