broccoli buttons

Ooops. A couple of my broccoli plants are buttoning. Looks like of my dozen plants (and a couple of my Mom's) are making cute little broccoli heads on tiny broccoli plants. I've heard this happens when the weather turns warm too fast or when the plants are kept in seed flats too long. I'm sure my error was in keeping them in my toasty cold frame too long - even though they were in the soil. Next year I will move them out sooner. On a several days this spring, I forgot to open the windows and the temperature went up into the 90's. Not what the broccoli's like.

beet plants

I left my beets in clumps of 3 or 4 plants this year as I heard that they grow nicely like this. The beets push apart as they grow.

urban birdwatchers

What's all the commotion at the Fresh Pond Mall? A big sale? Not. A new store? Not. The young Redtail hawks in the nest on top of the building next to Trader Joe's are about to fledge! Its seriously messing up the traffic.

There are two chicks in the nest now. And when Skippy and I were watching on Sunday (along with 50 or 60 other fanatics), both Redtail parents came to check on the kids. Dad brought a bit of dinner and left it in the nest, then flew to the top of the building to watch the birdwatchers. Then Mom came into the nest and seemed to be eating her share first. I was told by a woman by a scope who had been there all day that they are very well fed chicks.

What excitement!




Added later:
Since some people commenting seemed worried about these unnatural conditions, below is a photo of the view these birds have to the west. They are right across the street from Fresh Pond in Cambridge, which actually is a very nice, very large, and very fresh pond. Its the Cambridge drinking water reservoir and is surrounded by beautiful fields and woods with lots of biodiversity.

tiny pumpkin plants

Tiny for now. But something tells me not for long. I tried to leave lots of space for these guys. I have a fun mix of pumpkins and winter squash this year: Jarrahdale, Long Island Cheese, Galeux D Eysines, Baby Pam, and Waltham Buttternut. (My traditional Big Rock pumpkin seeds didn't spout.)

tomato supports

There are several good options for supporting tomatoes.

If you have lots of space, want to minimize your work, and aren't too worried about the fungal pests that will come if we have another wet summer, you probably want to use the standard round metal tomato supports. With these, you don't need to do any work - just push them in around the plants and let the vines grow how they will. These will keep the plants off the ground so you can walk around them and pick the fruits easily. I've also seen people plant 3 or 4 tomato plants inside an old tire filled with good soil and a ring of metal fencing that you can get your hand through.

But if you have limited space and/or are concerned about fungi, its best to train the plant upward and prune excess growth. I have used tepees with good results for many years. To make tomato tepees, cut a 10ft 2x4 into 1x1 poles and use twine to secure groups of 4. Plant one tomato at the base of each pole and, as the plants grow, remove all sucker growth. Use commercial velcro plant ties or strips cut from plastic bags to secure the vines to the poles.

The past two years I have used a metal crosspole and twine to support my tomatoes. It seems the easiest method to me. To set up, make your end posts from wood and about 6 or 7 feet tall (you need to be able to reach the top it easily). These will support a metal cross pole. My cross poles are about 9 or 10 ft long - the length of my rows. To set up the structures, my husband pushed 3 foot metal fence supports into the ground and secured the wooden posts to these with large tie wraps. The metal pole is held in place by a hole near the top of the wood posts. To support the growing tomatoes, you just loop twin over the pole and tie it to the tomato plant - tie it to the stem at the bottom of the plant. You then wind the plant and twine as the plant grows (removing all suckers). Midway through the season, you may need to replace the twine, but mine lasted fine all year last year. I space my tomatoes plants about 12 inches, but 18 inches would be better.

Using the crosspole method, tomatoes plants are able to get lots of airflow in and around the plants. Also, the amount of sunlight each leaf gets is maximized. Tomato leaves without good sun exposure are prime candidates for fungal diseases. I'm sure hoping for a good tomato season this year!

kale and squash risotto

I planted a enormous crop of kale this year and a couple weeks ago asked for recipe suggestions. I tried the kale risotto from the Moosewood Cookbook and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recommendation.

