planting seeds...bed #2

planting seeds...bed #2, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

So, I planted two beds of seeds today. Mr. Grumpy Pants deigned to join me for the first half hour, then excused himself to go into seclusion for the remainder of the afternoon. *chuckle* My friends are a real cast of characters, and he is no exception. At least he was sympathetic to my need for lettuces, and was willing to hike out to the garden plot with me after our walk and lunch earlier in the day, so I shouldn't tease too much.

This image is of the second, smaller plot that I planted. I managed to be moderately neat and orderly about each plot, planting rows and/or 'drills' (finger-holes in the dirt). Here's the score for the small bed:
borage (far left & far right most rows)
bok choi (白菜) second and 6th rows
beets ("early wonder") third and 5th rows
sage, middle (4th ) row
now, hopefully they'll do nicely after having been watered in. I have them covered with yet another scavenged storm window that someone nicely threw away, and hopefully that will protect them against the predicted hard rain (no need to pelt the poor little things right our of their beds now that I've finally got them in the ground!)
crossing fingers...

woodpecker in the trees near my garden

woodpecker in the trees near my garden, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

so, we were entertained this afternoon as I cleaned up after planting by the pock-pock-pock of a woodpecker. Not sure what kind he (she?) was, as it was hard to tell through all the stems and tree branches, but nevertheless - there he was, vacuuming up all the bugs in that tree.

the tools of the job

the tools of the job, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

...and how could I forget - the tools of the trade. Actually I have a few new things and a few inherited items - complete with a little family history behind them. The storm window on the left was completely new to me; someone along my morning commute was throwing it out. Likewise with all the lumber just behind it.
But:
the gardening fork belonged to my grandfather on my dad's side, and my parents used it in our family garden after that. The screen in front is for sifting soil - makes it a little easier to break up some of the clumps, strain out the little clumps of rootlets, and sticks, and rocks... very handy, and made decades ago (along with a larger, two-person model) by my dad. The orange-handled shovel is great, and I *just* bought it this spring from Fiskars at the masshort spring flower show. Apparently, vendors often do a half-off sale on the last day of a big show like that, so I got it at bargain rate. Woo-hoo! It works well (sturdy, and has slightly bent over plates at the top where you're meant to stand and drive the blade into the ground).

These aren't my only tools, but they're the ones most in-use the past couple weeks as I dig the beds. I'm hoping to plant my lettuces and peas tomorrow.
hope. :)

some progress

some progress, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

Finally, the newest, and smaller cold frame, as well as the diggings for yet another bed. I think the open (unprotected) bed will house a succession of herbs that aren't likely to seem so tasty to the resident chipmunks and woodchuck. And as for Mr. Woodchuck, we of Plot 78a and b (as it is officially designated) were making threatening references to the Caddyshack gopher today while installing fencing... Happily, I share an unusual plot with someone else: technically it's two plots, lacking a dividing fence. Since it was about 25 x 50, with a couple whopping big boulders at one end, we two met on opening day and decided ultimately to share the plot. So, I'm in 78b, and she in 78a, and I have to say it's made clearing out the plot, reinforcing the fence and the other chores of setting up our respective garden spaces, far less onerous since we can compare notes and joke about all the sunburn and scratches from brambles. She's already gotten her raised beds set up down at her end, and they look great. I am still bumbling along with smaller beds, but that's what I feel like will work for me. Happily, this has turned out to be a mutually respectful working/gardening relationship, and I'm pleased as punch the way things have turned out. We're swapping radish seeds later on as well, since she has conventional radishes that I lack,and I have the "french" variety she'd like to try.
...more later!

some potatoes planted

some potatoes planted, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

As I was clearing out (read: breaking sod, throwing out the rocks - it *is,* as a gardening friend pointed out, the Rock Meadows community garden after all, so expect rocks!) the next plot, I discovered lots of little potatoes from a prior year that were trying to sprout. So, I set them aside, cleared the plot, and planted them in two short rows beside the coldframe on the left, and used a bamboo pole to mark out the area already planted. The Irish in me can't cast aside a free set of gift potatoes...what can I say?

rhubarb's lookin good

rhubarb's lookin good, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

Thanks to ilex for the rhubarb encouragement - it *is* looking better, so I watered it and did a happy little rhubarb cheer and moved on to the bigger jobs of the day...

redtail hawk (female)

redtail hawk_female, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

I almost forgot - when I left the other day, this was who was guarding the gardens. A large, healthy redtail hawk.
[info here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-tailed_Hawk.html ]
There have been a growing number of them seen in the Boston area, they seem to be adapting to the city. I'm all for it, since they largely eat the otherwise unthreatened populations of pigeons and squirrels.
She looked large and healthy; she can guard / hunt our gardens all she wants, as far as I'm concerned!

rhubarb!

rhubarb!, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

and voila, rhubarb is coming up. Actually this shot is from several days ago, and we've had beeeautiful weather, so I'm excited to see how much they've grown since then.

Must run along and fill my water jugs to water the peas, water in the seeds I'm hoping to plant, and water the rhubarb; the town water spigots so nicely distributed around the community gardens are not in fact turned on yet, and I hear won't be until May sometime. That's alright. I'll lug my water jugs.

more later...

2nd plot / cold frame set up.

2nd plot / cold frame set up., originally uploaded by Margo and George.

Slowly, slowly I'm figuring out how to connect photos and updates. At any rate this is how the plot currently looks. I got up late, and am only heading over there now to add raised beds & 3 and 4 (hm, sounds familiar... "Rainy day women #s 12 and 37"?)

The rocks are extra insulation/ thermal mass. Or so I imagine. They may end up being purely decorative. Or I guess I could throw them at the wodchuck if the opportunity presents itself.

Catching up...

A very busy week (wait, was it ten days?) - with several posts in draft coming up shortly. In the course of reading (and commenting) on other people's blogs, I ended up with a wordpress account, so I've decided to drop the more prosaic details of temperature, weather & soil temps over on that page. If you're interested, feel free to check in there. They're a daily account/log for my reference now and for next year etc., but otherwise don't make for terribly engaging reading.

I've been digging the garden, working on setting up raised beds, revising my plans for where to put the lettuces and peas, emailing with another gardener about our plans to trellis the raspberry canes, figuring out anti-woodchuck fencing (or hey, at least discourage-the-woodchuck) as well as getting more involved with outreach efforts at my local grocery co-op. In other news, family have been visiting from out of town, and work deadlines have kept me pretty busy. In the next day or so I hope to get the updates posted...

My thanks to all who've stopped by and commented, and answered my questions about soil thermometers, etc. I'm hoping to clean up the overall appearance of the blog soon, as I've been trying out some of draft.blogger.com 's new features, with the result that I've decided they're a good idea - but they're not running smoothly enough yet that I feel like committing to them. The blogroll features in particular are nice, or would be if they didn't take over the bloomin' sidebar with huge font. Instead, I'll just break up the list of blogs I've been linking to in to manageable categories, and go back to the old way.

Photos of my rhubarb plant (courtesy of a gardener who was changing plots and not taking the clump with her! thanks!) coming soon - I'm so excited about rhubarb I can't wait. I'm running over to the co-op on the way home to see if they have any and make a rhubarb-strawberry pie. Yum!