The Gray Northeast

The garden is slowly growing. Spinach, kale, and lettuce have sprouted. The peas and beans are no where to be seen. Jon built a nice trellis in the front for the clematis, and the hostas are all coming up.

My plan is to move many of the hostas from their current locations as they become so huge each year they kill the grass around the front of the house, block the front path, and in general are annoying. I think I will move them to the edge of the property where our neighbors have just built a lovely rock wall. Then we can focus on landscaping the bare areas.

Our plan is to bring in a bulldozer, but I'm not sure that will work out.

From the bulbs I planted when we moved in nearly 4 years ago (that long!?) in the front rock area only about 7 came up. There is a chipmunk village living underneath so I'm sure a few have kept them going through the long winter. But there are some lovely hyacinth.

The weather has been atrocious, but the grass is slowly turning greener. I'm hoping for some good weather tomorrow to get out there and clean up the front area. All the leaves and trees are even behind. This time last year the blossoms were all past and there were lots of leaves on the trees. Now the daffodils are still blooming, the tulips aren't open yet, and the trees are just starting to bud. I'm hoping this weekend will be a nice showcase of blossoms. Just in time for May Day! Get your May Poles ready...


Next up: window boxes! Any suggestions for spring window box flowers?

A sturdy garden

With the vegetable garden planted last week each day I went out to see if anything was sprouting.

Nothing. Not yet anyway.

However, that doesn't mean the garden isn't moving forward! We have early spring flowers like periwinkle (or myrtle)




lots of forsythia, which I will be cutting and bringing inside tomorrow....



and of course spring daffodils.


This week Jon decided that THIS was the year that the veggie garden border became more permanent. Not only will this help keep creeping crab grass and other weeds easier to control, but the lawn mower will no long chew the black plastic border and some of the edged plants. He went to Lowes and bought some pressure treated wood yesterday at lunch and borrowed our neighbor's chainsaw.

Jon cutting pieces to fit the border.
Jon knocking the corner posts in...
D watching his daddy fit the last section.

Once the spring plantings have passed we will bring in a load of nice planting soil for the summer veggies and fill this great garden box up!

A late start, but a start!

I decided that today was the day I was going to do something with the yard. At first I looked at the wall of forsythia bushes and saw that the leaves and other debris needed to be cleared away, then I saw the falling rock wall that edges the driveway that really should be repaired. But then something caught my eye: the barren vegetable garden. I located the seed packs I had bought weeks ago and decided to pluck them in and see what happens.

But before that could happen I had to uncover the fallow plot and rejuvenate the soil. Last fall after the last peppers and basil had fallen under October's frost, I had piled the ground with grass clippings and dead leaves to protect and nourish the soil. Then I added a pile of sticks, cause I was busy and couldn't get them to the other end of the garden. Then some garden trash. Empty containers, a hose, and some hose attachment.

This is much better than the year before when the Christmas tree went on top too. This year our Christmas tree (and wreath) are on the front lawn. It gives the front stoop a very nice smell, and complimented the still hanging lights. Don't worry, those came down today and the tree and wreath will be gone by the 2nd weekend in May. Or sooner. Hopefully sooner.

So I stepped out into the morning sunshine and began the first ritual of spring gardening. Where is all my stuff?

One hour later I have a few rakes, a garden weasel, a spade, and a couple of garden forks. Those were the easy things to find. My garden gloves were on a bucket of plaster in the sun porch. My trowel, dandelion weeder, and hand rake were in various buckets in the back room of the garage. My nice garden stool (which has pockets for all my garden tools) was also hidden in the garage. The wheelbarrow had been wedged upside down under the workbench. I never found my kneeling cushion.

So I began raking out the side of the house. Uncovered lilies, iris, and daffodils. There were enough leaves to fill a giant paper leaf bag, which is odd because I raked the yard last fall of all it's leaves. So I'm not sure where these came from. But then I moved onto the veggie patch, honestly not even remembering how to start.

Do I rake all the leaves and stuff off or mulch them under. Do you mulch a veggie garden before you plant? I walked around it a few times and decided I should at least move the sticks. I brought them to the back of the yard next to the compost pile.

Finally, my head seemed to be clearing. Compost. Yes. Must put a top layer of compost into garden.

I started the compost pile in 2007 when we bought the house. It is housed in 4 wood pallets with an open top. I never water it, and it barely sees the sun. But I edged the top layer of whitened grass clippings and saw it: black gold. A lot of it.

I've never used the compost at all, and three years of broken down organic materials (and some inorganic stuff that didn't break down like a bic pen, a sandwich baggie, and the metal from a small candle that went into a jack o'lantern) were ready.

