March 1, 2009

blizzard in Boston

What’s with the weather up there?!! I’m flying back tomorrow. I was hoping to see beautiful spring weather in NE. The forecast for my vegetable gardens is 10-15 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow. Hmmm. Well, I’m on the beach again today, so I’ll worry about this later.

February 28, 2009

the gardener is on the beach

How are your bird ID skills? My mom knows them all pretty well. I just like to photograph them. I’m only a little bit sun burned from a day on the beach…. (I wonder how my little seedlings are doing back at home in the cold snowy North.) garden birds (Hortus Aves)

February 27, 2009

the gardener is on vacation…

I’m visiting my parents in southern Florida. Talk about perfect weather!! I’m just going to post a bunch of photos. This is my Florida breakfast. A grapefruit from the backyard and bread made with frozen zucchini and summer squash from my garden. Yummy. The grapefruit and oranges are heavy on the trees and the trees are in full bloom – at the same time! But I missed avocado season. The avocado trees are just starting to bloom now. I’ve never seen an avocado blossom before. Quite small. The bees are…

February 26, 2009

a First Portie soon

Looks like the Obama’s have decided on a shelter Portuguese water dog. Here’s an article at Boston.com. What a great choice! Skippy is my favorite Portie and he would love the White House life, I’m sure. first Portuguese water dog

February 26, 2009

my growing late winter seed collection

I’ve heard that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Is there a similar saying for seed shopping in late winter? When you’re really tired of snow and really looking forward to green, growing, sun and warm. But you already have seeds for at least seven gardens? Whole Foods now has a new rack of heirloom seeds (Seeds of Change) back by the meat counter. I went in for kebabs and couldn’t resist a few packets. Peas (Cascadia Bush Snap) will go in soon. Peppers (Nardello) looked sweet and…

February 22, 2009

more open pollinated mail order seed souorces

Gretta sent me name of a couple more sources for organic open pollinated seeds:High Mowing Organic Seeds (located in Wolcott, VT)Turtle Tree Seed And here’s a link to a newly started seed company that is using a tomato photo of mine on their banner! (it was properly licensed – thanks Mike)Ohio Heirloom Seeds I’ll add these and companies contributed in the comments section to my previous post, which I’ll put near the top of my side bar.

February 21, 2009

real onions sprouts and more sowing

My onions finally sprouted. It took 8-9 days. Of the 3 varieties I planted, I have low germination of one (red), none in another (White Portugal), and good germination of the third (Sweet Yellow Spanish). Pretty little sprouts. So brave and bright! Today I planted seeds for lavender, thyme and celeriac. These are supposed to be started 8-10 weeks before frost. I also started 4 pots of tomato plants – very early, just to see if I can get a very early tomato. These will need to be transplanted to…

February 19, 2009

community garden plots

Skippy and I walked through the community gardens and looked at my plot today. The sky was dark gray with a snow storm approaching from the west. But its nice to see that there has been quite a lot of melting. In many places, the ground is exposed and muddy.

February 18, 2009

my first seedling

A seedling has sprouted! I’m so excited. I got out my macro lens and photographed it from every angle. My tray label says Rossa Lunga di Firenze onions. Hmmm. After cropping a few of the photos, it occurred to me that somethings is odd here. What do you think – a stray radish seed? In any case, its still my first seedling of the year. Yippee. While I was at it, I took a few macro photos of Skippy. At least I think that’s him under all that winter fur….

February 17, 2009

more seeds in the mail! – mail order seed sources

If you’re mail-ordering seeds for your garden soon, here’s a list of US companies offering all heirloom open pollinated seeds: SOURCES FOR ALL OP SEEDS:Baker Creek SeedsBountiful GardensFedco Seeds (Waterville ME)Sand Hill Preservation CenterSeeds TrustSustainable Seed CompanySynergy SeedsThe Garlic StoreThe Victory Seed CompanyHigh Mowing Organic Seeds (Wolcott VT)Turtle Tree SeedOhio Heirloom Seeds (check out my tomato photo!) I like to grow a mix of heirloom and hybrid (F1) varieties in my garden. So I’ll also list my favorite hybrid seed sources, too: SOURCES FOR HYBRID AND OP SEEDS:Botanical InterestsBurpeeJohnny’s Selected…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost