Scenes from the garden...

This is turning out to be a very busy year!

 Managing both the school garden and our garden at home hasn't left me much time for posts, so here is a quick update on what's been happening in the gardens.

Sweet basil waiting to be planted.

The greenhouse is starting to empty, but still has several trays of plants waiting to go into the garden. 

Most of the plants went into the school garden but there are still more flowers, herbs and a few vegetable seedlings that still need to get planted.

Drunken Woman Fringed Head Lettuce - almost ready to be picked!

Another tray of lettuce, still in the 3/4" soil blocks!

A tray of tomatoes, lemon balm and mint.

This year I started several varieties of flowers to plant a cutting garden. 

I started zinnias, calendula, dahlia, ageratum, amaranth, morning glory and lots of sunflowers.

Ageratum - Dondo Blue.

Calendula - Mixed.

I also started several varieties of herbs to create a medicinal herb garden. The plan is to grow my own organic herbs for salves, teas and tinctures. I started lemon grass, several different varieties of basil, rosemary, thyme, sage, chamomile, cayenne peppers, lemon balm, evening primrose, mint, marshmallow, licorice and peppermint.

The fence is already up, but the beds still need to be turned before I can get the seedlings in the ground.

Lemon Grass

Sage

Holy Basil (Tulsi)

Lemon Balm

Rosemary

Evening Primrose

Some new varieties that I am trying for the first time this year are rhubarb and pop corn. 

I purchased seeds from a supplier in Vermont and am excited to see what kind of results I get.

Rhubarb seedling.

A tray of pop corn, started in soil blocks so the seeds wouldn't get eaten in the garden.

I am always amazed by how well the plants grow in soil blocks. Using them has really cut down on the cost of plastic starting trays and pots.

The kale, lettuce and greens that I planted last fall have all started to go to seed. I am just waiting for the pods to turn brown so I can harvest the seed for next season.

Kale, lettuce and greens going to seed.

Seed pods on the Ruby Streak - greens

At the school garden, we added more beds, increasing the growing area to 1,200 square feet!

We also put up a fence to keep the deer out after seeing signs of them eating the greens last fall! 

In a couple weeks we will be putting up a tool storage shed, building cold-frames and building one of my greenhouses so we can start seedlings right in the garden!

Most of the beds have already been planted and the beans we put in last week are just starting to emerge!

That's what's been going on in the gardens this spring. 

While I wish I had more time for more posts, I am really enjoying the time spent working out in the gardens. Hopefully once everything is planted, and things settle down a bit, I can find time to share my results with growing the new varieties.

~Rob~

Scenes from the garden - 4/26/14

Raindrops on the Red Russian Kale.

It's been a cool and rainy day here in New England. I couldn't work in the garden today so I went outside with the camera and snapped a few photos of the raindrops that I though looked interesting on the Kale and Lettuce plants.

Red Russian Kale, planted last fall.

Yesterday I moved the cold frame off the kale, lettuce, onions and garlic, now that the night-time temps have been staying above freezing.

I also transplanted some of the extra Kale seedlings that were started on 4/6 into the garden.

Blue Curled Scotch Kale seedling.

 The greens I planted last fall really seem to be loving the cool spring temperature.

Greens, Ruby Streaks

Greens, Mustard Red Giant

These greens have add a nice spicy punch to salads.

I am thinking about letting some of them go to seed so I can save them for next year!

The color in the leaves, highlighted by the raindrops, is making my mouth water for a fresh picked crispy salad!

~Rob~

The morning walk to the greenhouse...

This winter has been especially cold here in New England. 

Usually by now I am already thinking about starting seeds, laying out the garden plans and going through my seed supply pulling out the varieties that will be started soon, but instead I have been busy running my business and spending my free time sitting by the wood stove reading gardening and farming books.

Last fall I built a duck house for our two Pekin ducks so I could leave them outside at night instead of putting them up in the garage in the portable coop. It has worked out extremely well protecting them from both predators and the elements. It is cozy and spacious, and they really seem comfortable in it. Each night at dusk, they would stand on the ramp and quack until I came out and put them up for the night.

(Unfortunately we lost one of our ducks last summer so we now only have one, Bert, who I am hoping to find a mate for come spring)

The winter nights have been extremely cold, so I packed the duck house with hay for extra warmth. The ducks usually aren't bothered by the cold or snow, but this year Bert doesn't seem to like it too much.

Our morning routine had become me filling up a tub with warm water in the greenhouse...

letting Bert out at sunrise...

having him follow me along the shoveled path...

(although on really cold days I need to carry him because he'll sit down in the middle of the path and quack)

and into the greenhouse 

we he immediately heads for the tub of warm water to drink and take a bath.

He'll spend the day basking in the warmth of the greenhouse until dusk, when it's time to head back to his duck house.

Hopefully the temps will begin to warm and the greenhouse will soon be filled with seedlings waiting to go into the garden!

~Rob~

Scenes from the garden

I can't believe it is 2014 already, it seems like last year flew by so fast! 

It has been extremely busy around here these past few months, hence the lack of posts, but things are starting to settle back down a bit and I have begun planning the gardens and projects for this year! 

We had our first substantial snowfall yesterday and record low temps last night, dipping to -9°. The wood stove has been doing a great job keeping the house toasty but the wood pile seems to be going down much faster this year.

You can see Bert, just to the left of the birdbath, enjoying the 60° temp inside the greenhouse

I felt uneasy leaving Bert outside in his duck house with the blustery winds and below zero temps, so I filled the empty greenhouse with hay and locked him in these past two days.

 He seemed a little annoyed at first, but now that he has been enjoying the warmth, he refuses to come out!

The frosty temps have created some interesting designs on the cold frame walls.

Surprisingly, with the below zero temps and no row covers on the plants, the lettuce, kale, onions, beets and leeks seem to be doing just fine in the cold frame.

The seed catalogs have already started to trickle in and I can't wait to get my hands back into the soil! Until then all I can do is curl up in front of the wood stove and dream about this year's garden!

~Rob~