tomatoes

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Time to celebrate the beauty of tomatoes! Right now they are in abundance. I have a number of different kinds of heirloom and hybrid varieties of all different colors and sizes. My favorite are the Brandywine and Giant Belgian, which are very similar. The Beefsteak are delicious and prolific too. My earliest tomato by far this year was Orange Blossom. The consensus around here is that this year has been a very bad year for tomatoes. Much too much rain. Even the best gardeners at my community garden say they…
 
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poison ivy at the community garden

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Well, it may not be a good year for tomatoes, but its a great year for poison ivy. It is thriving in all the rain here. Unfortunately, it seems like I got into a patch of it with my weed whacker. Oh my goodness. I’m itchy all over. Its on my hands and legs, my neck and face, even on my fingertips and palms. I took a photo, but will not post it as it is very ugly. I weed whacked the paths on Thursday, and by Friday the rash…
 
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growing fast – pumpkin, winter squash and gourds

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I have a remarkable giant pumpkin growing in my community garden. Its still dark green and hiding in the shadows next to my fence. But it gets bigger by the day. The variety is Big Rock, which produces fruit 20 lbs and larger. Oh my goodness. How will, I pick it up? Also growing well now is a big birdhouse gourd, hanging on the fence of my garden. And a couple Delicata squash, a sweet winter squash that I am growing for the first time this year.. Pumpkin — Cucurbitaceae…
 
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companions

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Here’s two of my garden companions this year. Yellow summer squash (Zephyr) and red nasturtiums. Both seem very happy with each other. Who can say if they’d be just as happy on their own, but I think they look nice together.Cucurbita pepo (squash)
 
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more weed wacking

 
 
It seems like an endless project. But Gretta told me recently that the will weeds slow down soon. Yes! Maintaining the grass paths at the community garden is my new volunteer project. They need to be weed wacked and mowed every few days. I manage to do it almost once a week. It sure does a job on my shoulder muscles! The reward is the smell of newly mowed grass. Ahhh. I ran into a Botany Professor from Harvard University today on the paths. He told me he is responsible…
 
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April to August

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Back in April of this year, I was assigned a plot at my local community garden. A high point for me. A new garden is an empty canvas, a new adventure, and a lot of work. Now its August. Four months have gone by very fast. It seems like a good time to put together a series of photos and see what’s what. Late June and early July were a time of rapid growth, lush and green. I was harvesting nice heads of lettuce, big radish, lots of fava beans,…
 
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aerial of my community plot

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This is as high up as I can reach with my camera to get an “aerial” photo. Its another dark wet day and so I did my best to enhance the lighting with PhotoShop. How about those ugly tomato plants. Arrgh! Not many leaves left. Septoria leaf spot is way out of control this year. I continue to dig potatoes from the open area at the right. Lots of them! I have a small area where I have dug all the potatoes and so I planted radish and carrots seeds…
 
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squash bread

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My evening activity is making zucchini/squash bread. (While watching the awesome Chinese Olympics opening!) I grated a pile of overgrown squash – the ones that I didn’t find until too late. My mom said to look for a car with an open window and put them in. But no, I grated them all. I ended up with a pile of baggies full that I froze. I have been reading through Marion Morash’s Victory Garden Cookbook again (I read this every year I think). Lots of squash ideas. I will try…
 
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aerial view of my home garden

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As usual, my garden path is wet since yet another rain storm is moving in this afternoon. I can’t remember when I have watered the garden this summer. A very wet year! I have lots of fall seedlings growing in pots now for the empty patches. Mostly greens will go here: arugula, endive, spinach, mesclun mix and many lettuce varieties. Can you spot my pumpkin under the big leaves at the right? Its just starting to turn orange. I’ll have to take its picture soon. The healthy patch of blue-green…
 
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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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