Little Vermont Family Garden

As most New Englanders have noticed, it’s been a wet summer so far.  It hasn’t been as bad here as some other places (I think Maine and CT have had a bit more rain than we have) but I’m beginning to feel soggy.  My plants show clear distress at the moisture.  The peas, although producing admirably, are only about 2 feet tall.  Last year at this time, they were about 10 feet tall.  The peppers look as though I had seeded them directly into the ground, which I certainly did not do.  If I get a pepper this year, I’ll be astounded.  The beans are doing well and flowering, but are not nearly as tall as this time last year.  No complaints about the potatoes, onions or garlic…but honestly it’s a bit hard to tell with those.  I have noticed brown spots on the cucumber leaves, the likes of which I have never seen before.  I’ve found nothing in the books I’ve checked that indicates what these spots could be, but I have my suspicions.

All that to say…I don’t expect this to be the most productive garden I’ve ever had.  I’m having a hard time getting out there to do necessary maintenance, also.  It’s pouring out - who wants to go stand out there and thin carrots?  The weeds are crazy - they seem to be thriving in the rain.  Of course.  I need to hill the potatoes - but I could really use a hoe and a very large rain poncho.  Ugh.

I would love to show pictures of how things have grown in just the last week, but I don’t really want to ruin my camera in the rain!  Those of you that think I’m some kind of gardening pro (guffaw, really now!) would learn the reality if you saw my photographic evidence!  I’d gladly share it…but right now there isn’t any!

Scott asked me to keep a list on the white board in the kitchen of that which is currently available.  It makes thinking about dinner a little more interesting.  As of now, that sad little list reads: scallions, lettuce, peas, swiss chard.  That’s it!

Off to go look at the radar now…and think of something to do inside with two little boys on this rainy day.

I broke this blog yesterday.  Fortunately, I was able to restore some files without needing to spend all day figuring it all out, and things should be pretty much back to normal.  I hope.

The other thing I managed yesterday was taking some pictures of the garden, humble though it may be.  I had to remind myself that I do enjoy is viewing photos of how things progress over the summer, and it’s helpful to go back and look at where I was “last year at this time” - and thus I will publish photos of my tiny plants.  Well, everything’s tiny except the garlic and cabbage.  The cabbage is under cover though, so there are no photos of it today. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite still being pretty behind, things are starting to happen out there.  I have plenty of beautiful lettuce to eat.  There’s a bit of spinach, but not as much as I would like.  The cabbages are huge and beautiful.  Carrots, cilantro, cucumbers, and many beans have sprouted.  The local garlic is tall, lush, green, and gorgeous, and the other garlic is ugly and pathetic looking but still growing.  Peas are coming along, and we may be able to eat some in a few days.  I’ve planted one bed full of potatoes, but still have 2/3 of a bed to go.  The chard may be ready to eat in a few days to a week.  Peppers and tomatoes are looking pretty healthy.  Basil still hasn’t sprouted!  I have confidence it will be up this week.  The onions are happy and quite healthy looking!  It seems like I’ve left something out but I can’t think of anything else.  I haven’t planted pumpkins and I’m not sure I will.  I’d like to but I really am not ready for another garden takeover!

Today I planted watermelon and scallions.  We have a big area already full of scallions but they’re huge and flowering so I planted another area today for some nice tender ones later this summer.

Sooner or later I need to focus on some of the perennials - they desperately need thinning, moving, etc.  My gardens are pretty overgrown right now.

As for fruit - we’ve got berries growing on the blueberry, raspberry and strawberry plants.  The cherry tree looks great but we won’t get any fruit this year.

I really need to get out there and do some more work, but I’m having a lazy day and just don’t really feel like it!  I am knitting another sock and am more inclined to sit and knit, today at least.

I am enjoying the first of our produce and am reminded once again that there simply is no comparison between home grown and store-bought produce.  None at all.  I really have to figure out a way to grow lettuce year round because it is just so much better.  Now if those peas would just be ready!

