What a summer

I didn’t realize I hadn’t written in a month.
Seriously.  What a summer.   August was nice so what’s left of the garden is producing well. The tomatoes that haven’t been wiped out by late blight are doing well and ripening.  The potatoes didn’t fare as well. It killed all of them but I think they had [...]

A New Hoophouse!

I bought a 1600 sq ft hoophouse this afternoon.  When I called about it a few days ago I missed it by a couple of hours.  The seller kept my name and number just in case and fortunately for me, just in case happened.  It will be delivered in a few hours! This brings our [...]

Free Range Onions

They didn’t really “range” any where but I’m going with the term anyway.  Late last summer I neglected to clean up onions that went to see in the cold house (high tunnel/unheated greenhouse/hoop house) and they started to grow last fall.  They were dormant for a while before starting up slow growth.  One plant started [...]

Early May

I feel like we’re a little bit ahead in spite of the long winter.  The peas are up.  I haven’t checked the rest of the seeds outdoor but will this morning.  It’s warm enough at night to not have heat on in the seedling house.  I’ve used a third of last year’s propane by waiting [...]

Moving Right Along

I’m being lazy today. I had errands to run earlier but I’ve been home an hour and a half and accomplished none of my physical work.  Emails have been answered, a little research done but not one seedling has been potted up.  Not one plant in a greenhouse watered, picked or one inch of ground [...]

Late March

I know it snows in late March in Maine sometimes but that doesn’t make looking at it better.  Ugh. Enough already.  I do feel a little tropical this morning though. I’m writing to you from the tomato plant jungle.  Note to self: late January might be a little early to start seedlings. They resemble redwoods.  [...]

Soil Blocks

I haven’t had a great desire to use soil blocks. Steve saw the makers, the soil and the clincher – got a lesson from Eliot Coleman. Using them will cut back on the amount of plastic I use, always a good thing, and supposedly save me time. I need to drop in at Lucy’s blog [...]

Visiting Eliot

Eliot explained the new six-move rotation he’s worked out for his new movable green houses.  One 1,000 sq ft greenhouse covers 6,000 sq ft of ground a year. We paid close attention.

New Plans

I’m settling in to Steve’s pending unemployment. It hit me hard even though I knew it was likely to happen.  Rather than let it sink in and catch my breath I jumped into action.  Then I sat back and wondered what I’ve done and a whole list of “holy crap!” worries.  It’s ok now. [...]

In the Greenhouse

In one of the greenhouses today:
Tatsoi.  The seedling on the right had been nibbled on this morning.  When I went back in this afternoon to put the row cover back on the plant on the left had ben eaten and more of the other eaten.  I put traps out.  Meadow voles will go into [...]

I read that Jan’s ducks are laying.  Mine are not.  “Ok ladies, I know you’re not spring chickens…err…young ducks…but let’s go.  I’m feeding you.  You should be feeding me.” We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
I started seeds for sage, endive and lettuces today.  The tomatoes, sage and eggplant have been potted up into six packs.  They’ll [...]

Another Week

I love a fresh start.  This week is a bit busy but should off the farm be productive. The Downeast  Athletic Conference championship bball games for boys and girls are today.  Tomorrow and Wednesday have me out.  I think I’ll read a book I’m going to review Thursday during the bad weather and prune Friday.
I [...]

Fedco Order

There are approx. 20 vegetables ordered from Johnny’s that aren’t on this list.  If you see something “missing” it either came from Johnny’s, I already have it and maybe don’t grow that veggie.  Some of the greens will be seeded into the soil in a four season unheated greenhouse, others will be transplanted and the [...]

Snowy Compost Pile

This is the only compost pile on the farm this winter. It was mounded up over the top when the first snow fell. The heat from the composting process melted that snow. It’s less than half its size now and probably frozen all the way to the center.

Floating Row Cover

Another pre-published article.
Floating Row Covers

New Math

One Hose + One Dandruff Shampoo bottle + Three dogs = One wet woman.  I didn’t wake up planning to scrub the mutts but they’re sort of clean now.  I took mercy on them and did a half-assed job.  The water from the well is 54* right now so I didn’t wash between toes and [...]

July 18, 2008

Friday 18 July 2008 Eastern Daylight Time
(longitude W67.7, latitude N45.3) I love the long days on the 45th parallel.

SUN
Begin civil twilight [...]

Seedlings

The ugly plant stand. It’s stained beyond being cleaned and it has a lot of useless space for my needs. But, it’s a lot better than keeping the seedlings on the diningroom table where they stretch to the window. It’s serving a purpose – it’s keeping the greenhouse heat off. I don’t [...]

Planting Peas – Seriously This Time

I looked at the blog’s stats earlier today to see why the number of readers has gone up drastically lately. It’s “planting peas in zone 4″ and “planting peas in zone 5.” I’m sure that blog entry isn’t what folks were looking for!
As I’ve said many times, zone doesn’t matter when you’re growing [...]

The Greenhouse and MNN

Wind damaged the greenhouse today.  When I opened the door the wind caught it, flung it back against the end wall and snapped the top of the frame off.  It hung by the polly and whipped back and forth in the wind.  The poly is stretched and torn.  I thought I had it firmly in [...]