Ready, Set, Grow

I got up early on Sunday morning to head to Russell's Garden Center so that I could buy everything needed to get my garden going for the season. I wanted to beat the traffic and the crowds, since it was going to be another beautiful day in Boston.  I also knew that I had a long day ahead of me since I had not quite yet finished prepping the beds.  In addition to my "standard" list of veggies (with a few new varieties thrown in), my goal was to vary my raised beds this year with some flowers.  I am very fortunate to have extra space this year, as my friend is not able to garden in her 6' x 3' bed.  I was incredibly overwhelmed by the vast amount of flower varieties, but ultimately ended up going with a few favorites that will hopefully make nice arrangements throughout the summer. Here is what I ended up with...

Veggies/Herbs
Cucumber - Burpee Gold Standard Hybrid
Tomato - Sugary (grape), Sunsugar
Eggplant - Black Beauty
Pepper - Valencia
Sweet Basil
Rosemary

Flowers
Argyranthemum - white & pink
Dahlla
Coneflower
Snapdragon
Cosmos
Zinnia

After a lot more work prepping the beds and refreshing the "square foot" lines with new string, I planted got everything planted.  In addition, I planted the three grafted tomato varieties I had ordered from Burpee (Bradywine and two San Marzano) and sowed one row of the following:
Carrot - Little Finger, Danvers
Bean - Kentucky Wonder, Pole

Since I am always looking for new tips and tricks, I decided to try the "Tomato and Pepper Automator Trays."  I have to say that they were a little awkward to set up, but I am hoping that they give my two Grafted San Marzano plants an extra boost.

Overall, I am really excited for my garden this year and to see the transformation as everything grows. Who knows if the flowers will eventually overshadow the veggie plants, but I tried to place them as best I could based on sun pattern, and all I can do is hope for the best.  With rain the past two days, hopefully everything will adjust to their new home.

5.20.2012

Commencement

This past weekend seemed to be all about commencement. One of the great volunteer opportunities I have in working at a college is assisting at the annual graduation ceremony. For the second year in a row I signed up to be a "marshal," someone assigned to lead/direct a row of students during the commencement activities. Although a bit stressful at times, it is such a great opportunity to share the day with students. It also means that I have to look the part - wearing the whole outfit: black robe, a hood with my grad school's colors, and even the hat with tassel! Saturday's ceremony was ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, and everyone was thankful that the weather cooperated.

Immediately following the commencement ceremony, I went over to Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, MA to buy a majority of the vegetables I wanted to plant this year. I had everything calculated and planned out - expect for a few varieties of tomatoes. There are many varieties to choose from, but I just picked a few based on wanting a combination of cherry, paste and slicing tomatoes - with some 'new to me' varieties. I am very excited to have the 2011 growing season officially commence. This is what I came home with:

• Marigold (Durango Orange, Durango Outback Mix, Bonanza Yellow)
• Tomato (Italian Ice, Jet Star, San Marzano, Sunsugar, Better Boy)
• Basil (Sweet)
• Cucumber (Diva, Northern Pickling)
• Tomatillo (Toma Verde)
• Eggplant (Black Beauty)
• Pepper (Golden Summer, Red Beauty)
• Parsley (Flat)
• Zinnia (Cut & Come Again)

Tomatillos are new for me and although I have some research still to do, I hope to diversify my salsa creations this summer. I am also curious about the Italian Ice cherry tomato variety. They are going to be white/ivory! The Sunsugar cherry tomato was just too amazing last year (about 240 harvested) to pass up. I grew impatient waiting for my marigold seeds (planted 4/17) to grow, so I bought some plants. I just love the instant color they bring to the boxes. I left a few of the marigold seeds that actually germinated, but there may not be enough room for them all to mature.

On Sunday I was able to get everything in the ground, but a rain storm interrupted me mid-day so I had to stop. Luckily it stopped in late afternoon just enough to allow me to plant the rest. I cleaned up the tomato plants, trimming the lower leaves to promote upward growth and placed a few crushed egg shells around the base of the tomato and pepper plants for added calcium. I have a few empty squares as I wait on the arrival of my mail-order grafted tomato plants, wait to sow the next succession of carrots & lettuce seeds, and purchase two cabbage plants. Here are what the boxes look like after planting - it is great to have them full.

This week I really need to start harvesting some of the Salad Bowl lettuce, which will be my first harvest! Over the past few days, I noticed a few volunteer tomato seedlings among the weeds that have popped up in the SFG beds. I am hoping to let one grow a bit to see what it turns into!

This week looks to be very rainy. Hopefully my all my plants will survive the heavy downpours. I have heard from a few people that crops seem to be behind compared to this time last year. It has definitely been a cool spring. However, since weather can change in a second, who knows what this summer will bring. My fingers are crossed that it will be as good of a year as 2010!

