broccoli buttons

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Ooops. A couple of my broccoli plants are buttoning. Looks like of my dozen plants (and a couple of my Mom’s) are making cute little broccoli heads on tiny broccoli plants. I’ve heard this happens when the weather turns warm too fast or when the plants are kept in seed flats too long. I’m sure my error was in keeping them in my toasty cold frame too long – even though they were in the soil. Next year I will move them out sooner. On a several days this spring,…
 
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beet plants

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I left my beets in clumps of 3 or 4 plants this year as I heard that they grow nicely like this. The beets push apart as they grow.
 
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urban birdwatchers

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What’s all the commotion at the Fresh Pond Mall? A big sale? Not. A new store? Not. The young Redtail hawks in the nest on top of the building next to Trader Joe’s are about to fledge! Its seriously messing up the traffic. There are two chicks in the nest now. And when Skippy and I were watching on Sunday (along with 50 or 60 other fanatics), both Redtail parents came to check on the kids. Dad brought a bit of dinner and left it in the nest, then flew…
 
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tiny pumpkin plants

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Tiny for now. But something tells me not for long. I tried to leave lots of space for these guys. I have a fun mix of pumpkins and winter squash this year: Jarrahdale, Long Island Cheese, Galeux D Eysines, Baby Pam, and Waltham Buttternut. (My traditional Big Rock pumpkin seeds didn’t spout.)
 
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tomato supports

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There are several good options for supporting tomatoes. If you have lots of space, want to minimize your work, and aren’t too worried about the fungal pests that will come if we have another wet summer, you probably want to use the standard round metal tomato supports. With these, you don’t need to do any work – just push them in around the plants and let the vines grow how they will. These will keep the plants off the ground so you can walk around them and pick the fruits…
 
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kale and squash risotto

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I planted a enormous crop of kale this year and a couple weeks ago asked for recipe suggestions. I tried the kale risotto from the Moosewood Cookbook and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recommendation. I used my last homegrown butternut squash from last year and a few spring onions that I pulled today. (I’m not really sure where the onions came from – probably ones I missed year that over-wintered and grew into large scallions-like onions this spring. They were very pungent and a bit dry, more like garlic…
 
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planting sweet potatoes

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I’ve never grown my own sweet potato slips before and I suppose I used a non-traditional method. They aren’t really slips, but little plants that I transplanted today. I transplanted about a dozen. I think I heard that they do OK in the shade, so I planted them next to my corn bed.
 
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more garden work

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Today I spent a few more hours in the garden. My work list is not finished, but I will keep at it in the days to come. Today’s accomplishments; Corn bed and beans beds are prepared.Basil, celeriac, sweet potatoes and bachelor buttons are transplanted.More weeding is done.Everything is watered.
 
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garden work

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So far, so good. Beautiful weather and my garden work list is half finished: The potatoes are hilled.The squashes, pumpkins, lettuce, and spinach are transplanted.The gardens are weeded.The cover is off the cold frame. I even was able to find good homes for my extra seedlings. This took about 10 minutes at the community garden. I set about 50 tomato and pepper seedlings and them near the main path with a sign saying “Free, please take these.” They vaporized I think.
 
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Friday evening plans for the weekend

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Plans: – Plant popcorn, nasturtium, pole beans, bush beans, soy bean, and dill seeds.– String up tomatoes.– Transplant sweet potatoes, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers.– Remove cold frame cover and plant melons inside.– Hill potatoes.– Work on training my new pear tree.– Weeding.– Weed whacking and mowing of community garden paths.– Maybe I can pick peas!
 
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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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