July 6, 2009

tomato and potato fruits

I thought I’d compare my tomato (left) and potato (right) fruits. Pretty similar in appearance. Both are about the same size now. I’m looking forward to red tomatoes in a couple of weeks. Yummy! My first varieties this year will be New Girl (above photo) and Orange Blossom, sowed Feb 21. Unfortunately potato fruit contains large amounts of the toxic alkaloid solanine, and is therefore poisonous. Potatoes can be grown from seed, though they don’t breed true; Wikipedia says to finely chop the fruit and soak it in water, the…

July 4, 2009

the 4th of July !!! Cheers to the summer!

Our 4th martini. Our 4th ribs. And Skippy’s 4th nap. Not too bad. Thank goodness for a whole day of full sun. (perfect, if the Sox would have had won…)

July 4, 2009

wet July potato plants

My rain gauge says almost 4 inches of rain in the past week! Wow! After reading about Late Blight in the news letter from Piccadilly Farm (my post from yesterday), I took a close look this evening at my potato plants. They look great overall, but there are a few nasty leaf spots here and there. I suppose it could be late blight starting in my patch. I’m planning to start my potato harvest this weekend. Most of my varieties have finished blooming and are fruiting already. (Love those cute…

July 3, 2009

NE wet weather brings Late Blight concerns

I support a distribution site for a local CSA: Piccadilly Farm in Winchester, NH. Along with weekly fantastic fresh vegetables, they send out a very informative news letter about current conditions for gardeners and farmers. I have copied their letter below, along with a list of crops they included this week. (Thanks Jenny!) Dear Shareholders, The news from the farm is no real news to you: it’s been raining. And raining, and raining. We saw only 8 rain-free days in June, with double the normal rainfall. On our farm, we…

July 2, 2009

me at the garden center in the rain

I’m learning to just go about the usual things and ignore the rain. With a big umbrella and a warm coffee, what’s a little rain….. One thing for sure though – the colors of flowers and the greens of plants are just beautiful in the dark and dreary weather. Credit goes to my sister, the photographer here. BTY, this is Bonny’s in Cambridge MA. Go and buy some plants! I think all NE garden centers are badly in need of business now with the bad economy AND weather 🙁

July 1, 2009

the gardener is vacationing on Nantucket

Actually there is sun out here on Nantucket. What luck – to vacation the one day when the island clears. The locals here say its the first day in forever with blue sky. But I hear that the mainland is still as wet as ever……

June 30, 2009

rain rain rain ……

June 28, 2009

aerial

The left/top area is neglected this year – the right is doin’ good. I’m enjoying the big rambler rose on the fence as the blossoms open. Its a great year for it – an old rose called Dorothy Perkins. The blossoms get bleached to pale pink by the sun, but it is VERY dark magenta this year (no sun).

June 26, 2009

summer nor’easter moves out

Good-bye! and good riddance! to gray skies and rain. I think all of New England was cheering the tiny patches of blue sky today. But still, we have the odd air flow with clouds moving in from the north. Our summer weather normally comes from the west. Normal, that was until this year…. “A nor’easter gets its name from its continuously strong northeasterly winds blowing in from the ocean ahead of the storm and over the coastal areas…some low pressure systems associated with nor’easters may develop tropical storm characteristics such…

June 25, 2009

roof top gardening – an inspiring article in the NY Times

A friend sent this nice link: Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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