DEREK FELL'S ADVICE TO THE BEGINNING VEGETABLE GARDENER

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You'll find information on which varieties of which crops can and cannot safely be planted before your last frost date (and which seeds must be started indoors) in any good mail-order seed catalog. (For a few addresses, see the sidebar on this page.)

PEAT PELLETS AND INDOOR PLANTING

I've found the widely available Jiffy-7 peat pellets invaluable for starting healthy seedlings indoors. These peat disks?which expand to something like seven times their original height when you add water to them—offer an excellent medium for the germination of seeds.

You can sow tomato, pepper, cabbage, and other seeds directly into the moistened peat patties and easily fit them (by the dozen) along your windowsills. Provided you follow a regular watering schedule so that the peat doesn't dry out, you'll very quickly have whole sets of hardy seedlings that you can then transplant directly into the garden.

The only drawback to Jiffy-7 (and most other) peat pellets is that they come encased in a plastic netting which must be carefully removed before you set each seedling into the ground. I've found that if I leave the netting in place it'll often restrict root development and create a "pot-bound" plant. For this reason, I'm happy to report that the new Jiffy-9 peat pellets do not have the net stocking, and that the few I've used to start pepper seeds have given commendable results.

SUNLIGHT AND WATER

All vegetable gardens need sunlight and moisture. Six hours of sunshine per day should be considered minimum, and the more the better. (If shade falls on your garden during the peak daylight hours, the maturation of the plants will be slowed and the garden's yields drastically cut.)

Likewise, a little too much moisture?in my opinion?is better than not enough. Even one week without a good drenching rain will dramatically retard or even stop the growth of moisture-loving crops, such as peas, beets, celery, and carrots, and lack of moisture at the time of "tasseling" can cut sweet corn yields by 50% . On the other hand, this certainly doesn't mean that you should go overboard and keep your garden completely saturated all the time, either. Most vegetables cannot stand to have their roots permanently surrounded by water. There is a happy medium.

At the slightest sign of a dry spell, give your vegetable patch a good soaking with the garden hose and, if possible, keep the ground moist for as long as the drought lasts. (An ordinary lawn sprinkler set in the garden overnight is an excellent way to provide adequate moisture during dry weather, and?of course?a thick mulch always helps to conserve water.)

FEED THOSE PLANTS

The feeding of plants seems to be a greatly misunderstood subject. Some gardeners are able to maintain a nutrient-rich soil by the use of compost alone . . . but only because the compost in question has been made from nutrient-bearing materials (manure, blood, etc.).

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