Rabbits

This year was a difficult year gardening in the Fenway Garden plots with an unusually high census of rabbits grazing through the vegetable plots.  It seemed just when the vegetables were a few days from reaching their peak level of ripeness a mischievous rabbit would snatch it before we could pick it.  Well, the area hawks soon became aware of the well-fed rabbits living in the Fenway Gardens and began to indulge in a feast of their own.  Needless to say, our pest problem has now been remedied.  Above is a sample of some of the lovely tomatoes we grew this year.  In addition, we beat the rabbits to fresh broccoli, hot peppers, and basil.  Brussels sprouts, a first for us this year, are nearing their prime soon too.

Seedlings

This summer will mark the completion of our third year in Boston. Like the three summers before, we are once again preparing our Fenway Garden Society plot for another season of growth. Curious what we will be growing this year? Check out the seedlings that are beginning to come up.

Garden

The garden is growing fast! Unlike last year's soggy June, this June has been excellent for growing. Our plants are already nearly double the size they were last year. Check out our quickly outdated pictures here. As for what we are growing this year:

• Tomatoes- Bush Champion, Supersteak, Viva Italia, Sweet 100, Yellow Pear, Japanese Black, Brandywine, Celebrity, Early Girl
• Peppers- New Ace, Garden Salsa, Golden Bell, Red Beauty
• Basil- Sweet Basil, Red Rubin
• Peas
• Carrots
• Mixed Lettuce
• Spinach
• Cilantro
• Eggplant
• Zucchini
• Broccoli

Season's End

After countless hours of hard labor, a soggy month of June, a couple of bug bites, a stolen garden hose, many delicious meals, and even more shared vegetables, the gardening season is sadly coming to an end. We are now eating what will probably be our last week of produce. We will certainly plant again next spring and are already plotting out ideas of how to better maximize our limited space and growing season. Check in next spring to see how our garden grows.

Tomatoes

Our garden has proven itself to be productive. We are now reaping a harvest of tomatoes from our hard labor. With all the plants ripening at the same time, we are literally swimming in tomatoes! We make sandwiches with tomates, salads with tomatoes, pizzas with tomatoes, and even eat tomatoes plain. Already we have given dozens away and still have plenty more to share, so come on by to claim some before tomato season is over.

Produce

The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the heat of summer has finally made its way to Boston. For our garden, summer sunshine means abundant growth and production. The garden couldn't be happier. What used to be delicate little seedlings in plastic trays are now thick bushes that fill cages and cling to the side of our fence. Rapidly maturing zucchini, peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes now fill our plot (we took pictures for proof). In a couple of weeks we will be drowning in produce. Have great recipes for fresh produce? Send them on to us. Need produce? Stop by our garden!

Growth

Despite the fact that this June has been the cloudiest and rainiest June of the century, our garden is waiting out the soggy weather quite well. In fact, the garden has had some rather impressive growth. The tomatoes are filling their cages, the strawberries are running across the plot, the peas are climbing their trellis, and the basil is bushing out. Blossoms are speckled throughout the garden, letting us know that soon we will have several varieties of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. Click on the above picture to see photos we took of our garden growing.

Planted

After three Saturdays of work, our garden is finally planted. The garden was rather neglected when we got it, so we spent the first Saturday removing all the weeds, organic matter, and trash. We spent the next Saturday building a fence around our plot to keep the vegetables in our garden and intruders out. The third Saturday we built up the beds, tilled the soil by hand, and planted. We planted tomato, pepper, cucumber, and eggplant plants as well as seeds for lettuce, spinach, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, peas, butternut squash, and marigolds. With some good weather and beginner's luck we hope to have an abundant harvest this summer.

A garden with a view

Its a bit of a fixer-upper, but its our very own piece of land to do whatever we want with. The plot is nearly the size of our apartment, and for the super low price of $30 a year, its the best deal on land the city of Boston has to offer. The land is part of the Emerald Necklace, a system of parks along the Muddy River designed by the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. During World War II, the Fenway Victory Gardens were created to reduce pressure on the food supply brought on by the war. While gardens like these were quite common during the era, the one in Fenway is now the last continually operating victory garden in existence. The Fenway Garden Society maintains the area and accepts applications for new plots. We were lucky enough to get one this year, and as long as we maintain it we can keep it indefinately. Our plot is Z25 in the center section north. It is a quiet plot near the Muddy River with a great view of the Prudential Tower (tallest building in Boston, and 26th tallest in the US). We plan to plant: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, eggplant, summer squash, zuchinni, peppers, basil, cilantro, cantaloupe, and watermelon.