my little horseradish plant

 
 
I’ve got a little horseradish plant in the back corner of my garden. It’s the first time I’ve tried growing this. I looked up information on horseradish culture and it sounds like I should let it grow another year before I harvest some of the offshoots. When grown as an annual, it requires a long growing season. It needs warm temperatures during the summer growing season and cooler temperatures in the late summer and fall to enhance root development. In the annual system, the crop is usually planted in the…
 
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good weather for greens

 
 
It was such a nice warm day today (in the 60’s). Well, rainy, but I’m sure my garden plants thought it was nice. I opened up my plastic hoop tunnel to give it some air. Lettuce at the front edge is showing signs of damage from the several icy cold nights we’ve had. Other than that, all is looking good for the Thanksgiving salad bowl.
 
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bok choi recipes

 
 
Again I have LOTS of bok choi. I just love the flavor of it and how nice it looks in the garden. Tonight I am thinking about how to prepare it. My usual recipe is to sauté minced garlic and ginger, maybe adding a dried chili pepper, in a high heat oil like peanut or sunflower. Then I add the coarsley chopped stems of bok choi and stir fry a few minutes. Next I add coarsley chopped bok choi leaves and stir ’til they wilt. Then I add some corn…
 
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a give away!! – guess how many red chilis and win seed packet necklace

 
 
I’m excited to give something to my readers. I’ve gotten a lot from everyone: ideas, advice, friendship and just the pleasure of chatting about gardens. I hope I give gardeners information and encouragement, especially new gardeners. Maybe even inspiration. I think it’s important that we’re close to the earth and find simple ways to do things. And it’s so rewarding to grow food. Anyway, I was given a beautiful “seed packet” necklace by Shari Dixon. She’s an artist who incorporates flowers and herbs into her hand crafted jewelry. My pendent…
 
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greens in plastic tunnel after a night at 22*F

 
 
I went to my garden to check on the plants after an icy cold night. Everything looks surprisingly good. Even greens outside of the plastic tunnel. I picked the last head of the lettuce growing outside. Its a big head of green butterhead was covered in lightweight row cover. There is some uncovered bok choi that I will remember to pick and eat for dinner tomorrow. Our next salads will come from the tunnel.
 
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chicken cam soon?

 
 
I’m researching a web cam for my chicken coop. That will be fun! I will post it here. Then we will ALL be able to see what they are doing instead of laying eggs! Yes, still no eggs from any of the four hens. Its been since September, 2 months now without any eggs. Ii does look like my 1 year old hens molted, but that’s done now. And the new pullets are definitely old enough to lay by now. I have a light that comes on at 4 am…
 
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update – where have I been …..

 
 
I am so far behind on my blog, partly because I am doing so much gardening now!! Gardening at this time of year! Brr. (Also, my Dad’s a bit under the weather and I have been with him a bit 🙁 But I have a few hours today and will do what I can to catch up here.
 
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potatoes in storage are sprouting

 
 
I’ve been storing my potatoes in the kitchen since I have no basement or garage (yet). Its usually 65-70*F in here, and warmer sometimes. Potatoes are ideally stored at 35-40*F for long term storage. So I plugged in a small refrigerator, sorted my potatoes by variety (I have All Blue, Burbank russet, and Yukon Gold), found three old mesh vegetable bags I saved, bagged them up and popped them in the fridge. This reminds, me – I should go check on them now…. they’re good. I ended up with SO…
 
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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

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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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