fall planting calendar

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I’ve started an on-line calculator for a fall planting calendar based on your first frost date. The dates are based on my experience and the calendar at Heirloom Seeds. Still a few months before I’ll need to use this. Let me know if any of the dates seem off or if I should add other vegetables. I get such a kick out of putting in dates and pushing the button! You’d think I was a kid with a new video game (or my mother in law with a slot machine…)…
 
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the $3.99 mid-winter tomato

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I don’t usually eat tomatoes in the winter. But by mid-feb I’m REALLY hungry for one. I saw a pretty “heirloom” tomato at Whole Foods. A 16 oz tomato at $3.99/lb. (Wow! Multiply that by the number of tomatoes you grow in the summer!) Oh well – it did have a brief tomato smell as I sliced it. And looked (ahhh…) …nice. I don’t have the best report on its flavor though. After a preview of the taste I added lots of garlic and capers, etc… It was … mealy…
 
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Happy Valentines Day to veggie gardeners!

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Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m growing a garden, to share with you… Here’s an article about healthy red foods: Roses Are Red, and So Are Lots of Foods Good for You and Your Valentine It has nutritional information about ‘foods in the red zone’. Yippee for beets, red peppers, radish and raspberries!
 
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first seeds sown

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Right on schedule, my onions are sown: one flat each of white, yellow and red onions. 11 weeks before my last frost date – April 30.
 
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getting ready to plant: trays, soil and labels

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Now that I’ve got seeds and a plant shelf, next is trays, soil and labels.Seed trays: I like seed trays with small cells (1″ x 1.5″ cell, 12-packs, 96-per tray) so each seedling gets its own. Except for the seedlings that get bigger (like tomatoes, peppers and large squashes), these little cells work well. The goal is one seedling per tiny cell. Plant a couple seeds per cell and thin. I saved as many old seed trays as I could. I have quite a few, but most get ripped during…
 
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southern Florida strawberry farm

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My dad just sent me this photo he took this morning. Looks like a great way to maximize space and minimize water use. I’m wondering if this sort of set up would be useful in any of my gardens some day. Another idea to keep in mind ….
 
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new plant shelf – ready to go

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I had a lot of suggestions from gardeners about their seedling shelves. The best deal seems to be the assemble it yourself. This is a 35″ wide x 54″ tall x 18″ deep metal shelf system with 4 shelves ($67.54). I have 1 shop light fixture ($8.97) hanging with adjustable chains on each of three shelves to start. Each fixture holds with two 40W 48″ fluorescent bulbs. I can expand and use the forth shelf later if I need more space. Each shelf holds two planting trays, lengthwise. They hang…
 
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coyote!!

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Yesterday Skippy and I went for a walk in Estabrook Woods, a 1200 acre undeveloped tract of land in Concord, MA (about 12 mi from my house). We walked about a mile out on the trail at dusk. Very quiet and beautiful with the snow cover and trees glowing red. I always watch for coyotes, as they are pretty plentiful here now. Even near our house. But I’ve not seen one until now. Unfortunately, I’m not so calm about wild animals and was not able to get a steady photo…
 
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Sunday night pizza

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I wanted to share a photo of the delicious pizza we’ve been making often this winter. The sauce is from my garden last summer. I threw in many different tomato varieties, some carrots, basil, onions, cooked it down and froze it. The pizza also has the last of the cayenne chiles I grew, dried and crumbled. A delicious pizza. A taste of my garden on winter weekends. We make a fairly simple pizza. My son makes the dough in the bread machine. A simple recipe from Beard on Bread, by…
 
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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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