at last – it’s tomato season!

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I have lots of Sungold cherry tomatoes now (from two plants), and a few ripe New Girl and Orange Blossoms too. Big Beef are ripening fast. The heirlooms are sizing up: Brandywine Sudduth strain, Giant Belgium, Purple Calabash, Box Car Willie, and Mortgage Lifter. Tomato varieties I’ve lost to Late Blight so far are: Pink Beauty, Cherokee Purple, Opalka, San Marzano, Early Girl and Hillbilly. Tomorrow I think I’ll check on my recollection of which varieties I have left and take a photo of the best tomato on each plant.…
 
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wild tomatillos, groundcherries or poisonous nightshades?

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There are all sorts of plants growing wild in the grassy paths of our 50 year old community gardens. One of these looks like little wild tomatillos. Soon after I first got my plot last year, I dug up a few of these and added them to a corner bed. They reseeded themselves and I have twice as many this year. They get little yellow flowers and small husked green fruits. Like cherry tomatoes – Cherry tomatillos? This year I have many fruits sizing up. I was wondering if I…
 
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garden work

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A fantastic day in the garden. – I picked a handful of tomatoes in my home garden. Lots of cherries and my first two big ones: New Girls – picked on the orangey side to ripen inside because I’m afraid late blight could hit them any day now. – I bagged the top half of my compost pile, getting rid of all the tomato and potato waste that is contaminated with late blight. Interesting to see what/who was living in the pile: lots of worms and a very bug garter…
 
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what to do with zucchini (and other summer squashes)

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My summer squash are coming in so fast I thought I’d get a list of ideas together of things to do with it. – grilled, with olive oil and herbs– grilled, chile-coated with honey lime dressing (Dan’s post with photo)– grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper (roasted or fried in sunflower oil works too), with a yogurt-garlic-dill sauce (a Bulgarian classic from Svetla)– zucchini risotto (I’m going to try this tonight and I’ll add the recipe!)– fried zucchini (maybe Friday night…)– squash carpacchio (raw zucchini with goat cheese)– stuffed…
 
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my favorite summer squash – sunburst patty pan

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This is my favorite summer squash. Sunburst. A yellow patty pan. Its delicious. And this year is producing a very heavy harvest. I have two nice plants and am able to pick almost a squash a day. Like zucchini, I have to keep an eye on them or they’ll turn into giants. Someone asked me recently about the difference between male and female flowers and the lower photos show both pretty well. I bet anyone can figure out which is which. (Hint: females have a squash below the flower.) The…
 
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late blight continues to kill tomatoes

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On yesterday’s visit to my community plot I found late blight on all of my remaining tomato plants. My next chore will be to remove them all. Bag and dispose in the trash. I was hoping a few of my plants would have survived, but all have succumbed. 16 plants – 11 varieties that I babied since March. I also had a sad note from the New Hampshire Farm that I distribute CSA shares for. Its a long but very interesting note so I’m posting most of it here. Very…
 
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cucumber taste test

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I have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year! Four varieties from the left are: Tokiwa, Sweet Success, North Carolina Pickling, and Diva. In our taste test last evening the unanimous winner (two tasters) was Diva. I’ve tried for years to grow Diva and this is the first year I have gotten nice vines and big pretty Diva cukes. Nice and crisp, mild and just overall delicious. Next were a tie: Tokiwa (delicious and crisp, but large seeds) and Sweet Success (not quite as good taste as Diva and Tokiwa,…
 
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rainy day

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Yesterday, Skippy and I got caught in the rain at the garden. A nice warm rain and we just kept on weeding anyway.
 
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August !

 
 
Its deep summer. Ahh. How wonderful. The perfect month. “In summer, the song sings itself.”– William Carlos Williams
 
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ready for the grill

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We’re now eating dinner almost totally from the garden. Just a piece of salmon from the store. The favas are great grilled whole and then popped out of their shells, like edamame. The potatoes and wonderful sliced and grilled with olive oil and salt. We have a big red Gold and a big Red Norland today – one yellow the other white on inside and slightly different tastes and consistency. And of course a zucchini.
 
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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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