I used my last homegrown butternut squash from last year and a few spring onions that I pulled today. (I'm not really sure where the onions came from - probably ones I missed year that over-wintered and grew into large scallions-like onions this spring. They were very pungent and a bit dry, more like garlic or shallots.) And I used a big bunch of kale from my cold frame. As my mom said, I think this cold frame kale is more tender and mild than "outdoor" kale.

Its a very good recipe. The link is here: Moosewood Squash and Kale Risotto

planting sweet potatoes

I've never grown my own sweet potato slips before and I suppose I used a non-traditional method. They aren't really slips, but little plants that I transplanted today. I transplanted about a dozen. I think I heard that they do OK in the shade, so I planted them next to my corn bed.

more garden work

Today I spent a few more hours in the garden. My work list is not finished, but I will keep at it in the days to come.

Today's accomplishments;

Corn bed and beans beds are prepared.
Basil, celeriac, sweet potatoes and bachelor buttons are transplanted.
More weeding is done.
Everything is watered.

garden work

So far, so good. Beautiful weather and my garden work list is half finished:

The potatoes are hilled.
The squashes, pumpkins, lettuce, and spinach are transplanted.
The gardens are weeded.
The cover is off the cold frame.

I even was able to find good homes for my extra seedlings. This took about 10 minutes at the community garden. I set about 50 tomato and pepper seedlings and them near the main path with a sign saying "Free, please take these." They vaporized I think.

friday evening plans for the weekend

Plans:

- Plant popcorn, nasturtium, pole beans, bush beans, soy bean, and dill seeds.
- String up tomatoes.
- Transplant sweet potatoes, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers.
- Remove cold frame cover and plant melons inside.
- Hill potatoes.
- Work on training my new pear tree.
- Weeding.
- Weed whacking and mowing of community garden paths.
- Maybe I can pick peas!

mom and dad's vegetable garden

Last weekend I brought all sorts of seedlings up to my parents for their garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, winter squash, summer squash ... We had a wonderful time planting together. The seedlings we already planted are doing well too.

skippy steals my sweater!

What fun to be a dog on a beautiful day with a big open space to play on! Skippy's idea of fun is to steal my sweatshirt and shake it hard. Then he plays keep away with me. Ahh, what fun!

We played this game on my parent's beautiful lawn, which has big purple patches of ajuga flowers that my dad has mowed around. Its one of my favorite sights (and games). I'm hoping to grow a similar lawn myself soon.

mom and dad's backyard

Here's another view of my parents' beautiful flowering lawn. Hard to beat.

aerial

Its been a great weekend for garden work.

I planted a new cutting garden to the right of my cold frame. One of my favorite roses is in the center, Mr Lincoln, a deep red hybrid tea. Also in this plot are, blue summer asters, yellow calendulas, mixed giant zinnias, pink sensation cosmos, Canterbury bells, feverfew, pink echinacea, and a couple types of lavender. I also found my giant orange dahlia tubers that I saved in the back of the basement and planted them in the flower plot them today.

I also filled up my vegetable garden. I planted 17 tomato plants and my husband put up the support poles. The tomato varieties I have are: New Girl, Big Beef, Orange Blossom, Pink Beauty, Cherokee Purple, Oxheart Red, Box Car Willie, Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, Giant Belgium, Opalka, San Marzano, and Purple Calabash.

And I planted eggplants (only Black Beauty), and peppers: Numex Joe Parker, Poblano, Sweet Red, Sweet Yellow, Sweet Chocolate, Nardello, Costa Rican Red, Thai Hot and Amelia's Cayenne.

I will squeeze in rows of greens under next to the tomatoes. I want to remember to plant dill, arugula and borage soon. Also more lettuce.

pea flowers

I planted 4 varieties and the first to bloom is Cascadia. An enation-resistant Northwest bred snap pea variety. (What on earth is enation???)