ches apart in a single row 4 feet wide. Five
plants should overwhelm the average kitchen.

_Irrigation:_ Not necessary unless yield falls off during summer and
that is very unlikely. Parsley's very deep, foraging root system
resembles that of its relative, the carrot.

_Varieties:_ If you use parsley for greens, variety is not critical,
though the gourmet may note slight differences in flavor or amount
of leaf curl. Another type of parsley is grown for edible roots that
taste much like parsnip. These should have their soil prepared as
carefully as though growing carrots.

Peas

This early crop matures without irrigation. Both pole and bush
varieties are planted thickly in single rows about 4 feet apart. I
always overlook some pods, which go on to form mature seed. Without
overhead irrigation, this seed will sprout strongly next year.
Alaska (soup) peas grow the same way.

Peppers

Pepper plants on raised beds spaced the usually recommended 16 to 24
inches apart undergo intense root competition even before their
leaves form a canopy. With or without unlimited irrigation, the
plants will get much larger and bear more heavily with elbow room.

_Sowing date:_ Set out transplants at the usual time. Double dig a
few square feet of soil beneath each seedling, and make sure
fertilizer gets incorporated all the way down to 2 feet deep.

_Spacing:_ Three feet apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart.

_Irrigation:_ Without any irrigation only the most vigorous,
small-fruited varieties will set anything. For an abundant harvest,
fertigate every three or four weeks. For the biggest pepper plants
you ever grew, fertigate every two weeks.

_Varieties:_ The small-fruited types, both hot and sweet, have much
more aggressive root systems and generally adapt better to our
region's cool weather. I've had best results with Cayenne Long Slim,
Gypsie, Surefire, Hot Portugal, the "cherries" both sweet and hot,
Italian Sweet, and Petite Sirah.

Potatoes

Humans domesticated potatoes in the cool, arid high plateaus of the
Andes where annual rainfall averages 8 to 12 inches. The species
finds our dry summer quite comfortable. Potatoes produce more
calories per unit of land than any other temperate crop. Irrigated
potatoes yield more calories and two to three times as much watery
bulk and indigestible fiber as those grown without irrigation, but
the same variety dry gardened can contain about 30 percent more
protein, far more minera