Garden Overview 5/15/11

Harvest Monday: Lots of Garlic

I had a great harvest yesterday! The biggest news, is that after almost 9 months, I harvested my garlic! My pickling cucumbers, sunsugar tomatoes and sungold tomatoes are producing really well. My sugar snap peas are almost exhausted, as the plants are starting to die back. Growing impatient, I picked a few carrots. They were tasty, but all very small. My cabbages are almost all ready, so I picked the largest one...coleslaw is on the menu for this weeks' meals!

I now have 11 heads curing for future use. About six heads had various problems with them, however I am hoping to use a few of their cloves in the near future. Overall, I am very happy with my first garlic harvest. The bulbs averaged about 2" around, pretty close to the size of the original heads of the cloves I planted in November.

Babies

(sungold tomato, butternut squash, northern pickling cucumber)

(roma tomato, hansel eggplant, italian pepperoncini pepper, sugar snap pea)

(sugarbaby watermelon)

Seeing baby vegetables form never gets old! I have not been keeping up with reporting on my garden progress, but I am VERY pleased with how my vegetables are growing this year. Being able to plant earlier and having a little more knowledge, compared with last year, has really made a difference! I expect to harvest my first tomato soon!!

Perfect Growing Weather?

After being away at a conference in Kansas City, MO for a week I visited the garden yesterday. I could not believe how much everything had grown! I think the great weather we have been having has kicked the plants into overdrive. Some of my veggie plants almost doubled in size (or so I want to believe). Unfortunately, it also meant that the weeds grew even faster! I spent a lot of time weeding my perimeter beds and in "the addition" - because, of course my SFG boxes were weedless!

My potato box is now complete and filled to the top with soil. I anticipate them starting to flower by the end of the month (when I will check for new potatoes). I appreciate the cautionary comments from Leslie of dreams and bones, " I have found that soil that is too fertile tends to yield lots of foliage but no spuds. So as you add dirt, make it dirt, not some extra enriched soil." This is a lesson that I may have to learn this year, sine I used a mixture of free compost and store-bought potting soil. The plants definitely grew fast (planted on 4/18; first sprouted on 5/7) - way faster than anticipated, which may not be a good sign! I still wonder if there are any spuds in there! Hopefully the mystery will soon be solved!

I love getting comments and tips! This is what blogging is all about-sharing and learning!

In other growing news, my two corn varieties are coming along nicely!

Brocade Sweet & Japanese Hulless Popcorn

Here is my first 2010 harvest comprised of lettuce (Salad Bowl & Mesclun Mix), Sugar Snap Peas, Basil...and something else that is so special it needs its own post (to follow shortly!)

In not so great news...my Everbearing Strawberry plants appear to be growing well and producing small berries, but critters have made any red berry inedible to humans. I placed some bird netting over the plants two weeks ago, but it is not stopping smaller pests. Also, two of my cucumber varieties, recently bought and transplanted, did not make it. With sadness, I pulled up my shriveled Diva & Burpless seedlings (varieties that served me well last year). However, I decided to try two new varieties: Sweet Success & Straight Eight!

Lots of additions!

The past few weeks have brought a lot of additions to my garden, but not to my blog. My most exciting update is that my potatoes are growing! I always have a little uncertainty when planting by seed and wonder, "is anything happening?" I was not sure quite how long it would take for the Bintje potato plants to push through the soil. I anticipated 3-4 weeks, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the first leaves after 2 1/2 weeks!

Bintje Potatoes (planted 4/18) on 5/7 & 5/16

In other news, I added a yellow bistro set so I now have a place to rest my tired feet (and back) and also a place for guests to sit! I am attempting to grow grass so that I have something soft to run my toes through! In addition I now have a blue, triangle shade 'sail' to have provide some sun protection as my garden provides no shade. This design allows me to take it down and put it up easily. I look forward to many mornings, afternoons, and evenings here! Come on over!

Sunday was a BIG planting day! Our last frost day came late this year, as temps dipped back down into the 30s and 40s last week. However, with the beautiful weekend weather, I was anxious to fill the rest of my SFG boxes! I had finished my research and knew which type of vegetable/herb/plant I was going to plant in each square foot! I made most of my purchases at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, MA. I went there for the first time last year and was blown away by their variety and quantity of vegetable plants! In addition to my garlic and potatoes already planted, I am trying a lot of new things this year: watermelon, eggplant, butternut squash, corn and all new varieties of tomatoes and peppers.

