today’s garden work – clearing the blueberry patch

 
 
Today I cleared my blueberry patch. I pulled ferns and weeds and trimmed rhododendrons back to leave a cleared ring of about two feet around each bush. I dug up the prolific (and beautiful) native plox, piled it in a wheelbarrow and will relocate it tomorrow. The bushes look much better. If the berries start to ripen, I have bird netting ready to use. I did the clearing because my new blueberries seem to have “mummy berry”. Bummer. I was thinking the berry patch could have native ferns and wild…
 
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rain, yeah!!

 
 
After nearly an entire month with no rain, we have a 3-day rain storm! Yeah! It should soak deep into the ground and perk up my plants. (And it gives me a chance to catch up on indoor stuff, like my blog.) These seedlings got flooded in the first hour of our 3-day storm. I moved them out of the trays right after the photo, so they are fine now. Before the rain, I was sending up clouds of dust when I walked in my garden paths at my community…
 
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bee notes

 
 
For the past 5 weeks, Siri has recorded my bee notes for me. A good idea in theory, BUT I’m going to switch to an old-fashioned paper and pen notebook. Aside from my cell phone getting streaked with bee’s wax, its hard for me to translate what Siri records. Here’s my best translation from yesterday’s hive check: I’m checking my beehives. It’s early Monday morning, Memorial day. An over overcast morning and the smells are so amazing. The smell of flowers is heavy in the air (and burgers??). I’m going…
 
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freight farming?

 
 
Have you read about freight farming? In Boston, this is where food may be coming from now. Wow. This is the future! Freight cars transformed into aquaponic vegetable gardens. Lights, nutrients all delivered artificially. It removes the variables of weather, airborne disease spores and sunlight availability. Amazing. As an outdoor gardener, I question this approach. Do we want to eat vegetables raised in a “freight car” environment? Yes, I do buy the aquaponic tomatoes and lettuce in the grocery store IN THE WINTER in New England. But has our environment…
 
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in the paper: effort to save bees, butterflies

 
 
This was in the Boston Globe yesterday. (link to article) US effort attempting to save bees, butterflies The Obama administration hopes to save the bees by feeding them better. A new federal plan aims to reverse America’s declining honeybee and monarch butterfly populations by making millions of acres of federal land more bee-friendly, spending millions of dollars more on research, and considering the use of fewer pesticides. While putting different types of landscapes along highways, federal housing projects, and elsewhere may not sound like much in terms of action, several…
 
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organic potting mix

 
 
This year I used an organic potting mix for the first time. I didn’t realize that it would be any different and forgot I had made the change. When I bought the soil, I was really happy that the big bags sold at Costco were organic. Later I began to wonder why my tomatoes weren’t growing as fast and were pale. The onions got yellow at the tips. Some things grew just as well: the peas and even the peppers. The main problem was really the tomatoes. In addition to…
 
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bee notes

 
 
On Monday’s I do my hive checks. For now I’m doing these checks weekly.
 
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garden work

 
 
At my community plot: Dug potato trenches and planted 2 lb Canela russets Turned the winter rye cover under in three beds Moved perennials so the big helianthis is now behind the daisy and echinacea Transplanted leeks, shallots, bunching onions and lots of standard onions Watered everything well (its a dust bowl here today! no rain in weeks)
 
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time to think about fall planting?

 
 
I was amazed to see that it’s time to plant Brussels sprouts next week. Time to start fall planting! I’ve tried to plant Brussels sprouts the last two years and ended up with tiny sprouts hardly worth cooking at Thanksgiving time. I suppose the trick is to get the seeds planted at the right time. Skippy’s fall planting app lists planting times for 25 crops. For $0.99, Skippy’s Fall Planting Calendar App is available at the Apple store. Fall planting is also included in the Full Season app. Click on…
 
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garden work

 
 
At my community plot:  Emptied my compost bin Spread ripe compost onto beds Returned unripe materials back to bin Transplanted Johnny-Jump-Ups out of potato bed Transplanted asparagus to a sunnier bed Mulched and watered transplanted asparagus Removed stray strawberry plants (Gave away strawberry and asparagus plants 🙂 Turned potato bed – ready to plant! At my backyard garden: Raked turned beds flat Finished fall leaf clean up Planted broccoli, cabbage, escarole, radicchio and lettuce Watered transplants Covered broccoli and cabbage with row cover
 
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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

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