Maybe this week I’ll take some pictures - I really need some “before” pics to have to compare with the lush green that will be here in a month or so…

Things are coming along…slowly.  In the basement, the tomatoes look like they usually do at this time of year - a little unprepossessing.  I know they’ll catch up soon, but they look small compared to their greenhouse-grown cousins.  The peppers are tiny, so tiny I wonder if they will catch up.  Is that what I get for using last years’ seeds?  They’re supposed to be ok!  The onions, oh my poor onions.  Pepper ate the tops off all those she could reach, which appears to be most of them.  I have some backups.  I actually purchased some Stuttgarters from Agway.  I shudder to think of using them - they won’t have the flavor of the ones I usually plant.  My red onions, my beloved Burgermasters - probably won’t have many to speak of.  My neighbor generously gave me some of her purchased red onion starts, but I have no idea what they are or how well they will keep.  Frustration!

Outside, the cherry tree seems to be doing well.  The garlic is stunning!  My lovely local garlic looks so healthy - there is no comparison to the German Red Rocambole I ordered from VT Bean - it looks anemic by comparison.  This year I’m confident we’ll have enough to last the year.

The cabbage has been transplanted.  Soon we’ll be eating lettuce and spinach (maybe even just a few days).  The peas look good.  I may attempt to plant more of them, just to see how they’ll do in a shady spot where I have some room.

Chard, carrots, a second planting of lettuce have all sprouted and are coming along.  I have some concerns about the garden where the chard went in.  It seems to have mold (!) growing all over the surface of the dirt.  I may need to seek out some kind of organic anti-fungal remedy.  Any hints from my fellow gardeners?

I am hoping to get in some quality garden time tomorrow morning.  I need to get those onions and potatoes in, along with some cilantro.  Loads of cilantro this year!  I’m sure there is more I’ll put in this weekend, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.  Oh, raspberries, yes those desperately need to get planted.  I *still* have more bricks to dig out.  Need to set those boys to work.  Today, on the way to playgroup, I hope to stop at the lumber yard and dig out some more sawdust for the blueberries.  They’re flowering but they are surrounded by weeds.  Everything needs my attention.  It seems like this is a busy, busy spring and I am behind in everything.  For a family that strives to live pretty simply and spends a pretty good amount of time at home, we have had surprisingly little time to work in the garden!

That’s all for now…have a nice long weekend!

I have wanted to try this for ages!  I finally had what I needed to make my mom some drawstring pajama pants from old sheets!  Mom does not live close enough for me to grab a pair of her current pjs to work with.  Finally it dawned on me that my neighbor’s pants might do, and I borrowed some!  I had a set of sheets that we aren’t using anymore because the fitted sheet ripped.  The top sheet was in great shape though!  Read the rest of this entry »

We have a new resident.  A very fat, robust looking groundhog has taken up residence under the rock wall behind one of the burning bushes at the very back of the yard. Read the rest of this entry »

Who’s there?

Mother Nature… Read the rest of this entry »

Today is the day!  I cannot believe that the ground is no longer frozen here.  Today I will attempt to plant peas, spinach, and lettuce.   I might actually accomplish it, too.  I just have to figure out where all of it is supposed to go.  I have yet to plan the layout of my ten raised beds. Read the rest of this entry »

About half of the seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago have germinated!  I think the only things that have not are peppers, which is no big surprise.  The cabbage came up practically overnight. 

Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t been very organized this year.  I did go through my box of seeds and picked out everything I could plant this year, and thankfully there was a lot.  I saved quite a bundle by ordering less than usual.  Then I made a list of what I still needed to purchase, and ordered it without double checking.  I had a scare, thinking I had forgotten carrots, but I found a good sized packet still in the box here, so hopefully they’ll be ok.  I tend to plant a lot of carrots!  Read the rest of this entry »