August 4, 2012

fading summer plants

A number of my summer plants are fading now. The potato plants have all turned brown and I have cut off most. It will take me several weeks to dig them all, but once the bed is harvested, I will add compost and then plant garlic here in early October. All of my summer squashes are at different stages of succumbing to fungi and root borers. I remove leaves when they yellow or turn white with mildew. The Zephyr squash in the photo has been wilted for a week and…

August 3, 2012

volunteer squash

Here’s the fruit on the volunteer squash plant that came up in the middle of my onion patch. Looks yummy! A big buttercup. Another one is forming now. The vine is enormous. I think I may save seeds from these vigourous squashes. (Then I can pant them where I want them next year.)

August 3, 2012

onion harvest

I pulled these yesterday before the rain. The rain cleaned them for me. I’ll let them cure in the sun here a few days so they store well. Most are not as big as I hoped since I let the big volunteer squash grow in the middle of their bed.

August 2, 2012

photos of rain drops

fennel and basil dahlia and leeks lettuce and parsnips dill beets and borage broccoli and sunflower nasturtium and muddy baby chili asparagus happy muddy radish and carrot seedlings

July 29, 2012

garden work

I did a lot of work today to remove fungi damage. Squash leaves at the base of plants, especially zucchini and butternut, were white and fuzzy. I removed and bagged these. The pruning made it easier to find and pick squashes and weed under the plants. My potatoes ares quickly dying back now. I removed the plants from my red potatoes and bagged these rather than composting just to be safe. I also removed tomato leaves with leaf spot damage. It’s a super year for tomatoes – plants are big…

July 28, 2012

July photos of my gardens

This is my side yard garden. The beds are getting sun about 11 am to 2:30 pm now because of trees to the east and west. But is is really sheltered and warm here, especially in the open cold frame against the south wall of the house. And this is my community plot – with completely full sun.

July 25, 2012

late blight

I just got back from spraying my tomato plants. We had a little rain yesterday and I’ve been spraying with a copper fungicide after every rain to protect against late blight. My plants look really good this year, so I’m hoping for a good harvest before the blight comes in. The latest info on tomato blight is at this site: http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/alerts/late-blight-alert-update Late blight was spotted early this year, July 3, in some commercial tomato fields near my garden and in other parts of the New England. But it seems that…

July 25, 2012

what is this?

This is a wetland plant from the meadow near my garden. Can anyone help me ID it?

July 23, 2012

fall and winter seedlings

I planted a tray of fall seedlings a couple weeks ago (July 7). I have kept them indoors under lights. Today I brought them outside to start getting used to full sunlight. Beets, Chiogga Guardsmark Beets, Round Red Merlin Beets, White Detroit Cabbage, Pac Choi, Mei Qing Choi Cabbage, Pac Choi, Win-Win Choi Cabbage, Red, Super Red 80 Cilantro, Calypso Endive, Dubuisson Escarole, Natacha Lettuce, Butterhead Green, Ermosa Lettuce, Butterhead Red, Skyphos Lettuce, Looseleaf Green, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Summer Crisp Green, Nevada Lettuce, Summer Crisp Red, Teide The beets…

July 21, 2012

my plant list

I put together a list of the varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruits I am growing this year. Vegetables Asparagus, Jersey Supreme Asparagus, Purple Passion Beans, Bush, Provider Beans, Bush, Royal Burgundy Beans, Bush French filet, Maxibel Beans, Bush Italian flat, Jumbo Beans, Bush Italian flat, Roma Beans, Pole, Orient Wonder Beans, Pole, Scarlet Emporer Beans, Pole, Shung Wang’s Beans, seeds given to me, I save and grow each year Beets, Pink, Chiogga Guardsmark Beets, Red, Bull’s Blood Beets, Red, Cylindra Beets, Red, Early Wonder Beets, Red, Red Ace Beets,…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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