The Beginnings of Spring

I arrived in Searsmont, ME on a Tuesday night in mid-May to a wealth of seedlings covering Bonita's front porch: tomatoes, leeks, eggplants, onions, shallots, celery, artichoke, chives, bell peppers, hot peppers, celeriac,

and many more.

The growing season is relatively short in Maine,

so in order to maximize the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables we produce, seeds are started indoors (like these squash seedlings in

the front window).

The seedlings can be moved to a more

outdoors-y area as they grow, but they still need protection: cold frames to cover them at night; a greenhouse with windows that can be closed when needed; or the front porch, where they can

be easily moved inside on frosty nights.

These seedlings will be hardened off eventually and planted in the back garden (newly tilled and relatively bare upon my arrival) or sold to neighbors, friends, and fellow gardeners at our "Clueless Gardener" farmstand.

I spent the next week and a half getting acquainted with Bonita, the garden, and the cats, Harvey and Chicken. I began learning about the process of springtime planting by starting seeds in new flats, planting rows of leeks and celeriac in our kitchen garden, and weeding witchgrass from the fava beans (an early, hardy crop that was already well on its way in the garden upon my arrival).

On the last day of May I drove down to Boothbay Harbor, a little more than an hour south of Searsmont, to greet Jon as his ship, the Harvey Gamage, sailed into port (which you can read and hear a story about here).