I filled up the wheel barrow and moseyed on back to the garden. Something had clicked when I saw the compost pile and I was ready.

First we weaseled the garden...

The first round of weaseling shown here...note the color and overall look of the garden. You can tell winter was here...


Then we turned under the top layer, essentially a double digging without digging out a trench first. Although our family loves digging ditches, I was under the time constraint of my baby's nap and figured that a good dig and flip following by some serious raking and weaseling would be almost as good. We went down probably between 8-10 inches instead of the 12, but had we gone that deep we would have encountered some pretty sandy soil.

The goal here was to turn under the newer organic matter that was left over from the winter and also to aerate the soil. One thing I did get to see were lots of worms!
<-- big juicy worm!


Then we added the gorgeous compost!


Wheelbarrow 1 of 3 that went on the garden. Once the compost was spread over the garden I weaseled it so it was mixed with the turned soil.

Turned, composted, and watered! Isn't this an improvemet over picture 1?! Ready for planting.

I have to say that using my own compost was really exciting. It was also hard work. I had to pick out a ton of acorns that had either fallen or been planted by squirrels. 5 or 6 of which had sprouted. I plan on moving the compost pile from its shaded location this year and obtaining a compost bin from my town. But it really was gorgeous looking!

OK, so then I began planting. For my spring planting I chose Swiss chard, two types of lettuce, mesculin, spinach, bush beans, and two varieties of peas (pole peas which grow to 30+ inches, and an unsupported type that only go to 12 inches).




With the peas and beans I used Burpee Booster. I've never used it and will get to see if it works as one of my rows went unboosted.



I ended up not putting in the pole peas, as Im going to plant them by the driveway after J builds a giant trellis for them. Hopefully that will happen next week. This way I'll have more room in the garden!

Rows of salad greens...

Full view of the planted garden.

I have about a 4 ft area with nothing planted...any suggestions?

PS.

I'm no longer posting the weather. Not only has weather.com changed their layout so I can't grab the pictures anymore, but spring weather depresses me. Last Friday it snowed. On Tuesday it was rainy and 60. Today it's 48. Monday will be 75.

I don't need a reminder of manic New England weather is.

As the saying goes, "if you don't like the weather in New England just wait a few minutes..."

Reactivation

I have decided to reactive this blog as I stare out into the wasteland that has become my garden.

OK, it isn't that bad, it's just that winter has stuck around a long while. We had snow 6 days ago.

What's blooming? Amazingly I do have blooms. My hellebore has greenish white blossoms that are turning pink as they age. It's a small plant that I put in last year, and the flowers are larger than the rest of the bush so far. Hellebore is an early spring flower, which is why I put it in.


[Above: Hellebore blossoms covered in snow] A full description of Hellebore is easily found on Wiki.

There are many crocus (croci?) in my lawn. I planted a whole bunch in the fall of 09 and they have begun to spread. Some of the more established daffodils are up but not open, and my tulips are also up. Not sure if these will open as it's their 3rd or 4th year and tulips tend to have short bulb life...especially if you buy them from the bargain bins of supermarkets or home depot like I do. My 100 daffodils that I planted in 2009 are just beginning to come up. Last year they were up and blooming by now, so it's interesting to see the variance in seasons. We definitely got rocked this year by winter, and I honestly am ready to skip this cool spring and head into a hot summer. I need warmth.

But the weather is picking up and with no snow in the forecast this weekend and seasonable temps (50s Saturday, 60 on Sunday!) I may trudge out into the garden and begin cleaning. I have seed packets ready to be planted. Mostly cool weather crops like lettuce, spinach, and peas. I decided to not begin any indoors this year as the porch is still not set up and my 11 month old tends to put everything in his mouth...I'm sure the soil filled peat pots wouldn't last long.

Since last updating this blog, I've joined my town's garden club. So far that has meant going to winter teas and updating their Facebook page. I'm excited for the spring plant sale though as I got a gorgeous hanging plant there last year. Planning on buying 4 this year to make my front door area pretty.

For now though the daffodils are in the grocery stores. I got 3 for $5 at Idylwilde Farm in Acton last week. They are one of my absolute favorite flowers. I love having fresh flowers in the house!

A new season

	Mostly Cloudy High 53° F Precip: 20% A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 53F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.		Showers Low 37° F Precip: 70% Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 37F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
	Sunrise: 6:38 AM		Sunset: 7:05 PM

Spring has officially been here for 6 days, but this week started out cold and windy! However, the garden must be attended to, and two weekends ago we began cleaning and rebuilding the yard. Looking back over my blog posts from last spring, I found that I've started gardening nearly 2 weeks earlier!