Here is what I planted on Sunday, except for a few sown on 5/11: [s] = seed; [p] = plant

Nasturtium - Fordhook Favorites Mix [s]
Fennel [s]
Basil - Sweet [p]
Lavender - Provence [p]
Bean - Black-seeded Blue Lake Snap Pole Bean (planted 5/11) [s]
Corn - Brocade Sweet; Japanese Hullless Popcorn (planted 5/11) [s]
Cabbage - Market Prize [p]
Squash - Butternut [p]
Eggplant - Hansel [p]
Watermelon - Sugar baby [p]
Cucumber - Diva, Burpless, Northern Picking [p]
Pepper - Carmen, Giant Marconi, Italian Pepperoncini [p]
Tomato- La Roma II, Yellow Pear, First Lady, Green Zebra, Sunsugar, Sungold [p]

Unfortunately, I lost track of which square I was working in and dug up a few beans. I am hoping a few still come up!!

I still actually have 4 squares still unaccounted for and am thinking of getting two more basil plants and two more tomato plants to ensure I have enough for my anticipated canning and pesto-making adventures!

SFG Boxes (5/16/10)

a lizard in the garden overview

Cute Carrots

I finally got some decent size carrots! I have been waiting patiently to pull out my Short 'n Sweet carrots, as the stalks on most of them are over two feet tall. However, the few that I have pulled recently were less than 1 inch in diameter. Last night I decided to try again and low and behold, I pulled out a winner! It was about 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter and close to the 5-6 inch mark in length. I then pulled out two more that were not quite as big, but still tasty!

I sadly pulled out my cucumbers and am seeing the last of the sugar snap peas. I still have a large amount of sweet 100s that are forming, but something keeps taking huge bites out of my larger (Jet Star & Early Girl) tomatoes. I was able to grab only one yesterday. The romaine lettuce is starting to bolt, so I may not be able to harvest any more.

Playing catch up...

It has been a while since my last post so I thought I would create a photo collage to catch up what has been happening! To see more detail, click on the photo and move your mouse over the photos. Enjoy!

Harvest Updates & Big News!

I had two great harvests this week...

8.19 Big cucumbers and lots of Sugar Snap Peas & Sweet 100 tomatoes!

8.16 First Jet Star tomatoes & Mandarin Hybrid pepper*
unfortunately, the pepper looked perfect, but had lots of worms inside-i was very sad!!

Other news...

My Sugar Snap Peas growing sky high!


Cabbage heads are forming!

The Big News....
My garden is growing in a different way!! The small, vacant and overgrown plot next to me is now mine! It was offered to me over the weekend! The FVG can not find someone to take the 'plot.' I gladly accepted it but am still trying to figure out what to do with the space. My initial thoughts...adding another SFG box or creating a shaded area with a chair/table. Here is what the space looks like now...I see lots of weeding in my future...again!!

Harvest Report & Garden Update

I harvested my first "Early Girl" tomatoes today...finally...along with Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet 100s and my first Diva cucumber!!!

The Mandarin Pepper is almost ready...it is turning orange; Jet Star tomatoes almost ready!

Here is an updated view of my garden plot! I still need more flowers, but the SFG boxes are doing well!

Quick Harvest = Quick Report

Paul McCartney played at Fenway Park tonight. I forgot this until I hit a surprising amount of traffic coming home tonight. Unfortunately, he had not started playing yet when I went to the garden tonight for a quick 15 minute trip. I was hoping that a few veggies would be ready so I could use them for dinner. I was right! I picked a few sugar snap peas, beans, Sweet 100s, some rosemary...and my first two cucumbers! I was not sure when to pick them, but since they were about 5-6 inches, I thought I would try them out. I also wanted to continue to encourage new growth, as I confirmed that my cucumber plants are still growing, even though they look horrible! The two cucumbers were Burpless and they were so yummy!! The rest of dinner included rosemary chicken & potatoes, beans, peas and mojitos!

First Big Harvest!

I'm back! Sorry, I have been away from my garden for almost two weeks as I was enjoying another vacation! I heard that we had some pretty bad weather in Boston with at least one bad storm! However, the garden appeared to be in good condition. The sugar snap peas have climbed up the trellis, tomatoes were turning red and there were a lot of green beans to pick! I am finally able to update my harvest report! Unfortunately, the cucumbers have taken a turn for the worse. They appear to still be growing cucumbers, but the leaves have almost all died. I am hoping that the cucs continue to grow.

The biggest consequence of being away for so long are the weeds - around the fence and in the flower perimeter beds. I was not able to tend to the weeds tonight, but it will be a big project for another day...and it is going to be a lot harder to keep up with them than I thought!

Here are some snapshots from tonight:

Cucumbers & Mandarin Hybrid Peppers

Tomatoes & Sugar Snap Pea flowers

Multipik Squash & Super Sweet 100s

A harvest of flowers and veggies!