more horse manure

5 Comments
 
 
I collected another wheelbarrow full of horse manure for my garden today. I’m pleased to be accumulating a good layer of this. The good news is that Skippy refrained from eating it today. The bad news is that he decided to roll in it. It seems to be very cool stuff to a dog. Does he look a bit embarrassed in this photo? At least he’s clean. horse manure for the garden
 
MORE

dried flowers

1 Comment
 
 
I didn’t collect any of these seeds, but they will probably reseed themselves: sunflower, morning glory, anise hyssop and rudbeckia.
 
MORE

crop list for 2009

16 Comments
 
 
Here’s my list of vegetables and varieties for my next year’s garden. I’m still editing this list. Asparagus (crowns): Jersey Supreme F1(J)Basil: Nufar(J)Beans, green: Provider bush(J), Fortex pole(l/o), Chinese pole(s), Royal Burgundy(J)Beans, shell: Flagrano (l/o), Black Turtle Soup (l/o), Tongue of Fire (l/o)Beets: Lutz (l/o), Chiogga (l/o), White Detroit (SH)Broccoli: Green Sprouting Calabrese (l/o), Blue Wind (J), Marathon (J)Cabbage: Alcosa (J), Super Red 80 (J)Carrots: Mokum(J), Oxheart(SH), Carnival Blend(BI), Saint Valery(SH), Bolero(J)Celeriac: Brilliant (J)Collard greens: Top Bunch (J)Corn: Faribo White Hulless Popcorn (SH)Cilantro: Santo (J)Cucumbers: Tokiwa(SH), Straight Eight(l/o), Sumter pickling(l/o),…
 
MORE

winter CSA distribution

5 Comments
 
 
With no vegetables from my garden to photograph, I took pictures of my winter half-distribution from Belmont CSA. Beautiful roots, fluffy kale, gnarly celeriac, plump happy butternuts and ears of popcorn like iridescent pearls. Gretta said most of these crops were stored a while in a root cellar. Only the kale is freshly picked. These photos show my half of the December CSA distribution – I share with a neighbor. At $100 per half share, which included 3 distributions (Oct, Nov and Dec), its been a SUPER value. Quality, freshness…
 
MORE

cheers! a winter martini with … radishes!

3 Comments
 
 
I still have a million (almost) radish in my fridge from my garden. They are still great in martinis. Cheers! Actually I have about 20 radishes left. I’m pleased they’re keeping so well. I was afraid they’d be in the compost bin by now because we only eat about 1/2 a day, at most. These martinis have two olives, a radish slice and a Peppadew pepper – red, white and green for Christmas. Topic: martini!radish (Raphanus sativus)
 
MORE

winter reading

8 Comments
 
 
Here is my bookshelf. I bought most of these back in the fall when it started to look like winter was coming after all. Unfortunately, I’m an incredibly slow reader. I pick up a book and by the time I figure out where I left off, I fall asleep. I’ve been reading Micheal Pollen’s Omnivore’s Dilemma” forever now. It seems a steamy romantic novel should follow this…. Don’t see any of those on this shelf. Oh well. Not sure which I will pick up next.
 
MORE

dreary December

4 Comments
 
 
Its such a dark and dreary time. The sun sets at 4:15 now. And with the thick cloud cover it is truly gloomy. Many parts of Massachusetts had a serious ice storm last night and will be without power for days. But just rain here – buckets and buckets full of rain. I haven’t been in a garden in many days, but took some time this morning to go out and photograph in the mud. I took photos of my community plot, my home garden and Gretta’s farm. My community…
 
MORE

changing temperatures

5 Comments
 
 
Remember how deep the snow used to be in the winter? Often way up over my head. Snow forts, giant icicles, snow angels…. Giant snow drifts reached up to our garage roof making us a big white snow slide. Of course we were all younger and smaller then …… But recently I don’t remember much snow. Only a few days here and there with good sledding or solid ice on the pond. My son had NO snow days last year. This graph published in the Boston Globe yesterday shows winter…
 
MORE

Arizona reminder

 
 
My sister gave me several cacti and succulents in brightly painted pots to bring home from my visit to Arizona. A wart plant (Titanopsis calcareum) on my kitchen window sill opens several yellow flowers in our dim sunlight and closes them again at night. Thanks Sis! Here’s a link to Sunset with a post on my nice gift!garden gifts
 
MORE

Chihully garden photos

1 Comment
 
 
Thanks to Fresh Dirt at Sunset for their nice article on the Phoenix Chihully exhibit. Their article has more information on this show – AND one of my photos 🙂 My Chihully photos are here.
 
MORE

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

Make your own customized planting calendar. Try out my app!
Apple/iOS

My garden this week

Browse by topic

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."

Posts by the month

August 2026
S M T W T F S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  

 

 

 

Website by:
Verve Marketing Group

Menu