Young Maple Leaf May 2, 2010

I was kind of hoping with the early bloom this year, maybe we can catch the winter moth sleeping. Perhaps the leaves could bloom so fast, the moths might sleep through the action. On inspection today, Sunday May 2, 2010, we see the moths are hard at work, eating our young maple and oak (and many other) leaves. I could not see any pests on the leaf, but I did see a steady stream of tiny green caterpillars climbing up this weeping cherry tree.
What can we do? Not much. Here is some more information from the Univerisity of Massachusetts Extension. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

I estimate that only about a third of the dahlias we planted have bloomed. In past years, I have always had a vase full of flowers on my desk at work in August. Not this year! It has definitely been a difficult summer with all of the rain and the lack of sunshine. I’ve also been dealing with rotting rosebuds and rose bushes that have black spots.

I hold out hope that more of the dahlias will bloom in the next month or so. They usually last through October. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping for some dry, hot days. I’ll continue to give them lots of tender loving care!

So Sad. And that’s not all.. This cold, gray, windy & wet June has left many gardens way behind on growth.

These rose blooms were decapitated by fierce Northeast winds from Sunday and Monday. At least the dismembered blooms gave me something useful to do with the dusty old Chianti Bottle we saved from Italy

New England Gardener’s have to be optimists.. or else. Anytime we allow doubt into our minds, our plants feel the vibe. We lose that- “I know I can do it attitude” -and the plants respond with diminished liveliness. Tomatoes are naturally resilient. So this broken tomato could be left to repair itself. Or we can be proactive.

In this case, because the break is not on the main stem, I will just cut below the damage and allow the tomato to continue on with no side effects. Is the break happens on the main stem, the tomato will actually reconnect itself, with a little help from the gardener. I would wrap some cloth bandage around the break, using string and a bean pole for a splint. Or, this early in the season, just snip the top off and let new growth take over. this method works on many vegetables.

Next to the Thermometer, showing 59 degrees at noon on the longest day of the year, June 23, 2009, we see happy healthy Rosa Ragusa, though they lost many petals, they show no ill effects from the four day Nor’easter. These roses are hearty, that’s we often see them next to the sea.
For all the rainy days this month, 16 of 24 by my count, we have not seen huge totals. The bird bath is not over flowing. However, most spots have made up the 3″+ deficits we talked about two weeks ago. So far we have 4″-6″ for June here on The South Shore of Massachusetts.

Peak winds gusted to 45+ mph on the 20th and 21st, this caused a lot of leave drop, and some branches too. That will keep us busy this weekend. This Maple leaf looks a little lost on the ground in June. While it’s brethren will be turning red on the tree in October, this one will be worm food two feet under grass clippings in the Kelley compost pile. As for these patches of Brown Bladed Grass, can anyone help us here? We sure are not wanting for water, as is usually the case by Summer Solstice. This aslo does not look like grubs or Red Fungus, as far as I can tell. If you have a clue, please leave a comment.

On the positive side, the Blueberries are plumping up nicely, they seem undeterred by a cold spring. Hopefully the berry’s do not over plump, like tomatoes do (burst on the vine), when we get too much rain. This is only my second season with Blueberry’s, I will let you know in a few weeks.
Our forecast is for warmer sun and clouds the next few days. The weekend forecast for nice weather, is hedging toward optimism, there is a possibility of another closed low, with cooler gray east winds possible Sunday and Monday, let’s keep that to ourselves. We don’t want to depress anyone .

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Another chilly wet Tuesday here in New England. Heaviest rain today is 1″-2″ in southwestern Connecticut. This is the same area that had the most rain last week. The amount of rain in New Haven CT today, June 9, 2009, is 1.45″, most falling in an hour between 9 and 10 AM. Contrast with .08″ in the gauge here at NECN, where we have only .51″ from May 25 to June 9. On May 24, we measured 1.1″, our last soaker of a day. For New England as a whole, we are behind by 3″-6″ of rainfall for the year. The exceptions are northern Vermont to Aroostook County Maine, where rainfall is near normal for ‘09. But, in Aroostook County, we can not shake the cold. This morning 28° in Clayton Lake Maine, makes life tough for gardener’s. Do you have anything to report from Northern Maine? Please leave us a comment. As Amy Sinclair pointed out, our season is off to a slow start. And so am I.

I just got my tiny vegetable garden in this past Sunday, June 7, 09. Better late than never.

It is funny, for my entire life I have enjoyed working outdoors, much more than I enjoy working indoors.

But now my (paying) job is indoors, and with the advance of the World Wide Web, we are now enabled (required) to write (blog) about what we do outdoors. That leaves even less time to work (play) outdoors. This is why my garden is late, and I have not posted here in a while.

This bird loves strawberrys!

Sunday was productive.. I did my third turning of the soil with beautiful compost, planted 12 Tomatoes, 4 Peppers, 8 Pumpkins (from seed), and a batch of Basil and Chives. I also buried four heavy pavers so Janet does not have to walk in the soil to get an easy harvest. The white rocks are polished by the waves of Massachusetts Bay.

