Fall Chores & Harvest Report 11/1

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween. I was disappointed not to have a pumpkin from my garden to carve and ended up not doing anything very festive. I attended a concert last night by one of my all time favorite bands, Guster! Walking around Boston, there were a lot of great costumes, but I also found it amusing to see what the more 'popular' costumes were this year. I saw many people dressed up as Peter Pan, Minnie Mouse, a Pirate, Where's Waldo, and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. My favorite costume was probably "the swine flu" (a pig with a face mask).

Anyway, back to gardening...finding time to get into the garden is becoming increasingly difficult as the days get shorter. Now that we turned the clocks back, weekends are going to be the only time I can really attend to the garden (since early mornings are not my thing). So, in addition to planting garlic, I took the opportunity to do a few fall chores:

• dug up my impressive marigolds that added color and bug protection to my plot
• spread two wheelbarrows of wood chips in the path

I also harvested my remaining radishes and mache*:


*A side note about my background with mache (i.e. corn salad, lamb's lettuce). I first discovered mache while in Switzerland. With a simple vinaigrette, it was delicious by itself. While shopping at my local Trader Joe's in Cambridge, MA shortly after my Swiss trip, I came across a bag of mache. I could hardly contain my shock and excitement. I now purchase bags of mache several times a month (partly because I want to make sure that they continue to stock it and feel that i alone purchase enough to keep the sales up!) Unfortunately, I have not found it at all TJ locations, but if you can find it I highly recommend it. Again, all it needs is a simple vinaigrette, but is also delicious with avocado, tomato and eggs! Bon appetit!

Still growing...

I am excited to have a few things still growing in my garden...

Second round of radishes; revived peppers

Second round of bush beans; my celery experiment

marigolds!!

I also have a few more cabbages and mâche (lamb's lettuce/corn salad)! Unfortunately, cauliflower and melon made it to my "failed" crop list.

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!

A Great Sunday!

I just returned from the garden with RADISHES! Only three, but that is a start. And, actually one was cracked...but I have RADISHES! I wasn't sure when to pick them, but thought I would try a few! Check out what my garden has provided me with today:

Lettuce and radishes for a salad, mint for a mojito and for decoration, hydrangeas and a dahlia! Bon appetit!

I am so happy! I spent about four hours checking in on each square foot! I "weeded" the itsy-bitsy weeds trying to grow, and if needed, helped guide them up the trellis, or added compost to freshen up the soil. I also gave a few plants some food and sprayed neem oil to hopefully help with bug control. I also tried to tackle some of the weeds along the fence that were starting to encroach on my flower beds.

Here are updated pictures of how the boxes look!


Also, cucumbers and beans are growing!

Growing News

Plot Photo Update:

When I left work at 5:30pm, it was cool & SUNNY and I was looking forward to getting back in the garden. However as I approached Boston, a huge wall of fog was starting to surround the city. Sure enough by the time I got home and over to the garden, the sun was gone and it was pea soup!

Before I blog further, I need to make a correction! During my excitement over my first growing vegetable (a pepper), I mistakenly mixed up which pepper plant it was! I had it in my mind that it was a "Red Beauty," when in fact it is the "Mandarin" hybrid. Hopefully I can keep it straight from now on. Fortunately, it is no longer the only plant in the spotlight.

In more growing news...both of my Sweet 100 tomato plants have itsy-bitsy tomatoes. I am very excited to finally taste these, as I have heard they are amazing!!

Here are some snapshots of my seedlings, trying to make it!
Sugar Snap Pea
Short 'n Sweet Carrot

Long Bunching Onion (Scallion)
Spinach

Radish