planting seeds

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I planted a bunch of seeds over the past few days. I’m imagining a full garden soon. Summer lettuce: red Cherokee and green Cherokee and escarole. Lots of beans. Bush beans: Provider and royal burgundy. Soybeans: Envy and Butter Beans. Pole beans: Fortex and Chinese long beans. Fall crops: Tuscan and blue curled scotch kale, collards, marathon and blue wind broccoli, and Chiogga and Lutz beets. And some flowers: bachelor buttons and nasturtiums. Plus, I put in more peas, Sugar Sprint and Wando, just to see what happens. “Blue Kale”…
 
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fall planting calendar

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I put in a date I think is about right for my first fall frost and generated a fall planting calendar for myself. (Here’s the calendar link.) I’m wondering if everything seems right here. I’m surprised to see its already late to plant beans. And I hope my broccoli will be big enough to transplant in a couple weeks. I should put in a sowing date for broccoli, collards, etc. I’m not very good with fall timing. If anyone has time to leave comments on how to update this tool,…
 
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gnome tending tomatoes

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I was asked the other day where my gnome has been. Well, no where special. Just hanging out under the oregano. But for a change, I moved him over to the tomatoes. So that’s his job now, hanging out under the tomato plants.
 
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green tomatoes

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After complaining about Late Blight on my tomatoes plants at my community plot, it seemed a good day to photograph the beautiful green tomatoes on my 8 healthy plants at home. They are growing fast. The plants have reached the top of my 5.5 ft supports already. Lots of green tomatoes almost showing signs of color. A few hot days and they’ll ripen fast.tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)
 
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fighting late blight – organic copper spray

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Well, today I bought a bottle of copper sulfate spray (Concern copper soap fungicide). My dad says this is the only organic remedy for Late Blight. I’m planning to use this on my tomato and potato plants at my plot tomorrow. My dad’s friend Tom, a serious gardener, uses mancozeb in regular applications on his tomatoes starting in early spring. He says the only problem with using copper sulfate against Late Blight is that it doesn’t work. Hmmm. But mancozeb is a pretty serious chemical. My potatoes don’t seem to…
 
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early baked potatoes

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No photo. We ate them all. But they were yummy. I baked two of my big early Russets that I dug yesterday. I think early potatoes are usually boiled for potato salad. But I can say that early Russets are fantastic! We topped them with Boursin cheese (gilding the lily!) and served with chiogga beets, fresh salad greens and bay scallops. Ahhh…. potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)
 
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my first potato harvest

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I cut down lots of my potato plants today because many have late blight. It looks like the potatoes are OK though. This is a pile of Russets I dug. They were volunteers in one of my paths. I was impressed with how many came from one plant. And how big they are already. They sure tasted yummy. potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)
 
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late blight information

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This is what late blight looks like on the tomato plants in my community garden plot. I pulled up half of my tomatoes today. 🙁 Cornell information sheet: Late Blight: a serious disease killing potatoes and tomatoes this year Another Cornell info sheet: Late blight on tomatoes UMASS special alert: Late Blight on Tomato and Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans)
 
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plot work

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Its been nearly a week since I have been out to my plot. Last time I was there, I found several spots of late blight on my potatoes. I was expecting the worst today. I haven’t been out to the garden because of the constant rain this past week. I suppose the garden looked better than I expected. Here’s a list: – Fava beans look great, lots of tiny pods forming.– Corn is nearly waist high and looks great.– The pumpkins are starting to vine, maybe 3 feet long now.…
 
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wet aerial view

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Wow. An empty garden. And yet another wet day. I finally got out there to weed on the 4th, which was finally a dry day. But weeding pretty much emptied the garden. Next time it dries up a bit, I have lots of seeds to plant: beans, soybeans, nasturtiums, kale, lettuce. Maybe tomorrow?
 
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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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