In July the garden never looked so green, thanks to a month of record rainfall that proved to be a curse more than a gift. 2021 proved to be a record breaking year wherever one gardens. While gardeners are notorious about complaining about the weather 2021 proved to be extraordinary across...

Maybe you’ve never noticed it, but a lot of information found on the internet is sometimes incorrect. After spending a week researching how to grow salpiglossis, or Bearded Tongue, an old fashioned and rarely seen annual, I discovered that all my information that I once so trusted might have...

My 2022 Salpiglossis trial was an incredible success. My last post, (which was surprisingly this past February) proves not only how busy I’ve been, but how time can fly by. First, just so you know – I’m mostly posting to my Instagram account lately (mostly everyday). So if you need more updates...

A border of 5 foot tall nicotiana after my interesting trial that I conducted to test various cultural methods to see if I could get better results from what is typically a ho-hum flower. We, gardeners, are all familiar with the genus Nicotiana. While we may not know that was named for Jean...

Over the past three years I’ve been growing various annual vines in containers, trying about 6-8 different varieties of the most commonly found annual vines, each year. As you may have discovered yourself, annual vines like morning glories while beautiful and easy to germinate, can, and do, grow...

As we enter the winter months, one question I get asked often is how to care for potted cyclamen. Cyclamen are a popular florist plant, especially around the winter holidays; they are sold in pots at stores and shops beginning as early as September, peaking around the New Year. While they are...

I haven’t even opened the gate in a couple months now. Everything is frozen and drab. I’m glad I was able to put a good layer of hay down as this winter has been brutal for the overwintering plants. We’ve had wide swing in temperatures and very little snow cover. Somewhere under the hay is...

Its been a very cool spring. And now, very wet. Don’t remember when I’ve waited so long to set out tomatoes. Anyway, yesterday my sister and I planted tomato seedlings in my community plot. These are a set of six different varieties of late blight resistant tomatoes: Defiant, Ferline, Mountain...

We will be getting a new puppy soon! Suzie. She will be from the same breeder as Skippy. She is a cousin about 3 generations removed and is 3 weeks old now. We will bring her home at 8 weeks – sometime mid August. I have been telling Skippy that it will be his... The post Skippy is getting a...

I returned to a bone dry community garden that I hardly recognized as it had grown so much! And so many weeds. I had weeded before I left and did not expect to see so many pigweed, lambsquarters, crabgrass, chickweed, plantain, etc, etc. My escarole frisee was so pretty when I left and I...

The low sun is making a prism of light across my camera lens. In the foreground my pear tree branches are budded and braving the cold. Winter rye is growing in a few beds, green manure to turn under in the spring. The garlic bed is covered with salt march hay and I’m imagining healthy... The...

These are clips of my community garden, the Belmont Victory Gardens, that I took from a vimeo by David Sprogis: Rock Meadow. Rock Meadow is a 70 acre piece of conservation land in Belmont that includes the Victory Gardens. It’s a really beautiful vimeo of the area taken from the air. My garden...

Charley and I took a quick walk to see how my community garden plot was doing this afternoon. The winter rye cover crop looks good. The salt marsh hay covers my garlic beds. I like the thick branches of my pear trees in the foreground, espaliered along the fence. I’m working on planning what...

I’ve been working in my plot a few hours today. It’s very hot, but tomorrow nice rains are predicted so I’m planting fall seedlings and seeding a winter cover crop. I also dug my second of three rows of potatoes – the seedlings went in on top of this freshly dug soil. Escarole, radicchio...

It’s been so hot and dry! It early in the year to have this heat here. I don’t make to to my community garden more than once a week or so and the soil is just dust now. To conserve water I used black plastic and chopped hay today. I laid down the black plastic... The post mulching my community...

I’ve had this little community garden plot in Belmont MA for 12 or so years now. Forever, it seems. I got it back when I lived in an urban area with a small yard that had very little sunlight. I was so happy the day I was assigned to the plot – a new found... The post 2021 plan for my community...

Do you want extraordinary harvests of homegrown tomatoes this year? Try grafted tomato plants! These carefully developed and highly productive plants are miles ahead in terms of vigour and yield. Whether you prefer tiny cherry varieties, regular salad tomatoes or giant, meaty beefsteaks, here’s...

The most exciting thing about growing your own tomatoes is the sheer number of incredible varieties on offer. From tiny cherries though to plums, salad tomatoes and giant beefsteaks, the choice is huge. To help you decide, we’ve listed some of our customers’ favourites based on performance...

Tomatoes are easy to grow and taste far superior to anything you can buy in a supermarket. Sowing tomato seeds is a cost-effective way to enjoy different sized, shaped and coloured fruits throughout the summer, but you can also purchase tomato plants if you’re looking for a head start. Here’s...

If you’re thinking about which tomatoes to grow this season, the black tomato ’Indigo Rose’ is definitely worth considering. Full of health-boosting antioxidants, it also looks spectacular. But when a tomato is black, how do you tell when it’s ripe to pick? Here’s everything you need to know...