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 »

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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Lettuce Under Wraps

The community garden here in Maine resembled a campground tonight as gardeners pitched makeshift tents over tender seedlings.

The mid-May frost warning is Mother Nature’s way of reminding us not to rush the season. Conventional wisdom tells us not to transplant heat-loving seedlings until Memorial Day weekend in Maine. That’s a bit tricky this year because the long weekend falls a bit earlier than usual.

For gardeners whose weekend plans would be incomplete without planting, just keep an eye on Tim’s forecast. You might have to tuck those plants in for the night one more time. At least they don’t require a bed time story.

Photo by: meonomous

That’s right. According to Matt Noyes, meteorologist here at NECN, there may be frost in the forecast tonight. You can read his analysis of the week in weather over at the Weather New England blog. I wanted to share one piece of his analysis relevant to the New England gardening world in regards to protecting your plants from frost.

“So what can you do to protect plants against frost? Many of you have already shared with us that you saw our forecasts starting last Thursday of the frost potential and decided not to plant just yet.

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Zach Tames Giant Pumpkin

My grandfather tended a large vegetable garden planted with pole beans, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, chard, spinach and all sorts of squash. Just before dinner, he’d head out to the garden, colander in hand, and return with salad. It was a revelation. My grandmother was equally passionate about flowers. She had large cutting beds filled with Snapdragons, Zinnias, and Asiatic and Oriental lilies (no Lily Leaf beetles to worry about back then!) She also delighted in roadside fauna stopping to point out Queen Anne’s Lace and Tiger Lilies during walks with the dog.

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Dad and Mom returned north from Florida Hibernation just in time for Mother’s Day. Dad’s garden has not been touched, other than the brush burning last month. Yet, he walks right out there and starts harvesting. The asparagus, once established, are unstoppable.. at least that is how it appears to me. Maybe my Dad performs a few magic tricks when I am not looking. Here he is, nothing up his sleeve, presto, we have dinner. The tomatoes are from his Florida Garden. Due to Florida chill, he had to wait until February to start the tomatoes.
I asked him about the Asparagus Garden.

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