Harvest Monday and a question of ethics

First, the ethics.

So just say that there is a stand of magnificent, overburdened raspberry canes about 300 yards from your house.  Say these raspberry canes are behind a stone wall in an obviously disused and abandoned farm, complete with derelict heavy garden equipments and the skeleton of a greenhouse.  Say these raspberries have been picked by no-one.

Say the only way in is guarded by a big old “NO TRESPASSING” sign hung across the only entrance.  What do you do?

While you ponder this, let me thank the raspberry gods for the sprawling nature of their lovely plants, and the builders of the stone wall, who made it low enough for several canes to hang over.

There were more, but 300 yards is a long way to go with these beauties winking at me.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, OUR raspberries (of the black variety) are just starting to trickle in, and I picked the first outliers of the blueberries.  Ok, maybe not the first, because those 7 or 8 got eaten right at the bush this weekend.  Truly, I’m impressed these stayed alive long enough to be photographed.

Asparagus is still growing, though it is certainly slowing down.  We’ll only get a few more harvests out of it this year.  It has taught me one thing, though.  The MOMENT I settle down in a place I know I’m going to be for a while, it will be the first thing I plant.

Want to show off your harvests?  Go visit Daphne!

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Weekend non-work

Sigh.

I had high hopes for the weekend!  The weather was going to be gorgeous, rain is predicted for this morning- the perfect weekend to plant.  Also, I have onions and potatoes that are practically screaming at me to put them in the ground, and I hate the sound of screaming vegetables…

We’ve been having issues with the tiller.  For about two weeks it has been at the shop in need of a new carburetor, so I’ve been pacing back and forth eager to have it back so we can bust up the sod that is covering my lovely little field.  Well, we got it back this weekend, so I was all excited to be able to finally turn over the soil and get those plants in the ground!

And it didn’t work.

I don’t mean the tiller- it worked fine.  What didn’t work was it being able to bust through the sod.  Even Britt, who has gardened over here for a couple of years tried it, and she said she’s never seen the grass so sturdy.  All I can think is our very wet and recently-warmed spring has thrown everything into high gear and the grass has grown thick and lush.  Lucky us!  The tiller just laughed and skittered along the top of the sod, doing nothing.

Ann suggested that we go a few houses down and talk to the neighbors.  Apparently their son just got a new plow for his tractor and he is itching to use it.  He wasn’t there when we stopped by, but his dad assured us that he would LOVE to plow for us, so hopefully he’ll be able to stop by some afternoon this week and give us a head start.

And then- MAYBE- I’ll finally get to plant these potatoes!

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A visit to my seedlings!

Yesterday after work, I met Chef Jeff at his family’s house to check on our seedlings.  His step-mom (who’s a real-life farmer!) was kind enough to start our seeds for us in her wood-heated greenhouse.   We’ve got tons of tomatoes, peppers, and herbs waiting for warmer weather, and lots of other stuff waiting for the tiller to be fixed (sigh…).  Her greenhouse smelled like heaven- green things and woodsmoke.

Take a closer look at those planters hanging up!  She runs a little garden stand where she sells seedlings and eventually produce.  One of the things she sells are those planters.  They have flowers on the top and then, out of a hole she drills in the center, she has tomato plants!  Isn’t that brilliant?  I see ads for those upside down hanging tomato planters all the time, and this way you get flowers, too!  So clever…

The tomatos are really growing fast.  They have a few weeks to wait before they can go in the ground here, but she’s already started to harden them off.  They look very happy!  I only hope I can take as good a care of them as she has.

We also took a tour around her farm- she had just finished planting a field of potatoes and onions.  Big, long rows of them.   I did not envy her planting 100 feet of onions…

It was really nice to be able to visit someone with so much experience!  I’m glad I have someone who knows what she is doing to ask if I have questions- makes all the difference in the world!

Oh!  And she had these!

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White House garden looks lovely!

Fellow Massachusetts gardener (and author of one of my favorite gardening blogs!) took a trip to DC and got a glimpse of the garden at the White House this year.  It looks great! 

See for yourself!

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