my new project – helping to start up a Donation Garden

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I’ve gotten together with a group of gardener friends who have free time since we can’t do much of anything now. There likely won’t be any food shortages due to the corona virus, but there is always a need for fresh vegetables. We have found a nice piece of land that will be loaned to us. We’ll grow food crops and donate our produce to local food pantries. We plan to donate mostly to the Natick and Framingham pantries. I don’t know how we’ll get everything done yet. We’re working…
 
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my new sprouter

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I got a new sprouter from Amazon. It’s a Gardens Alive 2-tier sprouter, about $15. I really like it. No complaints. Unfortunately it’s not available on Amazon anymore. It seems like there aren’t many (only 1?) sprouters left on Amazon. I also ordered a few mesh lids that you screw onto a Mason jar. I haven’t received them yet. I used my old mung beans again for the batch I have going now. It looks like they will be ready for our salad tomorrow. Our salad might end up being…
 
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a dusting of snow

 
 
A little bit of snow on my garden. I thought it looked pretty. It will go away soon as we are expecting lots of rain tonight. I don’t think we have had snow here since last Nonmember and December. What an unusual winter and spring.
 
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growing sprouts and microgreens

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Last week I experimented with growing my own sprouts. I got out two mason jars, some cheese cloth, rubber bands, and some mung bean and radish seeds that I had in the back of the cabinet. I washed the seeds, soaked them for 8 hours, then drained the water and put the jars in a dark cabinet. About three times a day I rinsed the seeds. Five days later, we had some delicious sprouts. Easy. Now I am going to start up another batch. I went ahead and bought a…
 
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my chickens – rooster and hatching

 
 
I have several projects going on while I am “sheltering in place” from the corona virus outbreak. One is working on my flock of chickens. I gave away my big black Cochin rooster this morning. He was too big for my coop and my little hens. And too noisy for our neighborhood. I am getting my gardens raked out and mulched tomorrow (if landscape companies are exempt for today’s new ban on non-essential companies) and I will start seeding grass. That big rooster was just too big to stay cooped…
 
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seedlings in my hoop house

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I planted lots of Brassicaceae (cabbage-family) seeds a week ago. They are all cute little sprouts now. They are down in my hoop house with onion, beet, parsley, spinach, and lettuce seedlings. It’s cool, in the 40’s (F), outside today but bright sunshine. The hoop house is at 80F. My husband ran power down there the other day, so my fan is kicking in when the temperature gets to 80. I love to be able to tend seedlings in on the hoop house benches rather than inside on my shelve…
 
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vegetables that grow fast

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It’s a tough time. I’m in eastern Massachusetts, where we have many cases of new coronovirus and we know it’s going to get much worse. My husband and I are staying at home. There are empty store shelves here. Most people are staying at home. I looked up what I can grow at home the fastest. It’s just the start of the spring growing season in New England. It’s a very mild spring and many cold hardy crops can go in now, but it will take a couple months to…
 
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a garden workbench

 
 
This is a beautiful brand new bench that a friend of mine has. Her husband just finished building it for her. How lucky!! I love this. She’s already making good use of it.
 
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sowing peppers, eggplants, and marigolds

 
 
  I am up late tonight planting. I put in three trays of seeds. 20 6-pks, 30 varieties. It feels so nice to put tiny seeds in a cushion of moist soil and nutrients and think about how they will look mid summer. The peppers need 80F warmth to germinate so two of my three trays will get special attention on a heat mat. Soon I’ll get the varieties that I planted listed on the page “Skippy’s Garden Info” at the top of this blog. I will add this new…
 
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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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