east coast Archives - One Hundred Dollars a Month

Mavis Butterfield East Coast Garden Pictures 8/23/15

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 23, 2015 · 28 Comments

I’m sure you may have noticed the lack of posts the past few days and that’s because I travelled to our east coast home and as usual, it takes me a day or two to get my bearings. My flight was delayed 2 hours {one of those hours was sitting on the airstrip waiting to take off} and then because I wanted to score an extra 1,000 bonus airline miles I checked a bag {which I hardly ever do because I dislike waiting around in baggage claim immensely}.

Anywho… the bags were delayed because of a lightning storm {obviously workers cannot be expected to be high up on a metal ramp during a storm} and so I had to wait around an extra hour for the dumb bag making the trip 3 hours longer than normal.

Oh well. I’m here. And that’s all that matters, right?

I pulled weeds and planted a bunch of vegetable seeds before I left last time and paid the neighbor kids to weed for us while we were away. When I arrived I was greeted with a nice little harvest of onions on the back porch and a nearly weed free garden. HOW COOL IS THAT?

I still have some weeding to do behind the house over the next few days but let me tell you Bob, I could live here forever.

A few months ago I tossed some tomato seeds into the ground and let mother nature do her thing. No extra watering, no staking, nothing. Just soil, rain and sunshine. Imagine that. No fuss heirloom tomatoes.

In fact, the entire garden wasn’t watered one time while we were away. And yet, we still were able to grow a nice little crop of vegetables.

I’m planning on harvesting the basil tomorrow morning to make a batch of freezer pesto.

I also need to harvest a batch of strawberry runners and transplant them around the yard.

This year we planted Lakota squash. It’s a winter squash and I am excited to try it. Do you think the airlines will let me carry it home on the plane?

Butternut squash… I hope they make it before the first fall frost.

When you neglect your turnips… they go to seed.

Each little seed pod holds 3-5 seeds. I’m going to clip all the little dried pods and harvest the seeds. I should have enough turnip seeds for the next 5 years! 😉

In the backyard there is a white hydrangea bush. Or at least that’s what I think it is. Does anyone know the variety?

I don’t know about you… but I’d much rather live in the land of farmhouses and cornstalks than high maintenance suburbia any day of the week. I wish I could only convince the HH to live here full time. I’M WORKING ON IT THOUGH. Trust me…

~Mavis

P.S. There are so few things about my life I don’t share on the blog, but the location of our east coast home is one of them. So if you know where it is, or where it might be, please refrain from mentioning it in your comments. Just know, I’d rather be here, than the land of snoopervising.

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Monthly Garden Chores for December – East Coast Edition

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 7, 2014 · Leave a Comment

This is a guest post written by my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. I thought it would be fun this year to post Monthly Garden Chores from both the West Coast and East Coast.

Can you believe it’s December already? A year can really plow right by you when you have a marker like a post-a-month. This is a photo of my East Coast garden every month – cool right?

Since it’s December, in New England, the gardening is rather scarce. And since we just finished off the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about all the things I’ve learned from Mavis. And hopefully, when she reads this, she {and you}, won’t roll your eyes. Because, honestly, Mavis has turned out to be that great {albeit electronic} neighbor next door you had no idea you were about to inherit when they moved in, but are thrilled with your good fortune.

I often joke with my husband of 16 years that he survived all sixteen years because when we first got married I didn’t know how to cook AT ALL. Let me put this into reference for you: Eighteen years ago {we were roommates first}, I’d put the pan of water on the stove and put the pasta in right away and then wait for it to boil. Seriously folks, he ate undercooked food, overcooked {read: burnt}, and plain disgusting food. Food I actually took away from him at the dinner table because once I took a bite I realized it was just inedible.

Over the years I’ve mastered a good 10-15 solid, easy recipes from my mother-in-law, who when I first met her, had to teach me how to pick out meat from a grocery store. I’m not kidding. It.Was.Ugly.

In the last two years, with the help of Mavis’ blog, my cooking learning curve has been fast-forwarded by about ten years. I love that her recipes are a handful of ingredients and they are broken down into a few simple steps. Simply put, if I can do it, anyone can do it.

So let’s finish up the December East Coast Edition of my year as a guest-poster {is that a word?}:

Seeds I’m Starting Indoors this Month

With the cold frame completed {haha-I-can’t-believe-I’ve-finally-finished-that-project-right-in-the-nick-of-time-before-it-snowed} I can start as much lettuce as I want under the grow lights and plant the little darlings into the cold frame.

