~ a Wakefield growing field guide ~
~ what to plant, set out, and harvest ~
~ hard-won lessons from the dirt ~
Filtering for "Direct sow OK" or buying transplants from a nursery skips weeks of indoor logistics. Your garden won't know the difference.
Morning watering at soil level. Wet leaves at night = a free buffet for fungi.
2-3 inches of mulch retains moisture, smothers weeds, regulates soil temperature, and feeds soil as it breaks down. Apply once, thank yourself all summer.
They repel many pests, attract pollinators, and look like joy in plant form. Tuck them between everything.
Date sown, date emerged, what worked, what got eaten. Next year's garden is built on this year's notes.
UMass Extension does cheap soil tests. Knowing your pH and nutrient levels turns guesswork into strategy.
Leave a corner messy. Native bees, lacewings, ground beetles, and toads are free labor. They eat pests; you eat tomatoes.
Sow lettuce, beans, radishes, carrots every 2-3 weeks. One harvest is a moment; succession is a season.
Whether home-grown or nursery-bought, give transplants a week of progressively more sun and breeze before they go in the ground. Skip this and they'll sulk for weeks.