12/4/10
It was overcast but warm again today
with a slight,
falling mist when I went out to the garden for
yet
another last time. Reluctantly I pulled up the
arugula
plants. I had hoped to keep them in the ground a
little longer, but I knew in my spirit that it
was time
to call it quits. The arugula filled a large
plastic
bucket. Then I clipped the last small but green
Winter
Bor Kale. Lastly, I cut more of our parsley. I
left the
rest to cut another day, since I didn't want to
have
too much on hand. I will pick the remainder soon,
so that we can enjoy fresh parsley one more time.
As a grand finale today, I rounded up more crop
covers and brought them into the house. It was
a doggy job, but it had to be done.
12/2/10
What a warm, sunny day today! I
celebrated the
gorgeous day by heading out to the garden to look
around and begin gathering up the row covers and
tarps. In the warmth of the sun, I treated myself
to
washing off my garden tools in the last of our
rain
water and let them air dry. This is the first
time that
I've had time and opportunity to accomplish this
wonderful task. Next I will oil them down before
tucking them away for the year. Thank you, YHVH,
for the gift of time to do this small, but
meaningful
exercise in garden maintenance.
11/30
It was a lovely, warmer day today, so I
went outside to
harvest some of our last growings. As I lifted
and peeked
underneatht the row covers, our parsley, oregano,
and
arugula smiled back at me with wide, green grins!
In
spite of the cold and ice, they were feeling
fine! I picked
down on all of them, pulling up half of the
arugula plants
and then decided to keep the remaining greens
going for
a little longer. After all, we can only eat so
much at a
time. Once inside, the greens made their way into
our
salads, soups, and salad dressings. Home-growns
are
still 'o-so-good!'
11/26
We awoke this morning there to light
snow on the ground
and freezing rain. The sight confirmed that my
2010
gardening days were all but done. Winter was
here. Later
in the day, the sky cleared and the sun came out
long
enough for me to empty the compost and pick the
last of
our Lacinto Kale that by now was laden with snow
and ice.
When I picked the leaves, they snapped with life
which I
felt was a sign that they were still alive!
Hopefully they
will revive enough to make their way into salads,
smoothies,
and raw soups! I will save the last harvest of
arugula and
parsley for another more convenient time and
sunnier day.
11/25
With the temperatures dropping daily, I
decided it was time
to pull the rest of our beets. When I went out to
do so, I
was sadly surprised to see that yesterday's
strong winds
had blown off most of the row covers. My
much-loved
Golden Beets were frozen into the ground as were
the few
Red Bull Beets that were left. Despite their
condition, I
pulled them up and brushed off the frozen soil as
much as
possible before bringing them into the house. In
light of
this loss, I could tell that it was time to let
the garden go.
I was able to harvest another small row of
Goldens that
fared well. The arugula and parsley I decided to
keep
covered until another day when I had more time to
pick
them. I also left our kale which continues to
grow well.
I'm glad it likes the cold! Having home-grown
greens to
harvest at this time of year is a special treat.
11/18
Today I marched out into the garden to
take advantage of
the sun for pulling the rest of our Red Bull
Beets. I lifted the
row cover for the last time and peeked at the
beets. They
were ready to see me and come inside. I quickly
pulled and
placed them into my garden cart, wheeling them
carefully up
the incline to the house. Before bringing them
in, I took one
last photo. The leaves were still beautiful
shades of reds,
highlighted with sharp greens. The artist in me
was ecstatic.
If only I had time to capture them in paint! For
now, we'll
enjoy eating them instead!
11/16
Today was overcast and cool, so I
decided to begin harvesting
our Red Bull Beets. When I pulled off their row
cover, what a
glorious surprise! The beets were tall and
beautiful, waiting to
be picked. I wasted no time in pulling them out
of the ground.
One of the first to come out was what I termed a
'community'
beet, i.e. several beets growing together. It was
a huge
specimen! I took pictures and then paraded it
into the house
for 'show-and-tell' and a weigh-in. The beet
tipped the scale
at 3.75lbs. See this hunker here.
10/14
For the last few days I have been
planting our garlic. This
year I planted five varieties. Usually we plant
only one
that a local farmer gave us several years ago. We
perpetuate the previous season's harvest by
saving
the big cloves for planting next year's crop.
However,
this year our garlic crop was smaller than usual.
Most
likely this was because I planted it in an area
of the
garden where the soil is not particularly
fertile. So,
we decided to purchase garlic bulbs from other
local
sources to augment our usual supply.
10/9
It was a bright, sunny day today with
fairly good wind, so I
marched out in the garden this morning with great
determination to prepare a garlic bed for next
year's crop.
