The light is dimming and the colors are drab at the gardens now. The leaves are off the trees. Not much left growing. My lettuce is gone - the last few heads were killed by the cold. Today I harvested escarole, arugula, beets and radish. In the next few days our temperatures are forecast to plummet to the mid 20's (F) at night. Bbrrr.
Skippy and I had a nice walk today after gardening. We met a super playful, 9 mo old golden - Australian Shepard mix (Cassie) and her friendly owner. Skippy and Cassie raced through the garden paths and fields. Then they tumbled and wrestled in the fading light. They played more than an hour. Skippy loved being herded by a cute young female. He'll sleep well tonight.
The other day, I was asked by our community garden coordinator to help with organization. I'm looking forward to this. The main work will be to organize and run the garden clean up and plot assignment day in mid April. It would be nice to add another group event to the schedule too.
We're still hoping to hear if we get a plot - but are terribly worried that the assignment day or clean up day will be on our wedding day or honeymoon in April! Think they'll cut us a break?
ReplyDeleteThis time of year makes photography difficult. I find myself doing more macro shot this time of year. The odd landscape is nice too, especially when snow is flying. Like you said though, everything is very drab.
ReplyDeleteNice plump radishes, I just order that variety for my cold frame. I'm not sure if I will have any luck with them so late but it is worth a try.
I thought at first Skippy took a trip to Hermes for his collar.
HI Jennifer-
ReplyDeleteMy guess is the day will be April 11. A Saturday. I will ask Bruce and check.
Its hard to get a plot without attending assignment day because they don't know exactly which plots are available or how many people really want plots until then. Returning gardeners choose first, then new gardeners. The plots people choose are dependent on their preferences and there are many different criteria that make it hard to predict who will choose which plot. There's size, proximity to a faucet, shade trees, current condition, fence condition, location of the gardens, etc.
If you know this far in advance that you can't attend, I would think someone else should choose for you. Let me know if you want me to ask Bruce about this.
Dan-
ReplyDeleteSkippy's collar is from Petco. High fashion - not. The dogs on Beacon Hill wear Hermes. Very fancy attire. We like a walk there now and then. I change from my gardening shoes to my fancy boots. I give Skip a good brush out and he wears his black leather collar. A good idea to check out the sights in downtown Boston soon.
Good luck with the radishes. A good experiment. I think they may need more sun to bulb. But maybe they'll get a small start now and take off early in the spring.
I think I will give myself a radish award for my bumper crop this year. After total failure every other time I've tried to grow them, its pretty exciting to have such a prolific crop.
Hello Skippy !
ReplyDeleteI was very glad to find your blog, I like to hear real peoples garden stories.
Ilive in south central Pensylvania, halfway between Harrisburg and Lancaster. I have had a garden for many years. Althogh, this spring coming is the most ambitiuos yet.
Like a lot of the people, the high cost of food, well, everything ( I deliver mail part-time and use my own vehicle ) inspired me. I also thought if I can stagger the planting and harvesting, as I have read, I will use a lot more than throw away.
I'm wondering if you have ever heard of 'lasagna gardening' ? Or 'companion gardening' ? They make sense, and are the methods I am using. This past year was spent preparing. Imagine my husbands face when I asked if I could use the 6x12 ft dump trailer to haul sheep poo, and came home with it stuffed to the gills. I have never had nicer tomatoes or peppers. Until the dog peed on the peppers.
I have also had the good fortune of rescuing some old barn windows. They are 4 ft tall by 3 1/2 ft wide. Perfect for cold frames, I think. What I really want to do is build a greenhouse with them, if they were a 2:1 ratio it would be much easier. And of course my husband and I have differentnideas of how to build it. I'm surprised he is so into it, but then anything you can do to help the budget is good to him.
I am glad to hear that supermarket veggies will do as well as bought seed. I suppose there are some learning curves. Iplan to start seeds, but may buy one or 2 plants just in case. I plan to have, this is gonna take awhile; spinach, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, melons, potatoes, pumpkins, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, asparagus, strawberries, peppers, onions, beets, maybe some garlic, and peas. There is probably something I forgot, that's what the seed catalogs are for.
Thanx for the opportunity to share, if you have any suggestions for the greenhouse it would be appreciated. It's always rewarding to have other perspectives on an idea.
Trish from PA.
If you could find out the day, we can see if there's any flexibility on our end. A week later would be better for us, of course, and we don't want to miss out on getting a plot. If worst comes to worst, we'll have to look for a proxy.
ReplyDeleteJennifer - I sent Bruce a note to see if he has a date yet.
ReplyDeleteJennifer - Bruce wrote that he will not know the date until spring, but it will be around the 12th. He also wrote that if you can't make it, just send another person to pick the plot for you. - Kathy
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking into it! I appreciate it! The dates aren't set in stone yet, so we'll see, we'll make sure to figure something out.
ReplyDelete