today’s garden work

 
 
I thought I was going to just ” plant potatoes” in my community plot today, but lots of other things needed to be done. The potatoes can go in later in the week (I hope). This is what I did: – cleaned salt marsh hay mulch off asparagus bed and then top dressed with an inch of compost – cleared salt hay mulch off of rhubarb and added an inch of compost – cleared old growth from perennial flowers – disposed of old garden materials in dumpster we have on…
 
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weekend gardening plans

 
 
Fence Our plan for the weekend is to get a fence up around my new garden. (Hopefully we can do this in between the rain drops!) For now, we’ll put a simple metal fence around half of the beds. I think we’ll go with a 5 or 6 ft fence. We have lots of deer, so the main purpose of the fence is to keep them out. We also have raccoons and rabbits that I’d rather not share my vegetables with. At the community garden I manage, we talk a…
 
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today’s garden work

 
 
On our first hot and muggy summer-like day: – Eggplants transplanted: Kamo, Tiger and Classic – Tomato supports set up, bar and string set up this year (is there a better name for this method?) – First rhubarb harvest of the season – Weeding – Harvested a big bunch of dill weed that had volunteered in the squash bed prior to preparing the bed – Prepared squash bed by bringing in a wheelbarrow full of compost and digging it in – Transplanted winter squash and summer squash – Transplanted sunflowers…
 
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today’s garden work

 
 
In my side yard garden: – chicken wire baffles put over newly planted pole bean seeds to protect from squirrels – winter broccoli harvested from cold frame – cold frame prepared for summer plantings – cucumber seedlings transplanted to tepee – spinach, lettuce, parsley and basil seedlings transplanted (I am so late with the spinach and parsley!)
 
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working on my community garden plot

 
 
I would have taken “before” photos of my plot, but I was overwhelmed looking at it this morning. I knew how late I was getting it in shape and how much should be done. After accomplishing a day’s work, I’m now enjoying the “after” photos. It was a drizzly day. I weeded, transplanted rogue strawberry plants, moved salt marsh hay from beds to paths, set up a tomato pole, screened compost and turned it in under a couple beds, top-dressed my asparagus bed, transplanted onion seedlings and dahlias tubers. I…
 
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spring planting in Mom and Dad’s garden

 
 
Today, my parents and I did the first work of the season on their vegetable garden. Here are before and after photos.   BEFORE AFTER Only a couple hours work. We raked, then weeded and marked out paths. My Mom had her pad and pen and wrote down what we planted where. Dad and I planted seeds and seedlings. We did our best to leave enough room for the warmer weather crops, like beans and tomatoes, and to plan for crop rotation. Dad put row cover over the newly transplanted…
 
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workable soil

 
 
My soil is workable!! And only 6 days ago we had a foot of snow….. What does it mean when a seed packet says : “Plant as soon as soil is workable?” Well, it’s cause for excitement and celebration!!! It means the soil is thawed and has drained enough so that its not too wet to turn with a shovel. It means your boots didn’t sink in the mud. Your shovel didn’t get stuck in frozen soil. Your garden gate opened without a foot of snow blocking it. It doesn’t…
 
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I was out gardening today!

 
 
Its a beautiful sunny Sunday. I opened up my cold frame – meaning only to pick a little bok choi – but the air was so nice, I stayed and gardened a while. I weeded, removed dead leaves and plants killed by the week of bitter cold we had. Many plants are still looking good and perking up now. I watered, and just enjoyed the smell and feel of the dirt and springlike air. The thermometer said 35*F outside the frame and 52 inside. Ahhh… The soil in the frame…
 
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garden work

 
 
This weekend, I am preparing my home gardens for winter. First thing, I took down the six tomato plants growing there. As I did this, I realized I’ve never taken down tomatoes here before a frost. The plants had stopped growing from low light so I removed them. Always a first for everything. The forecast seems to maybe have a frost here in the Boston suburbs soon. I’m getting more experience with my cold frame each year. I suspect everyone’s cold frame is different, with their own temperature and light…
 
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garden work

 
 
Today Skippy and I finished digging my sweet potatoes. I am glad to have lots of orange and white sweets in my larder for winter storage. I also dug my dahlia tubers. They will go in plastic bags and hang from rafters in my basement. Yesterday I visited a wonderful new small farm a mile from house. I talked with the farmer about tomatoes and late blight. I bought a bunch of his big fat carrots and a bag full of French horticultural beans. Someday soon I am hoping I…
 
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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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