I cleared away the dead cucumber vines (and
happily found
a few cukes hiding!) as well as the dead zucchini
plants.
There were a couple good-sized zukes still
growing on a
couple plants, so I left them to grow a little
larger. Then I
raked away the straw mulch and weeded the area,
carrying
off the dead debris to our waste pile that will
go to the dump.
In the afternoon, I went out and worked the soil
into five
rows, 'hilling them up' so that I can plant our
garlic. When
I finished, I felt good about my accomplishment!
Since there
was a frost warning for tonight, I brought out
our row covers
and snuggled in our herbs, arugula, beets, and
peppers.
I also harvested our sage, basil, and oregano for
dehydrating.
All in all, it was a busy, delightful day for
this backyard
farmer!
10/8
Life at our house is sometimes entirely
too eventful! Each day
we pack in a host of activities which, for me,
include daily
trips to the garden. Though it is becoming late
in the season,
our backyard farm is still producing well. I am
bringing in
assorted greens, tomatoes, herbs, and an
occasional cuke
or zucchini. While vines and plants are winding
down, activity
in the kitchen is on high as we process the
harvest for daily
meals and future storage. At this time of year,
we wax
creative with dehydrating: various-flavored
crackers, fruit
leathers, tomatoes, cukes, summer salad
combinations and
who knows what more?
Today I made my rounds in the garden
and poked through
some of the weeds, remainders of wild edibles,
and dying
vines. I had fun finding hidden produce here and
there. I
brought in several tomatoes to ripen plus many
tomatillos
that we enjoy eating in our salads and raw soups.
Late this afternoon I began clearing
a bed for planting our
garlic. I will prepare the area and plant within
the week. It
is good to plant garlic mid-October at the
latest. I am hurrying
the process amidst all else that needs to be
done. Soon it
will be time to place row covers on our crops in
order to
protect them from frost. For me, frost is a bad
word.
Nevertheless, I know the garden must come to an
end.
Though being a backyard farmer demands
considerable effort,
I do appreciate having safe, 'fresh eats' at our
fingertips.
Home-grown always tastes better!
9/4
Here I am again...another month later as
I endeavor to keep up
this log as best as possible. I admit to being
somewhat
overwhelmed by the tending of this year's garden,
since
everything is growing so well and so quickly!
Abundant summer
warmth and rains have graced all of our plants
with extra good
growing. As I hover over all the plants and tend
their needs, I
liken them to 'friends' or children that beg my
attention and
nourishing. It seems that I never have enough
time to do all
that I want to do out in the garden, but I have
concluded that
what I do accomplish is enough, perhaps more than
enough!
We are enjoying a record harvest and eating the
freshest and
best possible food around. I have been bringing
in greens
, zucchini, summer squash, beans, herbs, tomatoes, and
tomatillos for a few weeks now. As of this
writing, I am doing
well to handle the harvest. Our concord grapes
are now ready
to pick, and the picking will be challenging
since the grapes are
growing on both sides of the fence that borders
on our local
school's football field. This fact necessitates
my walking two
blocks to access the football field when the gate
is open, so
that I can reach the grapes that grow on that
side of the fence.
Years of this 'picking practice' have proven
challenging,
especially on the arms, since the grape-laiden
baskets are
heavy to lug long distance. This year I might
need to transport
them in our car!
In the meantime, I am having fun seeing my garden
friends
grow up to maturity, watching the leaves turn
fallish colors,
observing our wild edibles go to seed, and
bidding farewell
to old garden faithfuls. So it was that a couple
weeks ago,
we said goodbye to our twenty-three year old
apple tree
in the backyard. Suffice to say, many of its
apples were
enjoyed and many lunches were savored under its
friendly
shade. All is now but a happy memory as life
moves on.
For a look back at our once-beautiful apples
whose variety
yet remains a mystery (I have a hunch that they
were Cortlands)
click here.
8/5
A whole month has passed since working
on this log. Shame on
me! My only excuse for this lapse of
communication is that I have been immursed in
tending our garden: planting, transplanting,
trimming, hoeing, mulching, staking, and most
of all...weeding.
Nevertheless, I have also been busy harvesting
our beautiful organics: endive, chickory, basil,
parsley, lots of
dill (!), lacinto kale, red russian kale, red bor
kale, oregano,
sage, mint, thai basil, nettles, barley grass,
and most recently
arugula, summer squash, and zucchini! What
a thrill it is to
see the garden grow into delicious raw meals.
Daily trips into
the garden are a welcomed balm amidst a life of
many demands.
Each year the garden is different, and this year
(thanks to
abundant sun, warm temperatures, and rains) every
plant is bursting with life. They almost sing as
I take my daily walks through the jungle of
green. Tomatoes are ripening beautifully.
