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

Hello Neighbor!

My backyard is now home to two gardeners! A friend has joined me with her 3'x6' SFG bed. It will be great to have the company, with even more things growing.

Once everything has been planted & starts growing, I hope that sitting at the bistro table will become an even better urban sanctuary - 'hidden' from the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood.

All in a day's work

On a beautiful, but chilly Sunday morning I set out to attend to my garden for the first time since my move in November. Here is where I started:

Taken from my 2nd floor

Everything looked pretty dreary but, I set off to buy some compost and start on my tasks.

I decided to try a new method of sectioning off each square foot. Instead of the lath boards (which I used for my first two seasons, and is suggested in the SFG book) I wanted to try string for the following reasons:

1. The condition of my two-season boards was pretty poor, so I didn't think they were worth moving (I gave them to a fellow gardener to use).
2. Each lath boards was an inch wide, so they made the planting area within each square foot smaller (every inch counts!)
3. When moving/adding soil it was sometimes challenging to spread it out between the squares.
   

There honestly are probably many easier ways of going about laying out the grid. However, I decided to use 1/2" screw eyes & polypropylene string.

It was pretty time consuming and I had a minor setback when I broke my itsy-bitsy drill bit that I was using to start the 12 holes for the screw eyes, but...

Ta da! My backyard garden set up is complete and ready to go.

warm weather...I am waiting!

Another Year...Same Thing...DIFFERENT VENUE

Surprise! I have gone from community gardener to backyard gardener!

Last fall, the change of season meant a little more than usual end of season tasks. I made a sad but exciting garden move from my large community plot in the Fenway Victory Gardens to a backyard in Cambridge, MA where I now reside. Leaving Boston was difficult, but leaving the FVG was really tough. It is where I started gardening, and I spent so much of my time in the past two years tending to my plot & chatting with other gardeners. I still hope to stay connected to FVG by becoming a friend and helping with monthly park clean ups.

I am excited to experience the convenience of my new backyard garden and the new learning opportunities it will provide. The snow finally disappeared last week after over 3 months of snow cover, so now I have a lot of work to do:

• add more of 'Mel's mix'
• put up a trellis on two of the boxes
• re-outline each square foot (with string this time)
• order/buy seeds
• decide what to grow this year
• and...plant peas!!

So, I am officially back from blogging hiatus, and hope that you will follow me on my new gardening adventure. Happy Spring.

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

Spring Cleaning in the FVG!

What a gardening weekend!! However, being exhausted and meeting fellow gardeners are two indicators that the Fenway Victory Garden's first "All Park Clean Up" of the 2010 season was a success! Saturday was glorious & sunny, perfect to welcome gardeners, friends, and members of the Boston community into the park to tackle spring chores. The agenda included: organizing the three composting areas, building new wheelbarrows, planting grass seed, re-numbering plots, building up a few plots that did not fair to well with the March floods, and collecting litter.

It was invigorating to see everyone out and ready to help! I also had recruited two friends to get their hands dirty with me - and they were in for a treat! We were assigned to one of the composting areas with three other people. Our tasks involved making three rows of debris into one [which would allow gardeners space to drop off new compost materials], garbage clean up, and making the ready-to-use compost pile into a more distinguishable pile for easy access.

Here are some shots from the morning's activities:

(the large compost area getting lots of attention; our finished compost area)


(one of the groups collecting litter along the Muddy River)

After the clean up ended, The Landsdowne Pub hosted a gathering for all gardeners involved in the clean up. After taking a break I returned to the garden to do some work on my own plot, wanting to take advantage of the weather! As luck would have it, a fresh, dry pile of wood chips were delivered! Everyone rushed to get their share!

Saturday's tasks:

• planted marigolds in each of the front corners of the SFG boxes
• planted a lavender bush
  
• hung a pot of pansies
• planted two dahlias

• built a SFG trellis for the middle box (Box 2); unfortunately the trellis netting was defective and the squares are not perfect; i know it is not a big deal for the growing veggies, but I hate that it doesn't look as perfect as the other two...
  

• took down a side of my potato box, allowing it to get more sun
• added a wheelbarrow of compost to the 'addition'
• planted grass seed in my future 'sitting area'
  
• added a wheelbarrow of wood chips to the 'addition,' creating a small walkway - this area is really starting to come together!
  

• weeded along my fence
• added 5 wheelbarrows of wood chips to the aisle

On Sunday, I returned just for two hours to work a little more. I accomplished what I wanted to do, but I was definitely low-energy!

Sunday's tasks:

• trimmed the wild rose bushes along the back fence (in & outside the plot)
• added yet more compost to the back raised bed
• sowed poppy seeds; hoping to eventually turn this area into a wildflower area
  

Here is how my plot is looking as the average last frost date approaches this week:

A final tip for people on a wait list at a community garden: VOLUNTEER! It is the best thing you can do in order to show your interest and dedication.

Preparing for frost...

'Tis the season to prepare for frost. Temps are getting into the 40s at night. In order to protect the last of my growing veggies I wanted to try making protective domes. Following the SFG method, I bought two PVC pipes per box. For the cover I chose a thin plastic tarp. I realize that a variety of things can be used as a cover (burlap, blankets, sheets, row covers, plastic). Right now I only have Box 3 covered. I still have a lot of clean up tasks to do, which include removing the tomato plants. Hopefully I can spend more time in the garden this weekend and finish prepping my plot for the fall temps!

Updated photos of my SFG boxes.

Box #3, covered

A garden that finally looks like a garden!

Success!!! After a very long but productive weekend the garden has taken shape and vegetables have been planted! I could not be happier about how it has turned out. I will walk you through our recent progress with photos...

The 3-4x4 raised beds & perimeter frame are in place

Laying down the weed blocking fabric & securing it with fabric pegs

Mel's Mix: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost (left to right)

Mel's mix - mixed; wood chips cover the ground

A raised bed - filled with Mel's Mix

A complete box - with lath boards to divide the bed into square feet (for easy plant/seed calculations)

Completed Box #1 with trellis (made from conduit pipes and nylon trellis netting)

Completed Box #2

Completed Box #3 with trellis

The big picture

Lupin (left) & Dahlia (right) for the flower beds along the perimeter

So, what have I planted so far?

Box 1

• Green Bean - Blue Lake Bush Bean (7)
• Cucumber - Diva (2)
• Cucumber - Burpless Supreme (2)
• Lettuce - Head (3)
• Marigold (6)

Box 2

• Tomato - Sweet 100s (2)
• Tomato - Jet Star (1)
• Tomato - Early Girl (1)
• Sweet Basil (2)
• Marigold (6)

Box 3

• Squash - ? (4)
• Melon - Organic Hale's Best (1)
  
• Pumpkin - Howden (1)
  
• Pepper - Red Beauty (1)
• Pepper - Mandarin Hybrid (1)
• Marigold (6)

Containers

• Mint - Spearmint (1)
• Lemon Balm (1)

Still to plant (from seed):

• Green Bean - Roma II
• Cabbage - Earliana
• Cabbage - Red Acre
• Spinach - Salad Fresh Hybrid
  
• Lettuce - Salad Bowl
• Lettuce - Parris Island (Romaine)
  
• Pea - Sugar Snap
• Radish - Crimson Giant
• Carrot - Short 'n Sweet