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    Makar for Town Board


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      Dryden Town Board
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    Jun 09, 2009

    House Pic - June 2009


    House Pic - June 2009
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    At this time of day in this time of year - the yard looks a little on the neon / mountain dew green shade.

    I woke up yesterday and snapped a few pictures from around the yard - using my tripod to get some good longer exposure images of the plants around the yard.

    Check them out here:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157619491206458/

    And if you are following along at home with house pics (going back to 2005) here they are:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157609312710435/

    Cheers!

    Jul 27, 2008

    Freshly pulled garlic


    Freshly pulled garlic
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    Reader James (from South Carolina, via Camp Wanocksett) writes...

    "Dave, How the heck are! We're fine here in the south. Kimberly just graduated nursing school and will be taking her state boards on Monday. I hope Arjan and you are well. How's the garden doing? Mine is doing OK this year. My tomato plants have just all died due to bacterial wilt, but my pole beans have more than made up for it with it's harvest. The garlic that I planted last November (that I bought @ the Ithaca Farmer's Market) grew fairly well and harvested about 30 small heads. I would like to plant some more this fall and need a favor from you. I'll send up $10 to you and if you could buy some heads at the farmer's market and mail them back to me I would appreciate it greatly. I would like to get the same type that I grew last year. I remember I bought it from a woman that you said you knew and would be at your wedding (although I never remember meeting her at the wedding). If you could hook me up I would be forever in your debt. I can't think of anything distinctly SC to send up to you in return as a watermelon may not fit in a mail box. Take care and I hope to see you soon!"

    Well James, your email came not a moment to soon! We spent the day at Earthly Mirth farm hosted by our friend Sara Brown. We and about 60 other locals harvested some multiple thousands of heads of garlic this morning and afternoon. We brought home a few of our own and I'll be sure to pick some up for you and send them on south.

    Thanks for emailing and hope to see you soon!

    Photos here:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157606408837979/

    May 05, 2008

    2008 Gardening Season

    Longviewbig

    I started the 2008 garden season on Saturday, May 3rd with some red cabbage, green cabbage, broccoli, and basil (thanks Priscilla). I also planted a few rows of beets (thanks James).

    This afternoon I stopped by Besemer Hill Greenhouses, located just about a 1/2 mile away (see photo above) and picked up some lettuce starts, tomatoes, gerbera daisies, and some herbs. Besemer Hill Greenhouse helped me a lot in the 2007 season.

    They are located at 63 Besemer Hill Road (in the Town of Dryden), though like me, they have an Ithaca mailing address. The are open everyday except Sunday and are open until 6pm everyday (except Saturday, when they close at 5pm). Visit, look, shop. http://bhgreenhouse.com/index.php

    Aug 08, 2007

    Local Fruits and Vegetables


    Local Fruits and Vegetables
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    Take a look at this picture - all of this food was picked locally in the last few days. If you are interested in local eating - fellow Dryden resident Simon St. Laurent is blogging about eating locally on his "Living in Dryden" blog: http://simonstl.com/dryden/

    The six zucchini squash came out of my own garden. It has been producing about 2 squash of "ready to eat" size for about 10 days. So I'm giving away as much as I can and there is still a lot left for me. If you are interested, let me know and I'll put some aside for you.

    The yellow "summer" or "golden bush" squash is also from my garden. They haven't been quite as fruitful in number as the zucchini.

    The other two yellow squash are pattypan and papaya. These are heirloom or antique varities that my neighbor Melissa brought over recently to share. We're getting together late Friday afternoon to do some more garden trades. She blogs about gardening and life here in the Besemer Flats at: http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com and http://littlewoolgatherings.blogspot.com

    The blueberries came from my neighbor Kim in exchange for two smaller sized zucchini. This was an awesome trade!

    I picked up the five peaches for $3.50 at a roadside stand on Thomas Road (about 2.5 miles southeast of my house). I ate one already. Sweet, juicy, yummy. I have no idea is $0.70 for a peach is a good deal financially, but the taste buds were overjoyed. My mouth is literally watering as I write this paragraph. I think they were picked today.

    The pear is also from Kim (like I said it was an awesome trade).

    The tomato is from my garden. Currently there are about 50 green tomatoes out there. One turns red each day. It is a good start.

    The cucumbers are from Arjan's trip to Earthly Mirth, a farm on Banks Road in Caroline - just a 1 mile bike ride away from our house. On Fridays she volunteers at the farm and gets to take home some fresh picked produce for the week. This is also a good deal if you have the time.

    Time to go check on dinner! Zucchini again!

    Aug 06, 2007

    A Pair of Mystery Squash


    A Pair of Mystery Squash
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    I'm not sure what these are - I planted a packet of mixed squash and these appeared. Any ideas? There are a few other pictures of these from different angles. They are about the size of a football.

    Broccoli


    Broccoli
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    This is the broccoli collection I've been growing. I put in 6 hills with 6-8 seeds per hill. A lot of them came up. Now I have these broccoli plants, but like the cauliflower, there are no flower buds. Any ideas? The next picture in the collection has an overhead view.

    Cauliflower Pair


    Cauliflower Pair
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    These are my two cauliflower plants. They've been growing steadily (here's them on July 1st) since I planted them in late June.

    I'm not sure of what I'm supposed to do next to get them to produce heads of cauliflower. Any experts out there?

    The Garden Today


    The Garden Today
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    Here is the garden about 7 weeks later! Everything I planted came up and is doing really well! I have a mystery squash I can't identify and I need some help with my broccoli and cauliflower. Can you help?

    The Garden Review


    The Garden
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    I went out to the gardne briefly today to take a handful of pictures. This picture is from June 14th.

    Jul 02, 2007

    Carrots


    Carrots
    Originally uploaded by dmakar

    I thinned out the carrots yesterday afternoon in an attempt to get fewer large carrots instead of more baby carrots. This picture is pre-thinning. It was sad to see so many of the carrots go away. Perhaps next year I'll make the rows a little longer or different.

    I was reading my Burpee book on gardening and it said to mix your carrot seeds 60:40 with fine stone pellets. This will allow you to pinch the seeds and put them in rows, but not over seed the lines.

    Maybe next year or if I do a second carrot planting in August.

    Vegetables to see in the flickr set:
    Carrots
    Arugula
    Mustard Greens
    Beets
    Broccoli
    Tomatoes (4 varities)
    Peppers (3 varieties)
    Peas
    Cauliflower
    Mesclun Greens
    Bird House Gourds
    Hot and Spicy Peppers
    Squash (5-6 varities)

    Should make for a good harvest in 6-10 weeks. View them all here:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157600605590696/