my winter bed in May
I’ll be emptying this bed out soon. Tomatoes will go here for the summer. For now, I’ve left kale and collards to flower for the bees. They love them.
planting cabbages, brocccoli and bok choi
Finally! I’ve gotten the compost down to the garden (actually my husband did that for me – thank you, Steve!), spread and turn it. Then we hooked up the hose to get some water down to the garden. The brassica bed was ready for planting, so yesterday the plants went in! I have so many seedlings waiting to be planted that I’m so happy to be getting some planted. After planting and watering, I covered the bed with row cover to protect the plants from cabbage worms. I planted three…
new asparagus bed
Here’s my new asparagus bed. The sprouts are up, so I layered on another 2 inches of soil/compost mix today. I’ll add another 2 inches in a few days. The plants should have 5 inches of soil above the crowns. I squeezed my asparagus row between the fence and a raised bed. There was too much room there to let it go empty, but it’s a difficult place for planting. Hard to access. Also, the soil of the lawn below is rocky, compacted, and nutrient-poor. When planting, I layered on…
sprouted potatoes
After 3 weeks of sprouting on my window sill, this is how my potatoes look. No, I did not sit and watch them the whole time. 😉 Tomorrow, I have two potato planting events scheduled. I’ll help the kids at the Wheelock School in Medfield MA plant their potatoes and then I’ll go to my community garden plot and plant my own potatoes. It’s potato planting time!!
today’s garden work
rake edges of front lawn and clear out winter fallen branches mow, lime and fertilize lawns haul 2 truckloads of branches to Town DPW finish mulching the back cottoneaster and peony bed fertilize my blueberry bushes I think I can start on my vegetable garden next!!! Yeah. It’s about time. My Master Gardener class this week was given by a professional landscape designer. I could definitely relate when she said a goal of design is to minimize the amount of lawn and the amount of mulched beds! I’ve spent 2…
Master Gardener help line
I’m working as a volunteer at the Mass Horticulture Master Gardener help line tomorrow. It’s open MWF, 10-2 EST. Give us a call if you have a garden question. I’m just a student still and will be in the background helping out. The certified master gardener will answer the line. Phone: 1-617-993-4929. Or email us at mghelpline@masshort.org.
spring garden work
-cleaning out perrennial beds -spreading bark mulch -fertilizing lawns -preparing vegetable beds I had a giant pile of bark mulch delivered in my driveway. I’m cleaning out my perrennial beds and then spreading the mulch. A deep brown color. I’m almost finished with this. Today I bought fertilizer for my next yard project. I have several areas of lawns to fertilize. They’re thick with dandelions and other weeds so I’m busy pulling weeds before fertilizing. I did soil tests and one area needs lime and phosphate along with nitrogen. Other…
planting asparagus
I am SO busy with my Gardening Class added to spring planting on top of my usual work, but the asparagus I ordered arrived in the mail yesterday – so, it’s time to plant asparagus! I need to move a few wheelbarrows full of compost over to the bed I have planned for them, turn it under, then plant the crowns. Last time I planted asparagus, I set the crowns in wrong. I dug them up and replanted them. So this is my second time planting crowns and I’ll know…
Mom’s garden
My mom’s garden looks pretty good. I planted winter rye that did very well over the winter. I am gradually working on turning it under. I planted Super Sugar Snap peas at the far end of this photo and have branches in for support. Mom’s garlic looks really good. It’s about the 3rd or 4th year now that I have used a portion of her harvest for replanting.
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
My garden this week
Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!
