March 24, 2008

soil test

Today I’ll try to get some soil collected and start preparing it to send out for a soil test. I’ve never tested the bed adjacent to the house. Its important to check it for lead, as well as nutrients I may need to adjust. I’ll collect a small sample from 10 or 12 locations in the bed. They all get mixed together in a bowl and I’ll leave the bowl uncovered for a few days to dry out, stirring it now and then. Then one cup of the soil goes…

March 23, 2008

my seedlings on Easter morning

They are all growing very fast. The peppers came up today. The kale and escarole have their second set of leaves starting. The onions are straightening up. I move the trays around during the day to catch the best sunlight. Also, I am working on thinning out the more dense seedlings. After seeing Gretta’s nice individual plants that aren’t stretching out like mine, I am trying to do better at this though its hard to trow away cute little plants. I have almost 3 trays planted now – with 17…

March 22, 2008

planting record

I have a new link to my spring planting records. Its near the top of my sidebar. It lists what I’m planting, where, how much, and when it sprouts. You can see what’s sprouted today there. (Little broccolis just poked up this morning!)

March 21, 2008

CSA farm tour

Many thanks to Gretta for the wonderful tour of her CSA farm this afternoon. Gretta farms an acre of land here in Belmont MA and produces the most delicious and beautiful vegetables you have seen. Her hoop house is full of seedlings now. She has a lot more information at her site: Belmont CSA News. CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

March 21, 2008

new idea

My new idea is to start up a message board for vegetable gardeners who are located near me (Belmont, Cambridge, Arlington, Watertown, etc – Massachusetts). I ran into a nearby vegetable gardener today and together we wished there was a way to see what other gardeners were up to in this area. Also, tours of each others’ gardens would be fun. And we’d like to encourage new gardeners to put their soil to good use. I love having a blog and feeling connected with gardeners all over the world, but…

March 20, 2008

vernal equinox

Yippeee!! Its spring! The vernal equinox was/is at 5:48 EST March 20, 2008. We can now call the 2008 gardening season officially started!

March 19, 2008

seedlings in the window

Just a light dusting of snow.

March 19, 2008

pea planting

Well, I got my peas in on the day after St Pat’s Day. Not too bad. The soil in this area of my garden is really warm. Its right up against the south face of the house and gets full sun all day long, all winter. I’ll have to take my soil thermometer out there soon, just out of curiosity. My raised beds, which are further from the house and shaded by a neighboring house 24/7 during the winter, are still mostly frozen. Last year I had to wait ’til…

March 18, 2008

planting records

This is my planting record for the year 2008. I started seeds indoors in trays inside in front of a big south facing window. Midway through growing I added some indoor plant lights. I did my first outdoor sowing on March 18! Peas and fava beans. I have added information on sowing and transplanting dates, planting location (home garden or community plot) and comments on crop quality (poor, OK, GREAT etc)Indoor SeedingMarch 7: Onions, Yellow Sweet Spanish (4 small trays), sprouted March 17 (10 days), POORKale, Red Russian (1 small…

March 18, 2008

vote for your favorite garden blog awards

Another sign of spring! It’s time for best blog voting. Here’s the link for this year’s Mouse & Trowel Awards. I wish they had a category for best vegetable garden journal with a cute black dog! I love how those nice award icons look on the winning blogs. I am looking forward to voting for the blogs I enjoy most. Of course, I am biased to the vegetable oriented ones. My favorites are on my sidebar. Good luck all! sure signs of spring

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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