I picked our first few Sun Gold tomatoes last
evening and popped them into our salads. These
yellow jewels are among my
favorite varieties. I planted mostly yellow
tomatoes this year,
since they are less acidic. I also tried a few
new tomato varieties: Frosty's Heart (heirloom),
Black Cherry, Orange Blossom, and Sun Sugar. I'll
let you know which ones we like
the best! Most likely it will be a difficult
call!
I am also enthralled with how our
our Red Amaranth is growing this year. It is
breath-taking. Amaranth is considered to be a
wild edible and cultivated for its seed value.
The leaves can also be used in salads, etc. Since
amaranth does not agree with me
as an edible, I regard it as an ornamental. The
tall, stately stand is a stunning 'sculpture' in
our garden, a veritable show piece of
visual delight. As I enjoy this new friend, I can
see many oil paintings coming on!
7/5
It was another HOT day today with
temperatures in the 90's.
Our tomatoes love it! I was out early and picked
more black-
berries. For lunch I made us a Coconut Custard
Smoothie
(delicious!). We then topped off the smoothie
with a bowl of
fresh blackberries. I'm glad there are more
ripening. It's a
special treat to pick-your-own right in the
backyard. Raspberries
will be next to ripen! It was too hot to do
anything more in the
garden today. Nevertheless, I looked it all over
and pulled a
few stray weeds just for the fun of it.
7/4
Time has escaped me in recording our
garden's progress!
Nevertheless, all is growing well thanks to
beautiful summer
sun, rains, and diligent work on my part. I have
weeded nearly
the entire garden, planted almost every inch, and
keep tucking
in more seeds and seedlings wherever I can. Each
year I tell
myself that I'm not going to plant as many
vegetables, but I
can't resist. Gardening is fun and most of all
wonderfully
rewarding, especially when all you eat is living
food. I have
mulched the whole garden with a bed of fresh
straw which
thankfully keeps down any weeds that dare pop up.
I amuse
myself by walking the garden and lovingly watch
over each
and every plant. By the end of the season, I know
every plant
by heart! So far I am harvesting large armfuls of
herbs and kale.
Our sugar snap peas are coming along slowly,
since I had to
replant some. I planted three varieties of beets
and they are
only about two inches tall right now. I wish they
would hurry up
and grow taller, since I love beet greens! One of
my last
plantings was arugula, an all time favorite of
mine. I had a local
greenhouse grow seedlings for me, since we have
too many
flea beetles in our garden that are quick to
devour the seeds as they poke through the ground.
As professional growers suggest, I have covered
the new arugula seedlings with a row cover and
'sealed' the sides with dirt. Evidently this is a
fail-safe technique for growing arugula without
flea beetle interference. We'll see!
In the meantime, stay tuned for our next garden
report!
7/3
This morning I went out and picked
blackberries from our very
own backyard. A few weeks ago I was surprised to
find many
blackberry brambles growing along our fence line.
Suffice to
say, I was delighted. The bright berries were
nestled among tall weeds and wild edibles. I
picked over a pint and will go back for
more another day. We enjoyed the fresh
blackberries with a
special smoothie today.
6/7
Today I was up early and headed out to
the garden. The morning
was crispy cool and bright as the sun started its
ascent.
Thankfully our two days of rain ceased in the
night, drenching
the land with welcomed wetness. I took advantage
of the early
light by fertilizing all our plantings. I use a
foliar spray of
Miracle II agricultural blend, a truly miraculous
blend of organic
minerals that encourages growth (over 200%
yield), extends plant
life (for an extended harvest), and strengthens
plants, making
them more resistant to disease. I have used
Miracle II
Agricultural Blend for several years with
astounding success.
After fertilizing, I began harvesting herbs for
us and the market.
I picked most of our oregano, the harvest being
so bountiful
that what we cannot market we will dehydrate. I
also picked
lemon balm and mint for market. The herbs were a
beautiful
sight as I gathered them into baskets and proudly
paraded
them into the house!
6/6
Rain again today! Please don't let us
have too much rain,
Father! We don't want monsoons in Maine to drown
our garden!
6/5
Rain today! Thank you, YHVH!
6/4
Once again I am lax in recording
progress in the garden.
Perhaps monthly updates are more appropriate for
one like
myself who is most often in a constant state of
motion. As
the days pass along and time and weather permit,
I am
happily out in the garden, digging, tugging, and
lugging.
Being the sole proprietor of the land, there is
much to do!