The Sunday Planting was even more enjoyable thanks to a Father Catbird that feasted on insects and worms, upturned as I worked. The bird was landing on shovel handles and tomato stakes right next to me. Oh yeah, I saved time and staked and caged the plantings on day 1. Part of Amy’s Just Add Water Concept. Now I just water, weed, and prune through my last tomato in October. Piece of Cake.. Right?

Turning the Soil

Here’s where you can get some exercise, if you sit at a desk all week. And you can renew a New England Memorial Day weekend tradition: planting your vegetable garden!
OK after my last post you’ve either built and filled a new raised bed, or, if you’ve got an existing bed, you’ve pulled any spring weeds. You’ve also removed any pine needles and other debris from the winter.
Now it’s time to turn the soil. I use a standard four tined spading fork. I just saw them at Lowe’s for $24.98. Starting in one corner of the garden, turn the soil down to a depth of 8-10 inches. I only loosen the soil as much as necessary. Break up any big chunks. You’ll undoubtedly find a good crop of New England potatoes — rocks pushed up by frost over the winter. Remove them. Small stones are OK, and inevitable in most New England soil.

Organic Fertilizers, Limes

Fertilizer
There are all sorts of ways you can go. If you’re a beginner, you can take a soil sample to your county extension service for analysis. It’s inexpensive but it takes a couple of weeks for results. It really needs to be done earlier than now. Or you can ask at your local garden store about the general characteristics of local soil, and about fertilizer. Where I live, the soil is acidic due to the prevalence of pine trees. This is very common in New England. So every year, I put lime on my garden, according to the package directions. You can use granular or pelletized lime. I’ve used both. I spread it right out of the bag.

Spreading Fertilizer

I generally use Plant Tone or another organic fertilizer, again according to the directions. This year I found an an old clay pot base, poured some fertilizer in, and just shook the thing, spread it around as evenly as I could. Back to our theme: this is not rocket science. Just do your best in spreading it evenly. If it’s windy, spread the stuff downwind, and warn those in the vicinity to get out of the way first. Use a rake, fork or shovel to work this into the top 4–8 inches of soil. Just work it to the depth your plants will be.

The Fun Part: Planting!
Young kids especially enjoy this. When my children were younger, I always gave them a few seeds or a tomato plant to put in the ground. With a garden this small, I didn’t draw a chart or make a plan beforehand. A quick sketch IS best, if you’re new to gardening. But I knew what I wanted to plant and just went for it. This year I am planting five tomato plants, all purchased at the Lake Street Garden Center in Salem, NH. I have been shopping there for years. Every spring they feature about two dozen varieties of tomatoes, including some hard to find heirlooms. Plus they have many, many other vegetables, flowering plants, supplies and more. This isn’t a paid ad for them. I just like the place! This year I got Russian Krims. I’ve grown them before. They are a purplish black when mature, and are out of this world. I also got “New Hampshire Sure Crop,” which are specially bred (bio-engineered?) to flourish in the climate and soil of NH. We’ll see how they do. I also got an early variety, a new Roma variety, and a grape tomato. Can you tell I love tomatoes? I bought individual plants, which are a little more expensive but I find them worth the extra cost. Six packs are fine, too, especially if you will be putting in a large number of plants.

Planting Tomatoes

Tomatoes are simple to plant. The most important thing is to plant them far enough apart — at least three feet away from other plants, four feet if you have the space. (photo of yardstick) I also chose as a location the “back” edge of my garden. For most of the day, the sun will be hitting the “front.” This way the tomatoes, the biggest plants later in the season, won’t be shadowing the smaller plants in front. Then I just dug a hole with my hand, removed the tomato plant from its temporary pot, stuck it in the soil, and filled around it so the plant is upright and stable. Again, not rocket science.

Planting cuke seeds in hill

THE CUKES
I then planted two hills of cucumbers near the front. Planting cukes in hills is a common technique. Each hill is a small, flattened, circular mound of soil you make with your hands. About 12–16 inches in diameter. In one hill, I planted a regular sized (about 8 inches) variety. In the other hill, smaller pickling cukes. I used seeds. You can start these from plants as well, but I never have. Don’t ask my why. I’m not sure. I’ve always had good luck with plenty of early (and late) cucumbers. I just stick the seeds in about a quarter inch to half an inch, all around the hill. About 15 seeds or more per hill. I will later thin to about 3 or 4 plants per hill.

In the middle of my garden, I planted a three foot row of collard greens, and a parallel row of swiss chard, also three feet long. I planted seeds, barely covering them with soil. There’s always planting info on the package.

Seeds

And in the front of the greens, a small patch of oregano from seeds, and one Thai hot pepper plant. Oregano is a perennial, and I’m not sure how well it’s going to do. I’ve never planted it before so this is an experiment. The seeds were tiny. We’ll see. More on using all of these vegetables in cooking in later posts.

