August 14, 2010 When
people ask what's from the garden I'm at a loss to answer because there is so much. Easier to tell what isn't coming in now.
Sun gold tomatoes and Taxi, a yellow heirloom, just started coming in. There are lots of big beautiful green tomatoes that
should start turning red soon. July 22, 2010 I try to harvest the summer squash before the sun hits the patch so I'm not too hot in a long sleeve shirt and pants
to protect my arms and legs from the plant's defenses. Lots of beans coming in now as the peas wind down. Chives, radishes,
arugula, lettuce, beets, dill, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, chard, kale, collards, basil, celantro, eggplant,
peppers and scallions are all coming in now supplying the chef with about 80% of the vegetables he needs. I'd better get back
to my hoe.
March 22, 2010 Frost is out of the ground 2 or 3 weeks early this year. I have lettuce,
onions, leeks, parsley and celeric stated indoors. I plan to start broccoli, cauliflowwer, kohlrabi and more lettuce tomorrow.
I'm a little worried by this warm weather; the asparagus may decide to pop up too early and get caught by frosts that I'm
sure are still to come. October 3, 2009 Everyone is asking if I have put the garden to bed for the winter. Actually this is a fairly productive
time with lettuce, two kinds of radishes, kohlrabi and arugula for salads; along with beets, carrots, chard, kale, collards,
broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, dill, chervil and cilantro which are frost hardy. Incredibly the beans, summer squash,
peppers, eggplant and corn have survived three light frosts and are producing small amounts. The winter squash has been harvested
and we are in the process of getting the onions in—two vegetables that Josh will have to use through the winter. My
work for the year won’t be finished until after Thanksgiving.
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| Bobby Andrus harvesting onions |
June 15, 2009 Lettuce, arugula, chives, radishes and asparagus are coming from the garden now. In another week
I'll stop harvesting the asparagus so the ferns can grow and collect energy from the sun for next year's crop. I'll also fertilize
the bed with compost and cover with 6 inches of grass clipping mulch. I was pleased to see the first planting of beans
break through yesterday. They need warm soil to germinate and we have had some pretty cool and drizzly days. There are some
incredibly cute Zepher summer squash less than an inch long. Two plantings of corn are looking good, there are blossoms on
the early peas and the tomato plants are beginning to take hold which means I'd better start snipping out the suckers. I
better get back to work.
| Spring garden |
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| Early corn, broccoli and kohlrabi, onions mulched with grass clippings, lettuce and helper Dani |
September 10, 2008
I will plant arugula today, the sixth planting. It will mark the end of planting this year. Its been a great year, mostly.
Excellent squash, beans, onions, potatoes, corn, eggplant, arugula, lettuce, broccoli, kohlrabi and herbs. Every year has
its problems. This year the major problems were with peas and tomatoes. There has been an unusually high amount of damage
in the first planting of carrots and the first two plantings of lettuce were pretty much wiped out by cutworms. But I should
be focusing on the positive and it was certainly the best eggplant year I've ever had. Same for broccoli. Brussels sprouts
look good but are still growing. They should start filling out pretty fast soon.
June 26, 2008
It's raining so I'm not going back out in the field and Barbara has enough staff so I don't
have to be at the restaurant. That's why I have a minute to write this. Thanks to some help this year (Aaron Fortin, Kristin
Shaw, T.J. Holbrook and, starting tomorrow, Trevor whose last name escapes me) the garden looks great. The last of the asparagus
for this year will be harvested Saturday and the ferns will be allowed to grow and soak up the sun's energy for next year's
crop. Cutworms have wiped out my first two plantings of lettuce but I think the next two will make it. I'm harvesting peas
now but they also took a major hit from cutworms not to mention some germination problems.
I hope the problems
are behind me. The tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, squash, cucumbers, beans, basil, onions, carrots and
radishes look good. In addition to the peas I'm harvesting arugula, chives, dill, and kohlrabi.
April 28, 2008
If only I hadn't had my confidence shaken last year, I would have amazed people in late March by telling them
I would be planting the peas in about two weeks. There was still a lot of snow on the garden April 1st yet I was able to plant
ten days later. The snow that covered the garden from mid December until April insulated it so there was no frost in the ground.
When the snow melted the water was able to percolate down and the garden dried in just a few days.
It is raining
today which is why I have time to update this. The beautiful dry days have made it possible for me to plant peas, lettuce,
spinach, onions, arugula, scallions, radishes, carrots, parsley and leeks. Today, before it started raining, I transplanted
some of the broccoli and kohlrabi that I started indoors. These tender seedlings may be killed by a frost if we get a fairly
hard frost before they get acclimated but all of the things I have planted will survive any frost we are likely to get.
I am two weeks ahead of last year and at least a week ahead of a normal year. I cut the first asparagus spears (only
3) yesterday. They will wait in water until I can add a few to make a meal for me. It will be a couple of more weeks before
I have enough for the restaurant.
