my favorite watering can

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Someone recently asked me about my watering can. I do have a favorite. A small copper can. Long curved spout connected at the bottom. And a nice big handle. It was a birthday gift back when. I like the steady stream of water. Not too much, not too little. I like the look and feel of metal. I like the weight and feel of the can. Its small, so sometimes I keep a full gallon of water nearby to refill it with. I like to water and thoroughly wet the…
 
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sprout photos

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I was very happy to spot five or six TINY celeriac sprouts today. Still only one lavender sprout. Onions are getting tall. And the thyme looks good. Today’s seed planting list:Onion, Ailsa Craig Exhibition (1 pot)Onion, Purplette (1 pot)Onion, Frontier (1 pot) (Tuesday note: two more celeriac sprouts! another lavender! and lots of marigolds today…)
 
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spring is getting closer

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More and more signs of spring are around now. Though snowstorms seem to come weekly, it melts fast. Underneath, crocus and tulips are sprouting. Winter hazel is blooming bright. And Skippy’s swimming hole has thawed. After this winter, it seems almost too good to be true…..
 
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today’s sowing list

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Pepper, Amelia’s Cayenne (6-pack)Pepper, Thai hot (6-pack)Pepper, Poblano (6-pack)Pepper, Nardello sweet (6-pack)Pepper, Costa Rican sweet (6-pack)Pepper, Quadrato Rosso D’Asti sweet red (6-pack)Pepper, Quadrato Giallo D’Asti sweet yellow (6-pack)Beets, Chiogga (6-pack)Marigold, FireballMarigold, Petit mix (4 pots)Cosmos, sulphureus orange (4 pots)Butterfly flower, asclepias tuberosa (4 pots)Parsley, flat leaved Italian (8 pots)Basil, Nufar (8 pots) It feels good to be planting again! I put the newly seeded peppers under my fish tank (78*F) to keep them warm until they sprout. The others are all on my plant shelves. I have lots of little…
 
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seeds

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Two envelopes of seeds were waiting for me when I came home from vacation a few days ago. The ones from Ohio Heirloom were a free gift since this brand new company is using my tomato photo on their website. The seeds look awesome. Nice simple packets. (Thanks for sending them!) And I love the little packets from Reimer Seeds. I ordered a few extra tomato varieties from them. This weekend I’m planing to do some serious planting. Its time to plant broccoli, eggplant, lettuce, more onions, peppers, marigold, parsley,…
 
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a few seed quotes

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“I don’t believe the half I hear,Nor the quarter of what I see!But I have one faith, sublime and true,That nothing can shake or slay;Each spring I firmly believe anewAll the seed catalogs say!”– Carolyn Wells In March and in April from morning till nightIn sowing and seeding good housewives delight.– Thomas Tusser The mere fact that you get a lot of seeds in a packetdoesn’t mean you have to plant all of them.– Henry Mitchell
 
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my first tomato seedling

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Psychedelic celebration… This is a New Girl tomato seedling planted 10 weeks before the last frost in my garden. That’s 4 weeks early. I have 9 very early tomatoes that sprouted this week. I can almost taste sweet red early tomatoes! tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)
 
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Florida souveniers

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Nothing like fresh fruits and veggies from a warm climate – in the middle of winter. I picked these up on my last day on vacation in Florida and carried the box on the plane. Tonight, we squeezed a key lime on the tomato with our salad. Yummy! Tomatoes $2/5. Key limes $2/7. Giant avocado $1.79. Can’t beat it for tasty veggies!
 
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to do list

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After being away on vacation, there’s always a long list of stuff to catch up on. Here’s my list: 1- Take pictures of my new sprouts: tomatoes and thymes! (These were watered well in my absence.)2- Open a couple envelopes of new seeds delivered by mail in my absence.3- Catch up on email (its endless) …4- Eat my Florida souvenirs: grapefruit, tomatoes, limes and avocado.5- Finish uploading my photos of Florida flowers, birds and swamps.6- Edit my planting calculator, based on some very good suggestions.7- Check out my gardens –…
 
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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

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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