Whew. Planting’s all done. Last thing? Water it. Make sure not to water too long or too hard, so as not to wash away any of your carefully planted seeds. And water every day for the first week or so. You can do by hand or with a gentle sprinkler. Common sense. It’s not rocket science!

All done for now!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Still to come — fencing, weeding, mulching.

Apricot roses

So, when the meteorologists muttered the word “frost” the other day, I took action. I actually covered up my most tender vegetation with light baby blankets. I was outside, in the dark, carefully tucking them in for the night. I have never done this before and it felt a little silly, but I was protecting my “investment”.

My husband thought I was crazy. I told the plants to hang in there and be strong and that they would live to see another day.

They did. Everything is fine in the garden.

And, while I love to nurture my little tubers and watch them grow all summer into dazzling dahlias, there’s nothing like a blooming apricot rose bush in early May. Worth the money for sure!

Over the next few months, I’ll take you through the process of planting, caring for, and harvesting a small backyard garden. l planted mine last weekend (May 17th). Details ahead, as we say on the news. And before we go further, please know I’m not a certified garden pro of any sort. I’m a backyard gardener who learned on my own, mostly from trial and error, reading, and talking to other gardeners. I’ve been growing vegetable gardens for 30 years, in California, Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire, from 20′ X 40′ plots complete with pumpkin and watermelon patches, to my present 8′ X 8′ raised bed. I garden because I enjoy it, and because I like eating! To me, there’s nothing like a simple salad made with fresh tomato, cucumber, basil or oregano, a splash of olive oil, and dashes of sea salt and cracked pepper. Maybe a few chunks of feta or asiago cheese thrown in. I eat these salads for about six weeks straight during August and September!

CHOOSING A LOCATION
But let’s start at ground level, literally. If this is your first garden, location is paramount. The most important factor is sunlight. Tomatoes and most other vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sun and preferably much more. Southern facing gardens are best. Watch your desired garden location for a day or two, tracking the movement of the sunlight. Does it get enough sun?

The location should also be as level as possible for optimal drainage. But it can be off a little. My raised bed was impossible to make level, because it sits on a slight slope. I just made it as level as I could, and it works great.

THE FRAME

Older frame filled with soil (L), new unfilled frame (R)

As far as the actual garden goes, I use a raised bed I made a few years ago. My wife Amy is adding a second frame this year. But I’ve also built much larger gardens by just removing the sod, digging up the soil underneath, and adding as much sifted loam and mulch as necessary for the proper depth. My raised bed is 8′ X 8′ X 10″, a little smaller than the standard 10′ X 10′ X 12″. I used 10″ wide planks for the sides, rather than the standard 12″, because I dug down a few inches below the ground level, giving the garden enough total depth. I have found a foot of soil is plenty. The frame was attached using three inch deck screws. You can also drive a piece of rebar outside the frame, one on each side, in the middle, to keep the sides from bowing out. I didn’t do this because I partially buried the sides beneath ground level, and this was enough to keep them from bowing. If your frame sits entirely above ground, or if the sides are longer, you should consider a piece of rebar for each side.

KILN DRIED OR PRESSURE TREATED WOOD?
I chose regular kiln dried wood for the sides, not pressure treated. Pressure treated will last longer but it contains preservatives, sometimes arsenic, which may leach into the soil. As I mentioned to one reader of this blog, I’ve never seen a study which has tracked the leaching of chemicals from PT wood into soil. But I’ve never met anyone who thinks it’s worth the risk of using it. Kiln dried wood has to be replaced sooner, but so what? It’s less less expensive anyway. I don’t paint or stain the wood.

I filled my space with purchased, sifted loam and mulched leaves. Half loam, half mulched leaves. The leaves had been mulching for about a year and were the consistency of loose soil. I add a few wheelbarrow loads of this mulch every year before planting, to invigorate the existing soil. If you have no mulch, you can get away with all loam as long as it’s not too thick and muddy.

PREPARING THE SOIL
I made my raised bed a couple of years ago, so my first step this year was to rake any debris from the garden surface, such as accumulated pine needles from the winter. Pine needles add unnecessary acid to the soil. Then I pulled as many weeds, root and all, as I could. Wear gloves for as much of this as possible. The weeds and debris go into a wheelbarrow and are dumped in the woods behind my house. If you live in the city, you may have to bag and throw out your debris with the rest of your household trash…
Still to come…. Turning the soil, fertilizing, and planting the garden!

My only tips are these two..

1. Use a tomato cage to support the top heavy peony blooms. Enjoy the ants marching on the buds, they really seem to enjoy this peony nectar. And (Leslie!), have faith in the beautiful Peony Flowers YOU WILL HAVE soon.

2. Cut a few lilac buds as soon as the little purple pods crack open. Lilacs in a vase in the house have great aroma. Too strong for some. Lilacs love to be pruned