Gardening in Coastal Maine – Planting Zone 6a – Using Seaweed As Mulch

Yesterday was a great day to be a gardener! The weather was really nice {mid 70’s!} and we got a bunch of chores checked off my list. :). It’s a great day for Gardening in Coastal Maine – Planting Zone 6a – Using Seaweed As Mulch

The first thing on the agenda yesterday was cutting a bunch of tomato stakes for the garden. I’m using wire trellises for the cherry tomatoes, but since I’m growing shorter tomato varieties for canning this year {mostly Roma and San Marzano} I needed a bunch of 4 foot stakes.

So I had my handyman cut 40 of cedar stakes out of scrap wood for the religious family garden plot. 

I have 68 tomato plants this year {21 in the kitchen garden and 47 in the field} I hope that’s going to be enough to make all my canning dreams come true. I know it sounds like a lot, but I’m still a little nervous it won’t be enough for all the recipes I want to make.

The tomato plants are looking really healthy these days. I have them all mulched with seaweed now {a trick I learned from my friend Lisa in Tasmania}. I think they’re enjoying the little boost of nutrients from the sea. 😉 Or at least I’d like to think they are anyway. 

Gardening in Coastal Maine – Planting Zone 6a – Using Seaweed As Mulch

Remember the sad little sweet potato starts I got via mail order? Well they’re finally starting to leaf out and perk up a little.

And the corn is starting to pop up as well. 

You probably can’t see them but I planted some butternut squash seedlings at the end of the garden with the plan that once they start vining out. I’ll direct the vines into the corn patch {the spot that looks a little bare right now}. 

Lucy, the garden watchdog. 

After the HH was done cutting tomato stakes for me I asked if he would cut a few more boards for me so I could install my bean teepees. 

He just grumbled and told me we didn’t have anymore wood {he lied} but I knew there was some old boards up in the barn.

Well 30 minutes later he came back down to the field with a bunch of GIANT 4 INCH WIDE strips of wood for my teepees. 

So now I have 8 Jolly Green Giant sized teepees in religious family sized garden plot #2 and I’m pretty sure someone is going to call the town office and complain about the eyesore we’ve got going on down in the field. Or at least I thought that.

Then I realized we don’t live in suburbia anymore and THIS IS MAINE .

Nobody is even going to bat an eye because Yankees are a bunch of thrifty folk. And if all they’ve got to grow a bunch of beans is a boatload of 4 inch boards… then more power to them.  At least their out there growing beans and it didn’t cost them a dime. 🙂

In other news… the kitchen garden is looking gorgeous darling… just gorgeous.

I was going to plant basil along the right side of the path but last week when we drove past the Amish lady’s stand. She had a bunch of celery starts for sale {50 cents!} so I grabbed a few and planted those along the path instead. 

I also started 2 flats of chive seeds {more on those later} and a flat of basil which I’ll put out in the main garden once they get going. 

On the left side of the path I have cabbage, celery, rhubarb, garlic and onions growing. 

And the pole beans I planted along the side of the fence are finally up too. 

And my Orta Pots {did I tell you about my Orta Pots?} the seedlings in those are ready to transplant to the garden as well. 

Orta Pot founder Anne Fletcher sent me a few of her Orta Pots to try this spring {they were actually factory sends, but I couldn’t even tell why they were “seconds”}.

Anne and her small crew make the super cool pots in her Berkley, California studio. The pots are made from terracotta and have a really unique design to them. 

I love these pots! You basically fill the little reservoir with water, add the cork cap, plant your seeds and walk away.

Here’s a cool video Anne put together on how to use her pots.

I LOVE gardening and I especially love trying new ways to grow food. Whether it’s in an old discarded landscape container, directly in the garden or in a snazzy handmade terracotta pot. 

Gardening is RAD! Growing food is RAD! I wish more people would try it. 

Here’s to another sunny and productive day in the garden,

Peace Out.

~Mavis

P.S. What’s new in YOUR garden? Do you mulch your beds? If so, with what? Curious minds want to know.

P.P.S. Anne has a bunch of her “factory seconds” on sale in her online shop right now. You can even save an additional 10% off your order when you sign up for her “club” {there’s a little pop of box to subscribe on the bottom right of her website}.