Last year we had to start from scratch, and it was very nice this year to go out to the garden plot and simply turn over the compost. I planted lettuce, mesclun, spinach, and radish seeds--all good for cooler weather. As the frost free date is 2 months away here in New England, I went down to the hardware store and bought a giant sheet of clear plastic to cover the plot. The south side of it was still frozen, but I managed to find enough frost-free dirt for 6 rows. I secured the plastic with the rocks that had risen through the soil over the winter, and within an hour the underside was already coated with moisture--a sign of the sun's thawing the dirt. I checked yesterday and many of the seeds have sprouted. A good sign in 38 degree weather!

As Jon did not have to dig out a cable trench or any stumps, he spent the day building a wonderful cold frame. I will have to post a picture because it really is nicely constructed. In a month or so I will be able to harden off seedlings. He used two of our extra storm windows and the remains of some kitchen cabinets that had been damaged in one of the many garage flash floods (we still don't know where the water comes from!). It is just off the patio, and receives full sun all day long.

The tulips are coming up around our dogwood trees in the back, and out front the crocus are blooming. The front rock area seems to have taken a hit over the winter by the chipmunks. I can't find a single daffodil. I'm hoping they are just taking their time! I will have to plant more in the fall. This does leave room for the lavendar I plan on putting in though.

I'm happy to report that some of the herbs are coming back! I noticed the Greek oregano sprouting the other day--a herb I thought would be killed by our freezing, long winter. Also the chives are very green and spreading. If the rosemary and thyme come back there will be very little to replace. I'm keeping my eye out.

We've started a new season, and have a solid plan for the vegetable garden. Some of the changes will be tomatoes in pots near the patio or in the front yard, more bush beans rather than pole beans, and hopefully a pumpkin that grows!

Imbolc and Candlemass

Partly Cloudy High 17° F Partly cloudy. Cold. High 17F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Sunrise: 6:55 AM	Partly Cloudy Low 3° F Partly cloudy. Low 3F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Sunset: 5:05 PM

"If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, / winter will have another bite. / If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, / winter is gone and will not come again.

Groundhog day was Monday, and boy did that sucker hide. Groundhog day was brought over by German immigrants, and is actually a holiday that is celebrated in many cultures and religions for as long as civilization has been around. It is celebrated on February 2, which is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. Also known as Imbolc and Candlemass, the groundhog is only one of the manifestations of a spring prophecy. The Scottish used a snake, the Celts used Cailleach, the hag, and some English used bears or wolves. Celtic legend states that Cailleach gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter on this day, and if it is sunny and bright she can gather a lot of wood...meaning winter will last longer.

"Down with the rosemary, and so

Down with the bays and mistletoe;

Down with the holly, ivy, all,

Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall"

— Robert Herrick (1591–1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"

February 2nd is also the day to take down any remaining holiday decorations! Although your trees may have already been taken down, many wreaths (and our outdoor lights!) still hang. This is the time to hang a spring wreath or use other decorations. Candlemass has the word "candle" in it because many people burn candles in their windows to show a cheery home and to welcome spring. I myself lit the candles in our unused fireplace and it made the room feel very warm and homey.

So this is a gardening blog...oh yes. Well, I keep reading in the papers how the groundhog is wrong and that we will be cold for another 6 weeks no matter what, and I really want to remind people of one thing: this tradition is not an American one, and does not represent American weather patterns! These traditions come from western Europe, and the main thing that western Europe has going for it is the warm Gulf Stream. The latitude of that part of the world is considerably further north, but February 2 is also the beginning of the planting season in many of these countries and recognized as the first day of spring. As the ground does not usually get a hard freeze (but as I write this London is "buried" under 5 inches of snow) so seeds can begin to be planted for early plants like lettuce and beans. Comparing a hardiness map of Europe with one of the US, we see that much of western Europe is in zones 10-8. Those zones in the US are all south of the Mason-Dixie line! While these zones are all pretty cold right now due to the arctic air that seems to be hell bent on pushing further south this year, in 4 weeks--the "early spring" of the groundhog--these zones will be averaging 70 degree days with nights at 50. At that time in zone 6, we will be averaging 40 degree days with nights at 20. That's a big difference.

So I think people should lay off the groundhog...

Our backyard is under 2 feet of snow, and the past two days have been frigid. Saturday is due to warm up to a wonderful 40 degrees, but with the amount of snow around the air will have a hard time getting here. Next week they are expecting the low 30s, and it will be nice to get to the freezing point again.

It's currently 8 degrees with a warming sun. But I was just looking at some flower pictures, and cannot wait for the tulips and daffodils of April and May!