Raised beds in the Boston Globe!

Check out this article in the Globe about the raised bed gardens at Gore Place.

New raised beds!!

Four new raised beds are being installed in front of the carriage house at Gore Place. These new beds are a little different than the ones near the farm. They are 10 feet by 10 feet and planted in a four square pattern, which I will describe in a future post. The raised beds will be planted with a mix of medicinal, culinary, and ornamental plants.

Two of the new raised beds in front of the carriage house

oh, those pesky wabbits!

The plants Scott planted in the raised beds in April were all eaten up by rabbits. So he planted them again, and the rabbits feasted once more! To keep those pesky wabbits from striking again, Scott has had to place rabbit fences around the raised beds. They're working so far...

Rabbit fence around the mixed vegetables raised bed

New year, new season!

The raised bed gardens are back! Scott has prepared them for the new season and started planting. He also just planted cabbage, onions, and kale in the field north of the cottage.

Raised beds

Lettuce

Planting in the north of cottage field

Update on the farm

The weather has been getting cooler, but did you know you could still be growing and planting vegetables?
The fall crop of chard and radishes that were planted just over two weeks ago are thriving. Scott is removing the tomato plants from the garden bed, and replanting the bed with a fall lettuce mix. And the Waltham Butternut squash will be harvested for the next few weeks.

Red Meat Radish and Daikon Radish

The first Waltham Butternut Squash harvest of the year

And now for some fun garden photos:

Eggplant flower

Ring of Fire peppers

Purple Top Turnip in the ground

Purple Top Turnips for sale

Changing seasons

As seasons and the weather change, the farmer or gardener adapts and changes as well. The raised bed that was so lush with different vegetables was recently full of dried leaves and dying plants. Scott cleaned almost everything out and planted it with a fall crop this week. He planted the seeds of Rhubarb Red Swiss Chard, Red Meat Radish, and Daikon Radish.

Ready for clean-up 8.12.09

Planted with fall crop (the plant left standing is lemongrass)

Now you can eat veggies grown at Gore Place!

Many types of vegetables have been growing in the raised garden beds. Whenever the vegetables are ripe, Scott brings them into the office and we all take them home to enjoy (after I take some photos of them). It's been a delicious experience and now our visitors can get a taste of the freshly-picked produce!

Scott has created a self-serve honor-pay vegetable stand near the farm cottage. Presently, the selection is limited and the hours are not set. As produce is available, he'll place it at the stand for sale and put up a sign on Waltham Street at the South Gate. Drop by on your next visit and see what's available!

The new vegetable stand is located to the right of the farm cottage drive

Orange veggies

This Boston Marrow squash, weighing 14 pounds, was picked from the back field. Scott is going to cure it for a few days, then cook it.

The Dragon carrots, being grown in the raised beds, are ready for harvest and taste delicious! They don't taste as sweet as most carrots you might be used to, but still delicious.

Sliced Dragon carrot

Time to make some tabbouleh

The parsley has been harvested and is sure to be delicious! The plants were set in the raised bed on May 25 and grew for 6 weeks before being harvested by Scott.

Parsley plants in the raised bed on May 26

Parsley plants on June 8

Parsley plants on June 29

The Sensory Garden

The sensory garden bed was primarily designed for your sense of touch and sense of smell. It was planted with several varieties of thyme, sage, rosemary, and scented geraniums. It also has fennel, sweet mace, lemon balm, lambs ear, anise hyssop, and curry. These plants are all meant to be touched and smelled.

Come to Gore Place and enjoy the garden yourself! You'll have a great time smelling all the amazing herbs and feeling all the different textures. Gently rub a leaf of each plant with your fingers, then smell the aroma on your hand.

See how much the plants in the sensory garden have grown since they were planted on May 18.

Left and right sides of the sensory garden on May 18

Left and right sides of the sensory garden on May 26

Left and right sides of the sensory garden on June 8

Left and right sides of the sensory garden on June 15

Left and right sides of the sensory garden on June 23

The back side of the sensory garden on June 23

How the cabbage grows

The cabbage plants were planted on May 13

Pine needles used as mulch for the cabbage, May 18

Cabbages on May 26

Cabbages on June 8


Cabbages on June 15


Cabbages on June 18

The cabbage leaves in the middle of the plant are beginning to grow together to form the head.

First harvest!

The kale planted on May 13 has been harvested and tastes delicious! In its place in the garden bed, Scott planted wax bean 'Dragon's tongue' variety. The bean pods that grow will be cream-colored with purple stripes.

Scott had to reseed the Early Blood turnip due to poor germination. He had originally planted the seeds of this beet a little over three weeks ago. Let's hope the conditions are better this time for the seeds to grow.

How are the tomato plants doing?

It's been about 2 weeks since the tomato plants were put in and they're growing nicely. You can see how much they've grown by comparing the two photos of each plant—one from May 26 and one from June 8.

Oxheart tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

Yellow Gooseberry tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

Brandywine tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

Chadwick's Cherry tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

Black from Tula tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

Speckled Roman Paste tomato plant 5/26 and 6/8

June 1 update

The Casper variety of Eggplant is set out in between the collards and the parsnip plants in Mixed Vegetable Bed #1. These will produce white eggplants.



The newest plants in Mixed Vegetable Bed #2 are Mexican Sour Gherkins, which will grow tiny cucumbers on the trellis pictured above.

May 26 update

Raised garden beds on May 26, 2009



A bean tower has been constructed in the center of the Sensory Garden bed. It is planted with Speckled Cranberry string bean, which is a variety brought to the U.S. from England circa 1825.

Scott planted the seeds of Detroit dark red beet and early Blood turnip (circa 1825) in the Mixed Vegetable Bed #1. He also set out parsley plants in this bed.


Mixed Vegetable Bed #2 has been planted with the seeds of the Dragon carrot (it's purple!), and two types of radishes: English Breakfast and Pink Slipper.



The Ornamental raised bed is completely planted with drought-resistant annual flowering plants. There are both heirloom and modern hybrid varieties.