flowers (and some pollinators) in my garden now – the last of the season

 
 
This collection has 10 different “ornamental” flowers (actually not only ornaments, but valuable companions) and 8 vegetable or herb flowers. These are all in my backyard vegetable garden. The vegetable flowers here are eggplant, pepper, squash, broccoli, carrot, bean, basil, and cucumber. I was curious to see the carrot flower. Carrots are biennials and bloom their second year. To get the flower, I planted the top of a supermarket carrot in the spring. I won’t collect the seeds as I imagine the supermarket carrot is a hybrid.
 
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preparing for winter

 
 
I’m in the process of preparing my honeybee hives for winter. I have two hives on the far side of my vegetable garden nearest the pond. They’re on the northeast side of the yard with a southwest exposure. Both were packages I installed in early April, since both my hives died early last winter. One hive is much stronger than the other. The strong one has about 70 lbs of honey, while the weak one about 30-40 lbs. I’m guessing here from lifting the boxes. This is what I’ve done…
 
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what’s growing now

 
 
I wanted to put together a list of what’s growing in my gardens now. This is about the peak time I think for vegetable variety. The summer crops are on their last legs, fall crops are maturing, and winter seedlings are sprouting. At home Bed 1: lettuce, beets, popcorn, shell beans Bed 2: marigolds, kale, murdoc cabbage, bok choi, lettuce Bed 3: Belgian endive, beets, escarole, carrots, celeriac, parsnips Bed 4: (set up with hoops now for winter tunnel) spinach, lettuce, escarole, mustard greens, cilantro, dill, also peppers and cucumbers…
 
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wet weather harvest

 
 
Today I spent a hour or so at my community garden plot. Tasks: Pick red raspberries Harvest 4 big butternut squash Pick ripe tomatoes, eggplant, peppers Pull and compost dead tomatoes plants Pull and compost spent summer squash vines Weed escarole bed with my Dutch hoe Sow seeds for Daikon, salad radish, and spinach to replace a row of escarole eaten by chipmunks The good part was I didn’t need to water the garden. Bad part, I got soaked by the rain (tropical storm Jose) that we’ve had a couple…
 
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pictures of my community garden plot

 
 
I’ve been working in my plot a few hours today. It’s very hot, but tomorrow nice rains are predicted so I’m planting fall seedlings and seeding a winter cover crop. I also dug my second of three rows of potatoes – the seedlings went in on top of this freshly dug soil. Escarole, radicchio, lettuce, arugula, broccoli, kailan (Chinese kale), and spinach. I pulled spent cucumber vines from my three tepees and planted pea seedlings around them. Oregon giant – a snow pea I love. I try planting fall peas…
 
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fall and winter garden planning

 
 
I’ve finished planting most of my fall vagarables now. This week I’ll plant a couple more. Fall vegetables are ones I harvest before they are killed by cold weather and don’t use any cold protection. I’m beginning to plan my winter bed now. I’ll use the same double layered tunnel that’s worked well for me the past couple years. I’ll fill this bed with crops that are full grown by early November so I’ll be able to harvest them all winter. My fall vegetables: beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, lettuce,…
 
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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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