What I Plan to Transplant Outside this Month

Lettuce, if I have built that cold frame properly.

Plants and/or Bulbs I Plan to Purchase this Month

My daughter loves to go to the grocery store with me, mainly to sneak stuff into the cart I think, but while in the produce section she declared that she LOOOooovvved sprouts. That was news to me. So when I saw Botanical Interests 20% off Cyber Monday Week deal, well I couldn’t hold out any longer and I did finally bought the seed sprouter {that I’ve put in my Botanical Interests shopping cart five times in the last year} and seeds for next spring.

What I plan to Harvest This Month

Eggs, Lettuce from the cold frame, and sprouts from my seed sprouter. Hopefully, these two projects will keep the winter {no-gardening} cabin fever at bay.

Houseplants and Indoor Bulbs

Winter is sooo dry. Especially if you use a wood stove or pellet stove {like we do}, you can almost see the lack of moisture in the air. Your houseplants (and no doubt your skin) will benefit from a few strategically placed humidifiers. We’ve got ours running day and night already.

Trees and Shrubs

Trees and shrubs have been mulched, wrapped, and supported in preparation for massive amounts of snow. Now we just hunker down and wait for spring.

Weed and Pest Control

If you hear what sounds like 15 toddlers {with really long toenails} in your attic – ACT FAST. Those are squirrels or chipmunks and once they get in, they are very hard to get out. If you haven’t already, take a maintenance-style look around your attic and take precautions such as keeping tree limbs away from the house and sealing any attic openings.

Lawn Care

Lawn care has now morphed into snow removal operations. But before we get three feet of snow, drag the snow blower out of the shed and put it in the garage. Look it over, fix that thing that drove you nuts last year, buy a handful of shear pins {with a lot of ice and snow they never fail to break at 5:00 am with half the driveway done when you’ve got to get to work}, and fill it up with gas.

Mavis Readers are the best! Thanks for your help, comments, suggestions, and recipes this last year!

**These garden chores are based on my Zone 5b Southeast/Boston MA location. Find your garden zone HERE.

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It Looks Like a Parsnip…. But it’s Not

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 22, 2014 · 14 Comments

Calling all you garden sleuths out there… Does anyone know what this plant is called? I was weeding my fall vegetable garden last night here on the east coast and noticed a ton of these parsnip looking plants growing between the rows.

The roots look like a parsnip but the leaves remind me of potatoes. I am totally baffled.

I’m not sure if I somehow dropped a packet of seeds because the plant is sprinkled between the rows of my fall veggies or if this thing is just some sort of weed.

Anyone know for sure?

~Mavis

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Mavis Garden Blog – Thinking Ahead to Thanksgiving

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By Mavis Butterfield on August 26, 2014 · 21 Comments

What do you think was the very first thing I did after buying our vacation property on the East Coast?

I started planting a new vegetable garden of course.

Forget about furniture, the bizarre flooring situation or the bathroom cabinets made for people who stand 5 feet tall, there are things called priorities. And growing food, is one of them.

I don’t know how I did it, but last week I removed 10 million and 2 buckets of pea gravel from a former play area and hauled in 15 yards of garden soil {a custom blend of 1/3 topsoil, 1/3 compost and 1/3 potting soil}. One wheelbarrow at a time. In 4 days. ALL BY MYSELF.

No ~~teenagers~~ workers bees. Just me.

Holy crap. Let’s just say I didn’t know I was so out of shape. It got so bad that I was popping about 8-10 ibuprofen a day. It’s a good thing I didn’t have an accident or get cut because I probably would have bled to death {ibuprofen and tea are natural blood thinners according to my dentist}.

That drama aside, I’m happy to report I was able to get the enormous and awkwardly shaped garden box filled.

And planted.

With enough vegetables for a proper Thanksgiving feast. Rutabagas, beets, carrots and Swiss chard. I probably should of planted some seed potatoes as well but I haven’t found the local garden center yet. Oh well. I suppose, if I have to, I can buy a sack of spuds like a normal person just this once. 😉

Life is good. {Even if I’m still hobbling}

~Mavis

Have you planted your Thanksgiving garden yet? What are you growing?

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.