May 15, 2008

gardening

I brought my trays of squashes and cucumber seedlings outside this morning to enjoy the warmth and sun. My tomatoes have been outside (in pots) for more than a week now. I’d like to plant them all this weekend. I put some fancy plastic film on the beds where the tomatoes will go. Only my chiles and peppers are left inside under the lights now. I was amused to find big patches of dill that have volunteered in the path between my beds. I didn’t need to go to the…

April 19, 2008

work in the dirt Saturday

Today is a big work day: CSA volunteer morning at Gretta’s farm. Then we are installing a fence around my community plot.

March 22, 2008

planting record

I have a new link to my spring planting records. Its near the top of my sidebar. It lists what I’m planting, where, how much, and when it sprouts. You can see what’s sprouted today there. (Little broccolis just poked up this morning!)

March 2, 2008

gardening challenges

A challenge called The Growing Challenge is being hosted by the blog Elements in Time. Its rules are: To grow a new fruit of vegetable this year that you’ve haven’t grown before. And to grow this from seed. So, I was wondering what am I growing that’s new this year? This year’s new veggies:Tomatoes (I haven’t grown these from seed in about 15 years, and I have several varieties I’ve never seen before)Parsnips “Cobham Improved Marrow”Onions “White Portugal” and “Yellow Sweet Spanish”Round Black Spanish Radish (I tried these last year,…

November 10, 2007

fall crops update

Next year, I’ll plant my fall crops a few weeks earlier. The broccoli looks nice, but no signs of florets yet. My peas are blooming well – maybe they’ll produce some peas yet. They’re in a very warm spot right next to the south wall of the house. But its getting pretty cold now. The arugula and endive were meant to be a summer crop, but didn’t grow until it cooled off. They’re doing well now. My kale is doing great too, but then I planted that early last spring.…

November 4, 2007

garden cleanup

Yesterday morning, before the storm, Skippy and I finished up the fall garden cleanup. All of the summer vegetable plants are now removed, the garden has been raked and I planted a big bag of winter rye seed. I also put in the first of my garlic. I planted two rows, and have several more to plant later – maybe today. Hurricane Noel, who came up the coast near us as a Nor’easter, gave us some rain and a bit of wind all afternoon yesterday, but didn’t cause us any…

August 12, 2007

weekend garden work

I just received a bunch of seeds that I mail ordered from Sand Hill Preservation Center. Mostly fall greens – lettuces, endive, arugula. Also garlic top sets and pea seeds. Today I planted a tepee of the fall peas (Alderman/ Tall Telephone). Sand Hill says that sometimes a fall crop of these works out – depending on the weather. We’ll see. My pinto beans that I planted a couple of weeks ago are growing beautifully now. This weekend I also transplanted some lettuce, arugula and escarole seedlings I seeded several…

August 2, 2007

this week’s garden chores

I end up doing most of my garden work on the weekend. This weekend I will pull up the shriveled pea vines (Capucijner and sugar snap peas) and remove the trellises. My lettuce (romaine and a mix with oakleaf and simpson lettuces) is looking very sad (spindly, semi-bolted and buggy) so these will come out too. I’ll prepare the soil by digging in a bit of fertilizer. I’ll put in a row of green bush beans and save the rest of the space for planting later on this summer. Last…

July 19, 2007

garden work

Instead of taking pictures today, I actually did some work in the garden. I pulled up the blighted pole beans (instead of complaining about them some more) and prepared the soil to plant lettuce. I harvested a big pile of green beans. I moved the bean poles to another spot where I will try planting shell beans. I also transplanted my cukes from the far back corner of the garden where they were getting thoroughly shaded between the summer squash and my big rose plant. I moved them into well…

July 6, 2007

garden chores

This week’s garden work included: thin the carrots, beets, kale and chard; tie up the tomato vines and the big dahlia; hill potatoes; wrap squash and cucumber stems with cheesecloth; remove fava plants and plant sunflower seeds in their place; remove the last of the arugula and radishes and plant bush beans in their place; fertilize with GardenTone.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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