Not only did the carrots I protected with bales of hay survive the winter (Josh
has been working through 40 pounds of them) but there were some that were protected only by the snow that also survived and
were good eating. There was no wait to dig the parsnips.
March 25, 2008
The garden is still under
at least a foot of snow. It is not looking good for planting the peas by April 15 which I have been able to do for every year
but one since I started gardening here in 1972. The exception was last year. Hmmm.
As soon as the snow clears
from around the hay bales out there I will roll the bales back and harvest the rest of last year's carrot crop. When the frost
leaves the ground, I'll harvest the parsnips that I left in the ground for that purpose. Along about mid May the asparagus
will come in and then the peas and lettuce and, oh boy, I can hardly wait.
I have started parsley, thyme,
eggplant, celeriac, lettuce and some flowers in the house under grow lights. It feels so good to have my hands in soil again
and to see things growing.
December 2, 2007
Garden work is finished for this year and I’m already looking at seed catalogues. My favorite is Johnny’s Selected
Seeds in Albion, Maine.
This year was my best so far due very much to Barbara and Josh releasing me from restaurant duties most nights. There are
enough onions and winter squash in the cellar to take Josh through the winter. Brussels sprouts and leeks should last another
week or two. I didn’t get all the winter storage radishes harvested before they got frozen in but he should be able
to get through the end of the year and carrots should last through January.
I’ve got some thoughts on doing even better next year. Instead of planting the peas in a block I’m going to plant
some other crops between the rows so they will get more sun and air in the hope of staving off the mildew. I noticed this
year that the east end of the rows where the sun hit first were healthier.
October 23, 2007 Frost came more than a month later than usual (“Usual”
being since 1972 when I started gardening in Maine.) I’m still harvesting
carrots, parsley, arugula, radishes, Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks and fennel. I have some lettuce that could be harvested
but I’m waiting to see if I can get it a bit larger. It is pretty hardy. Over the years I have been able to put lettuce
from the garden on our thanksgiving table. There are enough onions and winter squash (4 varieties) in the cellar to get us
through the winter.
I’m still planting but not vegetables. As I clean up areas like the squash patch I plant winter rye to hold the soil
over winter and add nutrients in the spring when I till it in
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| The garden in early September |
June 27 - Buttercrunch lettuce, garden cress and soon radishes for salads. Peas will be coming in soon also, just in
time as I need to stop harvesting asparagus to give the bed a rest for next year. Arugula, scallions and beet greens continue.
I had to put up the electric fence this week as a deer got into the first planting of carrots. I had to replant the beans
and cucumbers as the cool weather in early June didn't warm the soil enough for the seed to germinate. It is hot and humid
today which is why I'm inside in the middle of the day. Not good weather for the farmer but the plants are loving it.
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| Enough onions to last through the winter. |
June 2, 2007 Josh informed me he will use the last of my onions this
week. He has been serving my asparagus since mid May so my goal of having something from the garden in the restaurant year
round has been achieved. My arugula started coming in this week also. Next will be the peas which last year came in about
June 20. Last year I was able to plant earlier than ever and this year I planted the first peas April 22 which is the latest
ever—the first time in 34 years I wasn’t able to plant peas by April 15. Who knows, they may catch up. In
the ground so far I have: peas, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots, radishes, summer squash, tomatoes, eggplant,
corn (the first planting broke ground yesterday), onions (lots of onions. I finished mulching them with grass clippings today.),
parsley, parsnips, fennel, coriander, beets, beans, dill and scallions.
There is so much to do at this time of year. The tomatoes and summer squash need to be mulched. The winter squash,
basil, 3rd planting of lettuce, 2nd planting of carrots, 3rd planting of dill, and 4th
planting of arugula are on my list to be planted. I’ve got some potatoes that need to be planted and the compost needs
to be turned.
I’d better stop here. I’m making myself tired. It’s a good thing I am doing what I love.
December
7, 2006. NOW I’m through for this year. The catalogues have already arrived and I’m planning next year’s
garden which will be started indoors in March. October 21 Many people think my work in the garden is
over now that we have had a frost. Actually I’ll be harvesting for at least another month and there is even some planting
to be done. I’m still harvesting parsley, scallions, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, radishes, arugula and some
other greens. I have some very small lettuce growing that will probably not get big enough to harvest. I didn’t have
time to plant it when I wanted to so this was just an experiment. With the warming trend, who knows? I think Josh will have enough onions to get him through the winter and
maybe enough winter squash, too.
Oh, what am I planting? Garlic which will get a start below ground now and be ready
to spring forth when the ground thaws next year.
Click here to see some of my garden columns
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| Zepher summer squash |
Zepher was a great hit in
the restaurant last year. Harvested at this size they look great on the plate and taste wonderful. They were also used as
a feature vegetable with the blossoms stuffed and deep fried.
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