another full harvest moon

Its a full harvest moon tonight. I've pretty much harvested everything for today by now.  Its chilly. Time to hang out inside. OMG old times with Neil Young! Harvest Moon.

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleeping
We could dream this night away
But there's a full moon rising
Let's go dancing in the light
We know where the music's playing
Let's go out and feel the night

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon

today's harvest

arial garden photos

A drone pilot came by my yard and took some photos of my garden. Its wonderful to see my favorite spot from a different angle.

My tour of the new veggie selections with AAS and NGB in CA starts tomorrow!! Can’t wait to see what they have! I’m driving down the CA coast now, seeing the sights on my way.

veggie trial tour next week!

I’m getting ready to travel to CA to tour nine vegetable breeders to checkout their new offerings!! I am so excited. The tour is hosted by All America Selections (AAS) and the National Garden Bureau (NGB).

The breeders we’ll visit include Syngenta, Bejo, American Takii, Sakata, Vitalis, PanAmerican Seed, Seminis, Seeds by Design, and Terra Organics.

I’m planning to post daily with beautiful photos and information on their new vegetables. It’s so important to develop new plants that are resistant to diseases, perform better, and are just plain fun for gardeners to grow and eat.

Please check back!!

yesterday's harvest

My tomatoes are in!! I thought this photo was worth playing with and making it into a piece of art. I love all these vegetables. The big tomato is a new variety I'm trying this year - Dr Lyle. I like it. I also pick a huge orange tomato yesterday, but we already ate it - Chef's Choice Orange.

Unfortunately the critters like my tomatoes too. Chipmunks have taken bites of several tomatoes, so I'm picking them a bit green to ripen inside. This happens every year when the tomatoes first start to ripen. It will be less of a problem later.

today's harvest

My first ripe tomatoes of the season! Of course they are cherries - Sun Gold. Also my first blueberries and squash.

digging parsnips in the spring

On Easter morning (April 21) I dug the last of my parsnips. I’ve never overwintered them before but was told they are really sweet in early spring. So I left half of my crop in the ground last fall.

And, yes, they are excellent after overwintering! I roasted them with some red potatoes, and added olive oil, smoked paprika, and curry powder. Really delicious with our Easter dinner.

Easter morning I also dug a couple overwintered leeks (I have to remember to go dig the rest of them soon), and I picked a nice bunch of overwintered book choy. It’s so nice to be getting garden vegetables again! And digging in the dirt!!

I've been posting on Facebook too. You can check there with this link. Its quicker for me to post there. I'll try to add all the posts here.

i just noticed...

I guess I'm a bit slow, but i just noticed that Feedspot gave this blog an award. Top 30 Organic Gardening Blogs!! Nice. I appreciate that. And they gave out cute badges. I like that too! Thanks Feedspot!

And here's a more current list at Feedspot with more than 100 nice gardening blogs. So much to read!

planting peas

I planted my peas today. I started them indoors in big flat boxes and cut off paper bags. I'm a fan of planting indoors, mostly because I can watch them grow. But also I can baby the seedlings, making sure they get the right amount of water and light (under plant lights).

For peas, another reason for planting inside - my voracious chipmunks. There are so many chipmunks in my garden and they have, in the past, gone right down the rows and dug up and ate every newly planted pea seed.

The chipmunks are also the reason for the new pea supports I am trying. They are thin wire tomato cages set out in a zigzag pattern. Last year the critters climbed up the branches I used for supports and ate most of the pea pods. I'm hoping the thin metal of the tomato cages won't give them enough to hold onto and climb up on.





The peas in the back on the support are Oregon Giant, a delicious snow pea that grows very tall. In front of them I have a row of a short snap pea, Sugar Daddy, that doesn't need support.

today’s harvest

I had my first harvest of the season today. A pretty little head of red butterhead lettuce, some kalelette sprouts, and a handful of big spinach leaves. Delicious.

more baby chick pictures

I bought a batch of 15 mixed layers from McMurray Hatchery. They say they are a mix of at least 5 good laying types plus one exotic layer. I can see that the single fancy bird is silver and has very pretty feathers. I don't know any of the breeds. If anyone can tell the breed from looking at a chick and you recognize any of these - let me know!!

They are two days old now and are being very good. There was one chick who kept pecking other chicks' eyes yesterday. (She the black blur in the left front of the bottom photo.) Over and over. She spent the night in solitary (the shipping box under the light). She's being good today.

Then there is one very tiny bird that I'm hoping will thrive. (She's that buff one at the upper right of the bottom photo.) She has a hard time pushing her way in to the food. I'm spreading crumbles now and then to see if that helps. In have both of my red heat lights over the crate now my to keep the temperature up at 95 degrees for a week. Next week when they are OK at 85 I can separate any tiny birds and move the second light to a smaller crate.

My plan is to only keep 4 or 5 of the chicks. I have one adult hen laying in my coop outside (with another adult that I am overwintering for someone else). I should limit myself to 4 and 5 is pretty full for my small coop. Five others have been spoken for. If you're local to Lincoln MA and want any let me know. I'll advertise on Craig's list at some point.

Charley is very interested in watching the chicks, Suzie less so. Charley always follows me to go check on them. The chicks are in a very secure crate!

baby chicks!

I got a box full of one-day-old baby chicks in the mail today. 17 of them! They are very tiny and very cute. They are now under a red heat lamp in a dog crate converted into a chick incubator.

winter bed

Whenever we get a couple days with night temperatures above freezing I open up my winter bed. It's not as full as last year since I planted late in the fall, but there are lots of greens coming along. Spinach, lettuce, bok choy, and cabbage. Some overwintered rosemary. I was impressed with my kalettes that didn't mature last year, but look good now.