planting seeds

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I planted a bunch of seeds over the past few days. I’m imagining a full garden soon. Summer lettuce: red Cherokee and green Cherokee and escarole. Lots of beans. Bush beans: Provider and royal burgundy. Soybeans: Envy and Butter Beans. Pole beans: Fortex and Chinese long beans. Fall crops: Tuscan and blue curled scotch kale, collards, marathon and blue wind broccoli, and Chiogga and Lutz beets. And some flowers: bachelor buttons and nasturtiums. Plus, I put in more peas, Sugar Sprint and Wando, just to see what happens. “Blue Kale”…
 
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potato sprouts

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Lots of spuds coming up! Exciting. As they grow up, I fill in the trenches with dirt until the trenches are filled in, always leaving the top leaves of the plants uncovered and in the sun.potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)
 
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planting corn

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Today I planted 2 rows of popcorn. I thought I had 3 varieties, but one was actually a sunflower I found when I opened the package and looked at the seeds. I’m thinking of getting some sweet corn for the third row I had planned. I ended up planting the corn at my community plot even though a fellow gardener said his got eaten last year. I’ll try it myself and see what happens.Popcorn (Zea mays averta)
 
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how to plant asparagus

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I dug up and replanted my asparagus. I wanted to make sure its done right. I am very glad of the comments from my previous post suggesting that I didn’t really plant it right. Here’s a fantastic asparagus planting video that Soilman made this year. It has lots of information and great video, so I won’t go into it. Just check out the video. I didn’t use compost for the center mound as he does, since I had already mixed lots into the soil bed, but this sounds like a…
 
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plant corn when oak leaves are as big as squirrels’ ears

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I brought home this stem of white oak leaves today to remind myself to plant my corn seeds soon. Its time … “Plant corn when oak leaves are as big as squirrel’s ears” is an old phenology truism. These oak leaves are almost as big as rabbit’s ears now. I better get to it! phenology: planting by natural cuesPopcorn (Zea mays averta)
 
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today’s planting list

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melon Anne Arundel, 4 seedsmelon, Crane, 4 seedsmelon, Charentais, 4 seedswatermelon, Sugar Baby, 4 seedsyellow summer squash, Zephyr, 4 seedspatty pan summer squash, Sunburst, 4 seedspatty pan summer squash, Starship, 4 seedszucchini, Cashflow, 4 seeds Melons (Cucumis melo)squash (Cucurbita pepo)
 
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today’s planting list

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Planted at my plot:Potatoes, dark red Norland, 6 ft of rowPotatoes, russet, 6 ft of rowPotatoes, Red Gold, 6 ft of rowPotatoes, Green Mountain, 6 ft of rowOnion sets, Stuttgarter, 2×4 ft of row At the top left is my potato bed. I dug two trenches and then planted the potatoes about 4 inches deep at the bottom of the trench. As the plants grow, I’ll fill in the dirt. A 4 foot wide bed is the absolute minimum to dig two potato trenches and pile the dirt in the…
 
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today’s seed sowing list

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My planting calendar says to plant zinnias, cucumbers and pumpkins this week. I started some extra greens too. Spinach, Bloomsdale, 1 6-packLettuce, Valentine mix, 1 6-packLettuce, Merveille 4 seasons, 1 6-packZinnia, White Star, 4-packZinnia, Bernary’s Giant Purple 2 6-packsWinter Squash, Lakota, 3 seedsPumpkin, Baby Pam, 6 seedsPumpkin, Big Rock, 3 seedsPumpkin, Jarrahdale, 3 seedsCucumber, North Carolina Pickling, 6-pack I didn’t finish, but will plant the following soon:Cucumber, Diva, 6-packCucumber, Straight 8, 6-packCucumber, Tokiwa, 6-packCucumber, Sweet Success, 6-pack 2009 sow-what-and-when
 
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sunning seedlings

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Today was one of those reasons I put up with the long winter. A clear blue sky and the beauty of the earth waking up. It was over 50F between 12 noon and 6 pm, so ALL my seedlings got to sunbathe. 50F is my minimum temp for mid-range vegetables: tomatoes, basil, marigolds, etc. For cold-weather vegetables like onions, cabbage, lettuce etc., 40F is fine. Hot weather seedlings need 60-65F. Eggplants and peppers are hot weather veggies, but today was so lovely I put these out too. I have seven…
 
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Kathy Martin
This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy thinks the garden is his, even though I do all the work. We're located near Boston, in USDA zone 6. I have bees, chickens, fruit trees and berry bushes, too. I use all sustainable organic methods and strive to grow all of my family's vegetables myself. -Kathy


weeks and counting until my last spring frost

What I planted recently

Jan 21
thyme, lettuce, escarole

Feb 21
celery, celeriac, parsley, leeks

March 11
cabbage, kale, arugula



What I'm planting soon

April 1
peppers, eggplants, marigolds, beets

April 12
tomatoes, basil, sunflowers

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My garden this week

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17 years of archives!

Check out the food pantry farm I helped to start up:

Aurelia's Garden

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Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!

“I envision a day when every city and town has front and back yards, community gardens and growing spaces, nurtured into life by neighbors who are no longer strangers, but friends who delight in the edible rewards offered from a garden they discovered together.” – Greg Peterson

"What can happen to a seed is a miracle."

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