By now I have weeded much of the garden and have
started
to plant. A couple weeks ago I planted our sugar
snap peas,
snow peas, and regular peas. Though I am not a
'pea' person,
I enjoy growing them for occasional eating on my
part. Other-
wise, I gravitate to the greens department.
Nonetheless, in
addition to peas, total planting includes: seedlings-
celery,
lacinto kale, red kale, winterbor kale, black
cherry tomato,
sungold tomato, sweet basil, parsley; direct
sowing- string
beans (two rows of green and one row of yellow
wax), chicory,
happy rich asian greens (my all time favorite
because they
produce prolific 'perpetual' small heads of
broccoli), and, last
but not least, endive.
6/3
Today at the Waterville Farmers' Market
we purchased
more seedlings: ace peppers, orange blossom
tomatoes,
sun sugar tomatoes, and italian parsley. I
hurried to plant
them before the next rain!
5/30
Our local newspaper, The Morning Sentinel,
published the
photo of our blossoming plum tree as shown here. I
liked
the photograph so much that I now use it as my
deskstop
background. The photograph almost takes my breath
away! It's one of the first digital images that
I've taken.
5/26- 6/2
Away at our cottage! No gardening!
5/7
Today we went to the seedling sale at
FedCo's in Clinton.
Going up to this friendly, folksy cooperative of
farmers big
and small is always a welcomed venture. As usual,
the seedling
selection was overwhelming. What to purchase is
always a
challenge, since each variety looks and sounds so
wonderful.
After careful consideration, we bought celery,
lacinto kale,
tai basil, black cherry tomato, sungold tomato,
and cobra
onions. Once 'hardened over' (which took a couple
weeks),
I began planting on the new moon...May 17.
5/5
It has been nearly a month, since
updating this log. The lapse
of entry is not without good excuse: I've been
busy discovering
the garden again! Thanks wonderfully sunny, warm
days, I
weeded and thinned our herb beds. With a little
help from a
friend, the larger garden has been weeded and
cleared of
debris from last year. Soon it will be time to
plant. All of our
herbs are growing with gusto. That we are
harvesting nearly
all of our herbs so early in the season is
remarkable. Fresh
lovage, sage, oregano, lemon balm, mint, comfrey,
stinging
nettles, and parsley is coming in by the handful
and baskets
full. The aromatics are finding their way into
raw soups, salads,
entrees, and home- made dehydrated crackers.
Today I
planted nearly twenty strawberry plants that were
gifted to
us. I'm having fun finding remnants of last
year's garden that
happily survived the winter. Among the survivors
are collards,
red russian kale, parsley, and pansies! Some of
our pansies
miraculously stayed green all winter. One pansy
plant is now
sporting a lovely yellow bloom!
4/3
After the morning clouds cleared away,
it was a beautiful,
sunny, warm day. The temperature must have been
in the
70's. It was hot in the sun! I worked on our
compost bin,
emptying many (accummulated) bags of garden
waste. The
pile was mushy and high! I leveled it off and
began covering
it with good, dried garden waste (last year's
garlic stems,
herb stems, etc.), then I covered the bin to let
it settle/work.
Next I untarped the barn door. What a treat to
let the light
and air into the lower barn again! Now I can
access all our
garden tools and equipment. Before lunch, I
picked a large
handful of dandelion greens. We ate outside in
the sun and
fresh air. What a treat!
After lunch I worked more in the
lower herb garden and then
cleared and raked the bed where the Jerusalem
Artichokes
are planted. Tomorrow I hope to plant the Sun
Chokes that
we picked up last week at the Seed Swap and Scion
Exchange. I look forward to putting them into the
ground!
4/2
Another gorgeous day! I celebrated by
going out and
harvesting our first dandelion greens! They were
a tender,
mild addition to our noon salad.
4/1
A beautiful day to be outside! This
afternoon I spent time
looking over the garden and happily saying hello
to many old
friends: our garlic is up (this year's as well as
last's), our
Egyptian onions, chives, lovage, parsley,
oregano, comfrey,
stinging nettles, motherswort, lavendar, and
lemon balm. I
celebrated the on-set of the season by starting
to clean up
the lower herb garden. I cleared the lovage patch
and
worked to uncover the St. John's Wort. After last
year's
torrential rains, I hope the St. John's Wort
returns.
Dandelions are already taking over the garden. I
like them,
but not that much! I'll plan on harvesting some
soon for our
salads and juice!
3/21
A gloriously warm, sunny day! We
celebrated by eating our
lunch outdoors. Afterward, I worked to clean the
upper herb
garden by the house. I peeked under the mulch
straw to see
how our thyme was doing. It looked back at me
with a big,
green smile! I was happy! The mint patch is
starting to green
up, too. Soon we will have early herbs!
