wasps – ouch!!

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I ran into this wasp nest yesterday while weed whacking the paths at the community gardens. Its underground. The entrance is just inside the fence of someone’s plot. I ended up with 4 or 5 stings that hurt like crazy. Fortunately I’m not allergic. However, I think this is probably the same nest Jennifer found the other day and she had a serious reaction. There were a surprising number of very mad bees that came out of the hole like a little cloud. So I thought I’d look up what…
 
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garden red sauce

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I just made my 17 year old son his late night snack: meatballs with red sauce and pasta. (Its exhausting keeping a teenage boy fed!) And, thrill-of-thrills, he complimented the sauce!!! So, this reminded me I forgot to note my red sauce here (made September 4). Being a non-tomato year, this year’s version includes all sorts of garden vegetables and only a few tomatoes. It wasn’t really a recipe: I threw what I grew in the pot and cooked it down. A bit more detail: I put all the vegetables…
 
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fall asters

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Sun (actually lack of it) dictates when asters bloom. They’re obligate short-day plants, meaning they need several weeks of short days to trigger flowering. They’re native New Englanders that are in full bloom now. (BTW, I’m an obligate long-day gardener, meaning that I’d rather sleep all day in the winter. Like the aster, I am a native New Englander, at least as far back as I can remember.)
 
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farming in belmont???

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I was surprised to drive by this sign today. Farming in Belmont!!! Where? Belmont is “a town of homes” – suburbia – 5 miles from downtown Boston. Not much open land, even less farm land. Our lot is 1/8 acre at most, like those around us, and unfortunately much of the soil lead contaminated, like all New England suburbs. To my knowledge, we have one last “working” farm – a 5 acre parcel called Sergi Farms, 1 mile from my house. But I don’t think their crops pay the rent,…
 
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garden notes

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A beautiful clear fall day in the garden. My mom says there are frost warnings for her area tonight. So early! She lives 50 miles northeast of me. Temperatures in my garden are predicted to go down to 42*F tonight. No frost, but chilly. I’ll have to remember that frosts are just around the corner. I started cleaning out the garden today. Pulled my butternut squash and melon vines. (I have to remember to post photos of the nice watermelon I picked a couple days ago!) This opened up a…
 
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pumpkin support

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I haven’t been to check on my garden plot in several days. When I was there last, I put up a quick support for my biggest Jarrahdale pumpkin that was hanging from the vine up on the fence. The fence is plenty strong to support the 12 lb expected weight, by the vine was starting to tear. The support is a tomato cage and a large pot saucer. I should turn the saucer over so it won’t fill up with rain water. Tomorrow. I’m looking forward to some garden time.
 
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Michael Pollen

 
 
A new article from Michael Pollen : Big Food vs Big Insurance. I’m looking forward to reading this latest article, connecting the current health care/insurance debate with agribusiness and how we eat.
 
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broccoli

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I think I’m going to give up on fall broccoli. My spring broccoli seems to produce all year long. It seems that next year I should just double my spring planting and forget about the fall crop. That’s certainly easier that way. I find that some of my plants produce big heads in early summer, then produce side shoots for a while. But others take so long to grow that they don’t make heads until late summer. After the first head is cut, they still produce shoots for quite a…
 
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stir fried green beans

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I’m growing four types of green beans this year: – Shung Yuang Asian White Pole beans (the best!) – Fortex pole beans (very nice) – Provider green bush beans – Royal Burgundy bush beans They are growing in next to my house in reduced sunlight (about 11-3pm). They do well here and are always ready for a quick vegetable dish. I’ve been letting some of the pods mature on the vines recently. I’ll harvest these later and let then dry for seed for next year. I’m thinking I’ll skip the…
 
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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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