September 12, 2014

garden aerial

I’m hoping this is an “in-between time” and that once again this year the garden will be full. I have lots of fall seedlings planted. Weather permitting. It looks like the last “ladder” photo I posted, but I’ve planted lots of little fall seedlings since then.

September 8, 2014

pullets join hens

I have big news about my little pullets. They have joined the big hens in the coop! Yeah pullets! Every day at about 4 or 5 pm, I’ve been letting the new pullets out of their dog crate to roam free. They forage in the woods and generally stay under cover. I used to let the big hens out regularly too, some times all day, but, after seeding the lawn, we found they were eating so much grass seed that I kept them in their coop. Well, now the seed…

September 8, 2014

a perfect late summer day

It was a fantastic day for a Garden Tour! Sunny, low humidity, low 80’s. The fall garden colors are approaching. And the late summer harvests are in full swing. I have to admit that our Gardens did not get much of the Garden Tour traffic. We’re the outsiders. We got a couple visitors. But our new-effort fund raising did quite well with just the standard Meadow walking traffic. Most walkers seemed happy to consider a donation or to buy T-shirt. Our Garden fees pay for upkeep of the Meadow, Parking…

September 6, 2014

preparing for our Garden Tour

There is a local Garden Tour that includes our community Gardens this Sunday afternoon. Woo-hoo! Come visit us! Sustainable Belmont has organized the event and it includes a number of local organic gardens. Our community garden is the first stop on the Tour. There are many exciting gardens on the tour. The Green Garden Tour – September 7th, 12-3 pm Come visit some of the most sustainable gardens in Belmont and talk with their miracle-workers! You will find everything from hoop-houses to compost know-how; beautiful perennials to delicious annuals…and yes,…

September 2, 2014

late summer garden cleanup

What a beautiful Labor Day weekend! Here’s my new garden. I put a ladder out in the yard and did what I could to get a good perspective. Its hard to do as good as that second floor window over my garden that I used to have. But this new garden is awesome. Its teaching me all sorts of things about growing vegetables and getting a new garden up and going. This weekend I pulled dead pea vines, spring broccoli plants, early bean plantings and about half of my cucumber…

September 1, 2014

so happy about Ecotulips

I got the checkout to work at Ecotulips!! I placed a nice order – its making me think about Spring. I even got a 10% off coupon code to work. Yippee. Their shipping rate for my big order was only $5, pretty good. And I feel good that I am saving the bees and buying tulips grown without chemicals. I think I was probably just too tired last night to type an order form properly.

September 1, 2014

so annoyed

EcoTulips made the cover of Organic Gardenng Magazine and I loved the article and photos … BUT then I spent a hour tonight trying to place an order and I can’t get the website to work… Can’t even find an email to ask for help. Too bad, as the article looked nice, it’s time to order tulip bulbs, and I love organic. I’ll probably buy locally, but not organic, tomorrow.

August 31, 2014

new winter harvest calendar

To improve on my timing for winter harvest crops, I’ve added a Winter Planting Calendar to my online planting calendar. I added a link on the sidebar and here too: Winter Planting Calendar. I was reading on the Johnny’s Seeds website: Winter harvest crops are planted in late summer or early fall for harvest throughout the winter. … for harvest before and during the “Persephone Period,” when day length is less than 10 hours and plant growth essentially reaches a standstill. You can look up when daylight falls below 10…

August 30, 2014

making pickles!

I don’t have much experience making pickles, but I’m putting up as much as I can this year. I got the Ball Home Preserving Book (edited by Judi Kingry & Lauren Devine). In the past couple weeks I’ve made: Dilled Beans End of the Garden Pickles Grandma’s Dill Pickles Not from this book, I’ve also made: Blue Ribbon Dill Pickles Annie’s Salsa Half Sour Pickles Deli Style, these were too salty for us and went to the compost My favorite pickle recipe so far: NY Times Sour Pickles, a fantastic,…

August 30, 2014

hen pecked pullets

My two new pullets still aren’t getting on so well with the big hens. I’ve had the pullets two weeks now. They’ve been staying in a dog crate next to my coop. I let all four hens out to forage for several hours on most days. The big hens will tolerate the small ones at about 5 feet away. They also tend to keep them away from food bowls and the coop area once they’re out. The pullets like to forage in the woods and they can escape the big…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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