looking back

 
 
I wanted to see how different our weather is from previous years: 2009, Was a very cold and snowy winter. Snow was gone in most areas and my soil was workable by March 15. 2010, I planted peas on March 17, nice workable soil, no sign of snow. 2011, All of our snow melted the week of March 13 and by March 20 the soil was workable, crocuses, bluebirds, all that… 2012, My peas were planted on March 17 and UP on March 28, the last snow melted the first…
 
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the first day of spring

 
 
cheers to spring! I don’t have any fresh garden vegetables left for my martinis. All that’s left from my garden are pickles – pickled cukes, peppers and beans. They’re chilling in the snow.
 
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it’s spring!!

 
 
I’m writing this as I’m down in my backyard checking on my garden. I’m pretty disappointed. The bed I turned for my peas with high hopes of planting this weekend is now frozen solid. It’s rock hard. I can’t get the shovel out of the soil. I would say I’m not feeling real good about shoveling any more snow from my garden. Not when it can freeze up again so fast. I checked the straw bale I was hoping would be a good method for planting early. It feels ice…
 
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seed swap – old and new seeds

 
 
We had a fun seed swap at my community garden last evening. I forgot to take a picture of us. We had seed packages spread out all over a big table and we were like little kids Christmas morning. We rifled through packets, took a bit of this and a bit of that, and talked about the varieties. I’ve always wondered how a seed swap works. We’ve never had one, though people had asked for one, because I just didn’t understand how to set it up. Well this is how…
 
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Happy St Patrick’s Day – turning my pea bed soil

 
 
I was able to get a shovel into the soil of my pea bed yesterday. Most of the soil is thawed and draining and the bed is no longer filled with mud. There’s still some ice underneath at the edges. Especially the south edge where snow blocks a bit of sunlight. Some of the ice I was able to break and turn to expose to the sun, a bit of it was too solid for the shovel. I turned under most the scrawny cover of rye grass. I think this…
 
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have you tried Feedly?

 
 
I know, probably old news, but I just found Feedly and its a great way to surf the blogs. (while we’re waiting for the snow to melt…) Here’s Skippy’s Garden.
 
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Boston breaks its all-time snow fall record!

 
 
As of tonight, Boston officially has had 108.6 inches (9.05 ft, 2.76 meters) of snow this season, topping a all previous records back to 1872. I was trying to find the snowfall total for the western suburbs of the city, where my garden is, as we have gotten quite a bit more than Boston. I’ll add it here if I find it. Like everyone else in the area, I’m thinking: “All right already! Let’s have Spring now!!” The Boston Globe wrote last week that, given the amount of snow cover…
 
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Skippy’s Spring Calendar App

 
 
ITS TIME TO PLANT SEEDS! Make it easy with Skippy’s Spring Calendar – a NEW mobile app for seed planting App is based on the calendar I created in 2009 that’s used by over 10,000 gardeners a year, including agriculture schools, community gardens and home gardeners. It allows you to create YOUR PERSONAL CALENDAR, including sowing dates for indoor and direct planting, transplanting dates and succession sowing dates. App is:      – written by gardeners      – tested by gardeners      – actively supported … leave your comments here     …
 
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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

Flickr

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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