Gardening
Manage Mosquitoes to Better Enjoy Your Outdoor Space
Keeping garden tools organized and conveniently stored will save time and energy throughout the growing season.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Gardener's Supply Company
Grow an abundant harvest with some timely garden care. Arm yourself with a few basic tools, a bit of time and regular visits to the garden throughout the growing season to keep plants healthy and more productive.
You don't need to invest in every garden tool on the market. A shovel, trowel, weeding tool, gloves and kneeling pad are the basics. If your budget is tight, ask gardening friends and family if they have extras to spare or lend.
Now you are ready to get started. Weed control is an ongoing task. Working in a few minutes of weeding time as your schedule allows makes this a much less overwhelming task. Keep a bucket with your favorite weeding tool, gloves, and kneeling pad by the door. Anytime you have a few minutes between other activities pull a few weeds.
If tools are handy, you spend less time looking for them and more time accomplishing the task. Consider keeping all your tools conveniently stored and ready for the garden in a mobile tool storage caddy (gardeners.com). It has room for short and long handled tools, a bucket for gathering weeds plus wheels and a handle for easy maneuvering.
Spread a layer of shredded leaves, evergreen needles or other organic matter over the soil surface surrounding your vegetable plants. This layer of organic matter helps conserve moisture so you will need to water less often. It also helps suppress weeds and improves the soil as it decomposes.
As your seeds sprout and begin to grow, you will need to do a bit of thinning. Remove extra plants, leaving enough space for those remaining seedlings to reach full size. The seed packet recommends the proper spacing for the vegetables you planted. Good news, some seedlings like radishes, beets and spinach are edible so think of this as harvesting instead.
Once you make your first harvest, leaving space in the garden, fill it with another planting. Succession, also called relay planting, allows you to grow several different vegetables in the same space. Just make sure the second planting has time to reach maturity and produce before the end of the season. Seed packets and plant tags contain information on the number of days from planting to harvest. Compare this to the number of days until the average first fall frost.
Keep plants healthy with proper watering and fertilization. Water new plantings often enough to keep the top few inches of soil slightly moist. Wait until the top few inches of soil are crumbly and moist to deeply water established plants. Deep watering, moistening the top six inches of soil, encourages plants to develop a more drought resistant root system. Frequent shallow watering keeps roots near the soil surface where they dry out quickly. Insufficient water means fewer and smaller vegetables.
Follow soil test recommendations for fertilizing your plants. If these are not available, consider using a fertilizer recommended for vegetable gardens. Apply it according to the label directions.
Providing plants with space to grow and keeping them healthy means fewer insect and disease problems. That means a bigger harvest for you and your family to enjoy all season long.
Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Gardener's Supply for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Back to Summer Antique Shows
Last summer, the COVID-19 pandemic caused all three Brimfield antique shows to be canceled. Sadly, these cancellations were widespread and there were very few shows for antique collectors and dealers during the summer of 2020. Luckily, there will be many more opportunities available for antique enthusiasts this summer. I am pleased to report that the July 13-18 and September 7-12 Brimfield shows are scheduled to run this summer.
Apart from Brimfield, there are plenty of other shows taking place throughout New England. Locally, Walker Homestead's Antiques & Primitive Goods Show takes place this weekend on Saturday, June 19th. It will run from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at 19 Martin Road, Brookfield, MA. According to their website, 40 dealers will offer wares "on the grounds of our 1698 colonial saltbox." Also on June 19th, The Dover Antiques Show & Vintage Market will take place at 282 Durham Road, Dover, NH from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. On June 24th, fields open at 9:00 AM for The Flying Pig Antiques Tailgate show at 867 Rt. 12 in Westmoreland, NH. If you're looking to travel even further now that the country is opening up again, on Sunday, June 27th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM the Wells Antiques Show & Sale "will be held under the tents and barn" at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Field, 342 Laudholm Farm Road, Wells, ME.
July looks to be a good month for antique shows as well. On July 10th the 61st Boothbay Region Antiques Show & Sale takes place on the Boothbay, ME Common from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. On July 24th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and July 25th from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM the 40th Camden-Rockport Historical Society Antiques Show is scheduled at the Camden-Rockport High School in Camden, Maine. A little further south, the 52nd New London Garden Club Antiques Show & Sale will be held on July 31st from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the New London Historical Society Grounds 179 Little Sunapee Road in London, NH. And we can't forget about the return of the famed Brimfield Antiques show, beginning on July 13th at 6:00 AM.
As the summer winds down, there are also shows scheduled for August. The 40th Annual Maine Antiques Festival runs August 6th through the 8th. Friday's opening early bird admission of $25 gets you on the grounds from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM and allows readmission the rest of the weekend. On your way back from Maine, you can stop at The Americana Celebration Antique Show, which will be held at the Douglas Everett Arena, 15 Loudon Road in Concord, NH. It will be held on August 10th with early buyers admitted at 8:00 AM and general admission from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The 64th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton in Manchester, NH from August 12th through the 14th. It will run from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM the first two days and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on August 14th. Be sure to check on the status of shows you plan to attend before traveling, but it looks to be a nice summer for antiquing, and life in general, as our country continues to move forward.
Here at Central Mass Auctions, we are also returning to live events. I will be appraising items for the public at the John B. Gough House at 215 Main Street in Boylston, MA. The event will be held on August 7th from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. We are also still running online auctions. Our sports and non-sports cards online auction ends on June 23rd. Check our website for other upcoming events: www.centralmassauctions.com
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com