today’s garden work

 
 
It was a beautiful, bright and warm HALLOWEEN day! I was lucky to do garden work all day. There are not so many of these good outdoor days any more as the season moves on toward winter. Here’s what I did: – Finished up my seed list. (Last year I started a list of all the seed packets I have that includes the folder they are stored in and when I planted them. By going through my seeds again now I put misplaced ones back in correct folders and identified…
 
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a year of garden photos

 
 
May 4: The peas are a few inches high, cover crop of winter rye is tall in some beds, and winter beds have greens growing. May 11: I just turned under the winter rye, crabapples and tulips are in bloom. May 30: I just planted tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. Alliums are blooming. June 18: Everything is growing, including the weeds in the paths. Those are asparagus fronds across the view in the foreground.   August 24: Time for eating fresh vegetables!   October 15: Beds with summer crops are cleared…
 
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my tomatoes are finally in

 
 
Finally!! I planted my peppers, eggplants, cukes, squashes, and tomatoes in my garden on Monday. It’s been a slow, cool spring here. I can’t eemember ever waiting til May 20(!) to pjant yomatoes. I planted the warm weather crops in my mom’s garden today. It was 60 with a light drizzle all day. The good news is that night time temperatures are staying warm – above 50. we‘re just waiting for a nice run of 70 and 80 Degree days. Most gardeners I talk to are waiting for June 1…
 
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favorite week – planting corn and beans and transplanting tomatoes

 
 
This is one of my favorite weeks in the vegetable garden. Highlights are transplanting tomato seedlings outside and sowing bean and corn seeds. I transplant my hardened off tomato seedlings to the garden when night time low temperatures are routinely above 45F and mostly above 50F. I transplanted my mom’s tomatoes today (Mother’s Day). In the next 10 days, no local temps below 45F are predicted, and over 50% of nights are above 50F. Another good measure is soil temperature, which should be above 55F for planting our tomatoes. I’m…
 
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favorite sounds

 
 
As I go to bed, I am listening out the window to rain falling after a nice spring day in the garden. One of my favorite sounds. I can just imagine the plants growing and the soil drinking in the moisture.
 
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planting brassicas

 
 
Today I planted a half bed of brassicas: Red and Murdoch cabbage, broccoli Blue Wind and Bay Meadows. Also cauliflower Snowball Y and, in my lettuce bed, radicchio. My seedlings are all about 3 inches tall. I will need another bed for more brassicas. I have some nice broccilini seedlings: Happy Rich and Piracicaba. Also bok choy. The weather has turned warm so fast. I don’t see any nights below 47 through May 10. I am thinking it’s Ok to plant tomato seedlings out soon. But I’ll plant out in…
 
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My cold seems to maybe be getting a bit better. It’s been dragging on almost a week now. Today I finally got done work done and planted my cucumber and winter squash seeds. One tray each. Also up potted 4 or 5 types of flowers and brought them down to my new greenhouse. The greenhouse is running about 60-70F during the day and 40F at night. Perfect for peas, onions, and other cool weather crops. for now, my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm weather crops are still on my…
 
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My new bees are happy in their new home! Today was a beautiful day for them. I put most of my seedlings out on the patio to get some sun and fresh air. I up-potted 60 tomato seedlings last night and they were outside too. I opened up my winter tunnels to the nice spring air and am thinking I may not need to cover them up much more this season. They are looking really nice. (I’ll add pictures here this weekend.)
 
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honey bees

 
 
I picked up a package of bees today. Both of my hives died early last winter – it was a very hard fall/winter for bees here. I have heard that the overwintering rate in our area for experienced bee keepers was about 20%. One out of 5 hives survived. I almost decided it wasn’t worth keeping bees and if I have to buy new ones every year, but I went ahead and got one hive anyway. They are not off to a good start. Tonight will be very cold and…
 
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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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