a little more spring ….

 
 
We only got a dusting of snow from the storm yesterday. Today the sun is shining. I was listening to the chickadees singing their spring song for the first time – dee-dee. We have a couple patches of bare ground in the yard. The warmest areas. And some spring blue bells are starting to inch up. The hellebore and snow drops are still covered, but it’s nice to feel a little bit of spring.
 
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first day of spring

 
 
I am celebrating the first day of spring by planting broccoli and ignoring the reports of 8-10 inches of snow for tomorrow.
 
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a gardener’s lament

 
 
My muscles are sore. My hands from holding the snow shovel. My shoulders and arms from lifting the sticky snow and throwing it off to the side. In better weather, I park my car out by my mom’s garden to unload seedlings and compost. This time, I parked my car out near the garden to avoid trees falling on it. I shoveled off the 2 feet of snow piled on top. Shoveled the 20 or so feet around it where the plow couldn’t reach. Shoveled my mom’s walkway and the…
 
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In stormy fashion Ends the dark season; The wind’s in a passion Out of all reason. Winter, so loth to go, Howls, spitting out the snow, Like froth of madness. ~Danske Dandridge, “The End of Winter,” 1902
 
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Mom’s garden during ANOTHER March nor’easter

 
 
Arrgh! (Or as my sister wrote, AYFKM!!?) We’re in the middle of our third nor’easter in 10 days. The first was 2 inches of heavy rain with very high winds and lot’s of coastal flooding. The second was about 8 inches of very heavy wet snow that brought down lots of trees. This one is a blizzard that will give us 2 feet of fluffy snow with high winds. Some years, I’m out planting peas about now.
 
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March nor’easter aftermath

 
 
  Here’s the aftermath of the nor’easter we had last night. Eight inches of very heavy wet snow piled onto the trees and brought down many branches, including two huge ones from my beautiful Carolina silver bell that landed on my chicken coop. No damage to the coop but it took a lot of effort to clear and burn the fallen wood. I had built a lean-to over my new little lettuce tunnel and the plants look just fine underneath.  
 
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We’re getting a foot of heavy wet snow tonight. I’ll probably be too busy shoveling to post tomorrow.  I was hoping to plant peas and onion sets outside soon! Maybe it will melt fast….. maybe I’ll start the peas inside….
 
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when to plant vegetable seeds

 
 
It’s definitely time to sow seeds now. Here are some suggestions to figure out when is the best time to plant different types of seeds. – Try the iPhone calendar apps I wrote, I use these to plan when to plant: Skippy’s Vegetable Calendar App and Skippy’s Flower and Herb Calendar App. – Or try my old, very simple, and free online planting calendar: Online Vegetable Calendar. – Johnny’s online tool works pretty much the same: Johnny’s planting calculator – The University of Minnesota has a nice page on starting…
 
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planting out extra lettuce

 
 
    I had a few 6-packs of lettuce left over that didn’t fit in my tunnel so I set up a second smaller tunnel for it. This little tunnel is just covered with a double layer of row cover fabric. I wonder if it will do OK. It depends on the weather we get.
 
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sowing seeds on a stormy day

 
 
It’s pretty stormy here. Our road is blocked at both ends by downed trees and wires and our power has been out all day. In addition to tending my little onion shoots, I planted my next batch of seeds a couple days early: Beets, Boro and Detroit Dark Red Eggplant, Orient Express, Hansel, and Barbarella Basil, Tuscany Marigold, Giant African, Mission Giant Yellow, Tangerine Gem, Gem Mix, Cottage Red Pepper, Highlander, Shishito, Ace, Red Rocket, and Red Ember Snapdragon, Tall Deluxe Mix Chamomile, Common Lemon Mint The rest of my…
 
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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

Make your own customized planting calendar. Try out my app!
Apple/iOS

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

Flickr

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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