Saturday, August 24, 2013

skippy's vegetable garden is moving

aerial Aug 22 2013 aug 22 basil aug 22 2013
Skippy's vegetable garden will move soon.

The garden is at its peak, tomatoes ripening, big green basil plants, tall teepees of cucumbers and green beans. I am picking more than we can eat from this cute little garden. But, something else is going on too....

The cold frame is being taken apart and removed as we get ready to show the house to potential buyers. I wonder if someone will continue to maintain my little side yard garden? Or maybe it will be removed and replaced with grass. I wonder. It's been a productive area for me over the past 22 years - even though the amount of sun continues to go down as the trees continue to grow. I must have 1000 aerial photos taken over the years. It will be hard to say good bye....

But then, it will be exciting to start fresh and build a brand new garden! Skippy's vegetable garden will move to a big open area next to a pretty little pond. Our new house is only about 10 miles west of our current one. It's a bit further from Boston, a bit more rural. The back yard has big granite steps that wind down a slope through ferns and laurels and bring you to the flat open grassy area by the pond.

I am excited to mark out garden boundaries soon. I hope to turn the grass under later this fall and let it compost over the winter. Maybe I'll add some fresh manure to compost in the soil too. All winter I can plan, and then in the spring ..... ahhh, I can't wait....
new garden location the steps down to beaver pond 130 beaver pond 134

21 comments:

wvhiker said...

Looks like a great location for gardening! I am envious. Best of luck.

Carolyn ♥ said...

Sweet wishes to you as you make this transition. Thank heavens for your blog... it will elicit fond memories for you of days past and chronicle your new adventure. Those red chairs are just waiting for you to sit in and dream away.

Dawn said...

You lucky dog. Right on the water.

Anonymous said...

good luck! Although I will miss your postings from Belmont-- I rely on them as I also garden here, but good luck wherever you go!

Greg said...

Looks like a lovely piece of property. Quite like what the wife and I hope to have for our kids someday. Congrats on the new house!

Emily said...

It looks lovely. I look forward to hearing about how you transform the new space into a garden of your own (or should I say Skippy's own :).

nBoer said...

Wow, Looks like your wont have much more space and what great views!

I made my new beds using the lasagna method last year, and highly recommend it. I took cardboard boxes from the move, and lay them out on top of the lawn and got mushroom compost and put it on top of the cardboard. In fall you could maybe put layer of leaves first. 2 Months later I was planting, although the compost was a little strong still and I had a little burn on a few plants. Its great soil now though.

Unknown said...

That is so exciting! I can't wait to see what you do with all that space.

Unknown said...

Your new space is beautiful! You, Skippy and Suzie will have a great time starting your new garden.

Nichole said...

While I'll be sad to no longer see your productive side garden, I'm excited to see what you will do with your new space. Congrats!

Diane C said...

What an absolutely lovely view. I'll look forward to seeing your new garden plans.

Nichole said...

With you new space have you considered keeping chickens? I hear they are great for eggs and manure.

Ralph said...

Great site, lots of potential.

Pond water could, depending on local regulations, be used to irrigate the garden if you're not putting in rainwater catchment or some other system.

Soil samples should be taken and tested, if you haven't done this already. I hope previous owners haven't used pesticides, etc.

I'm wondering how you will remove ground cover without disturbing existing soil biological activity. On a smaller scale, I would spread newspaper and straw on the newspaper and leave it there through the winter, but here? Perhaps one of your new neighbors is a farmer who could plow and work in (preferably horse) manure on the plot?

Looking forward to your solutions, which I am sure will be expert and creative, and wishing you all the pleasure of a "clean slate."

Marian (LondonUK) said...

My goodness! A couple of weeks of not checking in on you (due to dead computer) and such change ahead. I was getting choked up thinking about you leaving your lovely house and side yard. But the new garden looks wonderful, what a view and such potential. Hopefully you still have my email address, can you send me yours again as all of my contact info on my hard drive is non-recoverable. Thanks Kathy!

Marian (LondonUK)

L. Ambler said...

Looks like you have a great space to imagine a new garden. Hope you have a smooth move.

Anonymous said...

I just went through moving and giving my garden away this past summer too. Much more traumatic than I expected. Unfortunately ours was a move to the city so no gardening for me until the next move :( Hopefully the new garden will be even more spectacular than the previous one.

alice said...

Beautiful spot Kathy. What fun you all will have. I look forward to watching what wonders you do with your new piece of the earth.

Maddie said...

your old place looks awesome! but your new place is a wow! its like a park now!

Liz said...

Good luck with the new garden. It looks wonderful :)

Trinity209 said...

Good luck and best wishes in your new space! Your property is beautiful! I was wondering...I watched your video about fall pea planting. I have peas planted right now too. It is my first year planting. Should I cover my peas at night to protect them? If so, at what temperature should I cover them? Thank you so much!!

Anonymous said...

Good luck and best wishes with the move.