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

More on the Back Field

The field of Boston Marrow Squash has been doing well and should be ready for harvest later this week.

A couple of Boston Marrow squash vegetables.

This summer cover crop of buckwheat has been cultivated, and the field recently reseeded with oats. These cover crops, which are a method of sustainable agriculture, improve the quality of the soil and keep weeds from overtaking the field.

Harvesting the back field

Last week, the Boston Area Gleaners picked over a hundred pounds of beans and delivered them to Rosie's Place in Boston. They will return again this week for more beans and some cabbage.

North of Cottage

The crop field north of the farmer's cottage

In June, Scott began to establish a new row crop field in the animal enclosure. As it is located north of his cottage, he began to call it the North of Cottage field. He spread compost over the area to enrich the soil, then in mid-July planted a summer cover crop of oats.

Last week, the north of cottage field was planted with late-season green beans (which may not work), and seeded mustard greens and collard greens. Scott is now trying to locate some kale transplants. Where can he find them?

The Back Field

The "back field" is the area of land behind the animal enclosures, behind the trees. In the fall it had been planted with winter rye, which suppresses spring weed growth and adds organic matter to the soil.

In May, while Scott was building the raised garden beds, he also was preparing the back field for planting. He applied a layer of compost and cultivated an 8,000 square foot area of soil. On May 25, he planted 4 rows of Boston Marrow Winter squash, a variety that was obtained from Native Americans in New York state and brought to Salem, MA in 1831. He also planted 4 rows of Waltham Butternut Squash, a variety developed at Waltham Field station in 1972.

In June, Scott planted 2 rows of bush beans (Provider variety), plowed the section of the field that was previously planted with winter rye, and seeded it with a summer cover crop of buckwheat. He mechanically and hand cultivated for weed control.

Scott began the month of July by cultivating a new area of the field to be used during next year's growing season. He planted it with a summer cover crop of buckwheat. As of this week, the Waltham Butternut squash and Boston Marrow Winter squash are doing well, with the winter squash in flower. The first planting of beans should be ready for harvest next week, though the second and third plantings of beans are not doing as well. The first planting of buckwheat cover crop is in full bloom! (Photos to come when the weather clears up.)

Harvest on July 13

The cabbage, zucchini, cauliflower and turnips are ready for harvest. These are the first of the ripe vegetables.

The tomato plants that were planted on May 18 are growing nicely and have some green tomato fruits hanging on the vines.

Yellow Gooseberry

Speckled Roman Paste

Oxheart

Black from Tula

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

Second harvest

Swiss chard, arugula, and some radishes were harvested today. Yum!

Arugula in the garden on June 23

Harvested arugula on June 29

Radishes in the garden on June 23

Harvested radishes on June 29

cute little radish

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.