New England Gardener

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. Read more »

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!

If this is your first attempt at a vegetable garden, the first thing to know is: it’s not rocket science. You can do it. Backyard vegetable gardening is pretty simple, as long as you plan a little, and make an effort throughout the season.

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!
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Rainfall was not plentiful for all of us today. At our place on the south side of Boston we had close to an inch. North of Boston, more like a quarter inch of rain. To the west only a few hundredths so far. But more rain is on the way. Tomorrow, May 6 , 2009, starts damp, but we turn mostly dry with breaks of sun. Thursday we get an inch of rain in many spots. Then we have sun and storms Friday to Sunday. That is where we really see hit or miss amounts. By Sunday we should have most spots with more than an inch of rainfall.
The sunny breaks will be bring our blossoms out very fast. This weeks fun flowers in my yard are tulips, phlox, peony, and lilacs.

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

As a tracker of the sun and seasons, it is only natural to be fascinated by the life cycle of The Fauna and The Flora. The birds are my favorite Fauna, the sun flowers, pumpkins, tomatoes, and roses are my favorite Flora. We should fit the bees in here too.

Yes, The birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees.. these are a few of my favorite things. That is one of the reasons I am invited to be part of this Garden Blog. Being the weatherman is a good connection too.

Our NECN web manager, also a gardener (actually, self-described “weekend hacker”), Ted McEnroe, did the ground work for this fine new web site. It is his idea. Amy, Mike, Leslie and I, along with others here at NECN are happy to be aboard. Like any good web site, the way is grow and flourish is a community effort.

We want you to post here too. We want your ideas, questions, and comments. For now, the comment section is the best way for you to add content. We may try and organize a more open forum for sharing gardening goods and ideas.

My Gardening experience goes back decades on Cape Cod, where I grew up. My Dad, Albert Kelley, and neighbor Sayer ‘Tup’ Shaffer have been teaching me the ways of the land.

My first post talks about the Iron Skillet and Hammer shown in the post below. My intention is to grow Rosa Ragusa from scratch.

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If Amy is just adding water.. I should bring the sunshine. Who wants to bring the rich organic soil?

Does anyone want to guess what we are cooking up here? Hopefully quiet weather will allow me more time to post on Gardening. The story of the Hammer and Iron Skillet is coming soon.