November 15, 2009

garden bloggers bloom day – collecting and appreciating seeds

The seed is hope; the flower is joy.– Author Unknown Skippy and I went out to look for flowers. The joy is gone, but we found lots of hope. Every size and shape of seed head and pods. Its seed season. Leaves are faded laying on the ground, seeds ripening everywhere. Skippy and I walked through the wildflower fields. So many different shapes and types of seeds. I collected a handful of the big purple cone flower seeds. I admired these giant flowers this summer. The seed head dug into…

November 4, 2009

Beantown Seedsavers Seed Collection Event this Saturday

>> From: Erica Lafountain >> Subject: Beantown Seedsavers Seed Collection Event 11/7 12-2>>>> The Beantown Seedsavers are a new group of people with an interest>> in encouraging local seed saving to develop a source for diverse,>> acclimatized, disease resistant plants that are delicious,>> medicinal, and/or beautiful.>>>> If you have saved seeds in the recent past and would like to share>> some of them with others, please come to the Beantown Seedsavers>> Seed Collection event on November 7th from 12-2. Please bring the>> seeds in an envelope or baggie to the…

October 4, 2009

more photos of the Belmont Victory Garden seed swap

– Thanks to Botanical Interests for providing fantastic seeds for the gardeners. These were definitely a hit.– Things gardeners brought and swapped included bean and carrot seeds, and raspberry divisions.– The swappers toured the garden paths in the drizzle – an area of over 1 acre with about 120 active plots.– We ate 2 loaves of my pumpkin bread. The topic of discussion was – gardening. This included:– Gretta had lots of Late Blight advice. I’ll put this in a separate post.– Improving local food availability: Gretta would like to…

October 4, 2009

seed swap was fun

We are rating the 1st Belmont Victory Garden Seed Swap and Giant Vegetable Contest as a very fun success. Despite the terrible weather. I stopped counting at 12 attendees, but suspect about 20 people came. In rain coats and umbrellas. Gretta informed us all about local gardening. We consumed lots of pumpkin bread and shared lots of seeds. Later I will add more details, post photos and announce the Grand Winner of the Giant Vegetable Contest.

October 3, 2009

Belmont Victory Garden Seed Swap and Harvest Celebration

Terrible weather is predicted for tomorrow. Windy, thunder, lots of rain. 🙁 The Belmont Victory Garden Seed Swap and Harvest Celebration (scheduled for 2-4 tomorrow) will play it by ear. We prefer to go on as scheduled. We will hope for a miraculous 2 hours clearing. If this doesn’t happen, we will post a sign at the garden and try again on Sunday. Please stay home if there’s thunder/lightening. If it’s just raining, wear your best rain gear (and it’ll be like a fashion show!). We have a big canopy.…

September 15, 2009

harvest celebration plans

I posted a new sign on my gate today. (My son says no one will ever read all that.) But maybe they’ll read the free food part. I’m really excited that Gretta Anderson, a farmer from Shared Harvest CSA, will come a speak. Her topic will be “Late Blight: Sharing the collective experience of local organic growers this summer”. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say. (I may FliP and post it, if she doesn’t mind.) I got a fantastic box of free seeds in the mail today.…

September 9, 2009

BVG harvest celebration: seed swap and giant vegetable contest

Belmont Victory Gardens Harvest Celebration: Seed Swap & Giant Vegetable Contest Where: The Event will take place at the Belmont Victory Gardens, (next to Rock Meadow, Mill Street, Belmont MA) on Saturday October 3rd 2009 from 2pm-4pm. The Seed & Plant Swap offers a chance to share divisions of your raspberries, rhubarb, day lilies, and other perennials. Also seeds you have collected or bought, new or out-of-date. Seeds for vegetables, herbs, ornamentals, annuals, and perennials. The swap provides access to FREE stuff while helping to support local food growing. Join…

September 7, 2009

seed swap day

I’m organizing a Seed Swap Day and Harvest Celebration at our Community Garden on Saturday, October 3. Stop by if you are in the area. If you want to donate free seeds or prizes for a giant vegetable contest, let me know!

August 27, 2009

getting ready to plant garlic

I’ve been getting advertisements that its time to order garlic now. Here are some mail order sources: Seeds of Change The Garlic Store Sand Hill Preservation Center Johnny’s Selected Seeds I ordered top sets a couple years ago and they haven’t done very well for me. They take several years to size up and I’m afraid I’ve lost them all in the process. Three or four years ago I grew supermarket garlic (softneck) and its done pretty good. I still get a few medium sized ones from this. My most…

August 23, 2009

fall planting

Here’s what I planted yesterday. My garden has little patches of free soil here and there. A spot where fava beans were. One where blighted tomatoes were. The empty garlic patch. I got rained on while planting, so the packs look ragged. Its late for fall planting. My calendar says I should have planted a few weeks ago. Last year I did my last planting on August 27 and only some of the greens matured by the first frost. The peas and spinach didn’t. (I’ve never gotten fall peas to…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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