October 28, 2016

tallying my homegrown versus store bought vegetables

I’ve weighed all the vegetables and fruits in our house now and here’s what I’ve come up with: Garden grown: 221 lbs Store bought: 98 lbs Proportion of home grown: 69% Wow. I had no idea. This includes 34 lbs of my winter squash, 19 lbs potatoes, 11 qts canned tomatoes, 75 pints of other canned fruits or vegetables and 24 lbs of fresh tomatoes ripening on my counter. I’ll put the tally on my sidebar. I’ll keep track as we buy and grow for a year. I know the…

October 28, 2016

how much of my family’s vegetables do I grow?

I write in my header for this blog that my goal is to grow all of my family’s vegetables. I never actually figured out what amount I do grow and if I am getting better – or worse… In my Gardening class yesterday, Roger Swain said that NE grows only about 7% of our local food and the rest we import from elsewhere. We have so much land we could use, but we don’t. He said home gardeners don’t really contribute a significant amount – and we could. In 1944,…

October 27, 2016

true black brandywine tomato

My favorite slicing tomato this year is definitely the True Black Brandywine. It’s a beautiful fruit. More productive than my regular Brandywines. And it tastes incredibly good. Either just plain, or with mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. Or layered on top of an eggplant with cheese, basil and olive oil then broiled to tenderness. This tomato is sold by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I don’t think it’s really black – it has dark green shoulders. Dark green shoulders are the result of a gene that prevents the breakdown of chlorophyll,…

October 26, 2016

update – October has been keeping me busy

Oh gee, I meant to post regularly and here again, I’ve gone a long time without posting. So much is going on. (I’ll fill in some back posts soon.) I’ve been getting good harvests regularly, still. Lot’s of lettuce. Also beans, summer squash, and peppers. All the green tomatoes I picked two weeks ago (thinking we were getting a hard frost), are on my kitchen counter and rapidly ripening. I make sauce every time I get a bowlful of ripe ones. We use that in a few days, or freeze…

October 25, 2016

The leaves on the beech trees in my back yard have turned to gold. The sun is rising and shining on them. My garden is still shaded in the lower left corner of the photo. It’ll get sun soon.

October 16, 2016

today’s garden work

We haven’t had a frost yet in my backyard garden, though many locations around us have frosted. Today I got a lot done: – picked a big pile of beans, then pulled up and composted a row that is finished – picked the last of my green tomatoes and peppers – we tried to pick them all a couple days ago when a frost threatened, but seems we didn’t get all of them in the dark with our flashlights – harvested a watermelon, zucchinis, one tiny cucumber, and a couple…

October 13, 2016

the Topsfield fair – giant pumpkin!

I went to the big fall fair in our area last Saturday – the Topsfield Fair. It’s THE place to see displays of local produce. Especially the biggest pumpkin in the area (why do people grow these?). I walked around and enjoyed the smell of fired dough and roasted sausages. I looked at the leather and sliver jewellery sale booths. I used to go to all the rides and games booths, but skipped them this year. Already big crowds, even early in the morning. Best, I went to the vegetable…

October 11, 2016

how I make and use pole and string tomato supports

The season is fading and I can see my garden structures again. My husband designed these tomato supports for me and I’ve used then probably 10 years now. I used to make tepees out of 10-ft 1×1 inch poles. That worked OK, but poles and string are less work, support the vines better, and give better air flow. Here’s what I do to set up and use pole and string tomato supports. Side support materials: Two 5-ft metal fence poles Two 8-ft wood posts, 2×3 in, with a hole in…

October 11, 2016

frost predicted

Right on schedule – Oct 10 – a frost is predicted tonight. I thought it would be late this year, but no, right on time. In the dusk, my husband and I picked all my green tomatoes and peppers, plus a few squash, watermelons, zucchinis, and one eggplant. We covered the beans and lettuce with row covers. It doesn’t seem cold enough for a frost to me, but it’s predicted so we’ll see. My counters are covered with baskets! Peppers are in a trug on the floor. We’ll roast and…

October 10, 2016

garlic sources for planting

I’ve been asked me where I buy garlic and for other sources so I thought I’d post this list again. I posted it last October too. Here’s the list of garlic seed sources that people have recommended in response to my post a few days ago. They look awesome! I can’t wait to try out some. If you have a source you like, let me know and I’ll add it. Pacific Northwest: Filaree Garlic Farm – So many! This source was seconded and thirded! Washington State Adaptive Seeds: Good selection,…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost