The Man Who Grew Vegetable Marrows

The Man Who Grew Vegetable Marrows

dr. hortfreud vegetable gardening

It would make a great Jeopardy game show clue.

"The Man Who Grew Vegetable Marrows".

The answer: "Who is Hercule Poirot?"

We might also accept the answer, "What is the title of Chapter 3 of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie?"

I've been watching "Poirot" on Netflix for several weeks and finally in season 7, episode 1, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,  the famous Belgian detective

I had some time, I had some seeds

I had some time, I had some seeds

fall vegetable gardening

I had some time, I had some seeds, so I decided to sow those seeds for a fall harvest in my vegetable garden. I put them all in one bed, the bed where squash plants met an early demise at the first sign of those awful squash bugs.

By putting them all together in one bed, I figured I could cover them easily enough if we had an early frost.

But we didn't have an early frost. In fact, we've

The Ritual of Shelling Peas

The Ritual of Shelling Peas

family vegetable gardening

I've picked peas from my little pea patch twice this week.

Then I sat down and shelled out the peas. I shelled out about three quarts of peas from the first picking and about two quarts of peas from the second picking.

If you've ever grown shelling peas, or English peas as some call them, you know it takes a bit of time to shell out that many peas.

And there is no way to hurry it up.  Well,

The Great Tomato Question: Seeds or Plants?

The Great Tomato Question: Seeds or Plants?

vegetable gardening

A 'German Johnson' tomato almost ready to pick

Now is the time to answer The Great Tomato Question.

Should I start my tomato plants from seeds or buy tomato plants at the garden center?

I've done both.

If I start my tomato plants from seeds, the world is my oyster, or rather my tomato. With just a few clicks on the Internet I can order seeds for the exact varieties of tomatoes I want to

Why I'm a No Show for the Kale, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli Club

Why I'm a No Show for the Kale, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli Club

Humor vegetable gardening

Kale is a popular vegetable these days. Everywhere you go, people are clucking about how good it is for you. I see it in salads in restaurants and who doesn't like a little kale mixed in with their smoothies?

Cabbage and broccoli? Close cousins of kale, they are quite good for you, too. Oh and don't forget one of the best of the family, cauliflower. I do love cauliflower.

They are all cole

It's the soil temperature that matters

It's the soil temperature that matters

vegetable gardening

I stood in the doorway and zoomed in to take this picture

It's the soil temperature that matters when one is deciding if it is time to sow seeds in the garden for cool season crops including peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach, etc.

For peas especially, the soil temperature should be 40F or higher, preferably just a tiny bit higher, for them to germinate.

So how does one determine if the soil

In one month...

In one month...

vegetable gardening

In one month, give or take a day or two, I'll be out in the garden planting peas.

I know it doesn't seem possible that it will be warm enough to sow peas in a month, given today's high temp of around 7F and the snow that blankets the ground right now.

But it is always this way.

No one will believe me when I tell them in mid February I'll be out planting pea seeds in a month, right on St.

Five principles of vegetable gardening

Five principles of vegetable gardening

vegetable gardening

Gather round, new gardeners, for I am about to spill the beans on some principles of vegetable gardening that will help you in your own first attempts at growing a little food for yourself.

Principles?

I know, the word "principles" sounds highfalutin and uppity-do-da-day. But bear with and you'll see that these principles are pretty simple, pretty easy, and pretty much intended to help guide

Bon Jardinage! - Garlic and shallots

Bon Jardinage! - Garlic and shallots

vegetable gardening

I couldn't pull this sweet alyssum when I weeded today.

As visions of Julia Child danced through my head, I planted shallots and garlic in the vegetable garden today. This was the perfect day for it.

We finally got our first frost and our first freeze on Saturday morning. Hallelujah and glory-be. I was ready for it. I'm used to the first frost coming around October 10th and that's the signal

'German Johnson' Tomato

'German Johnson' Tomato

vegetable gardening

I believe 'German Johnson' is one of the finest heirloom tomatoes you can grow in your garden.

It has a pinkish skin, pinker than this picture shows, and the classic dimples one generally finds on most of the larger, beefier tomatoes.

The vines are indeterminate and should continue to grow and set fruit all the way until the first frost knocks them down.

The fruit of 'German Johnson' is very

Familiar beginnings

Familiar beginnings

vegetable gardening

Garden Fairie Selfie #9

I've been sowing peas or helping to sow peas in the early spring in the garden for as long as I can remember.  Fifty years, at least.

How early I've planted has varied and I'll admit there was a time when I actually waited too long in the spring to sow peas and as a result, I didn't get a good harvest.

I figured out what my problem was several years ago when I found