Spuds from Our Garden

We harvested 50 pounds of potatoes this morning from a 58 square foot bed!  

Here's what they looked like right out of the garden.

50 Pounds of Freshly Dug Potatoes

I sat on the back deck in the absolutely beautiful weather, and using an old toothbrush, I carefully brushed the dirt from each spud and separated them into three groups.

Group #1

The Pinnacle of Potato Perfection!
25 pounds of mixed, white and red, unblemished potatoes.  

We will try to store these long term.  

I've never tried this before, so we will have to wait and see how it works.

Group #2 

15 pounds of white potatoes.

This group was either too small to keep or blemished in some way 

which made them unsuitable for long-term storage.

Group #3 

10 pounds of red potatoes.

This group had the same size/blemish problems as the white potatoes mentioned above.

This is only the second time we have grown potatoes.
Our first crop had potato scab which made the potatoes soft and mealy - not very appetizing.
  This crop looks (and tastes) much better.
Not bad for our second attempt.

It's the Little Things in Life

It  doesn't take much to lift my spirits!

The Potatoes are Blooming!

So are the Tomatoes!

...And the Blackberries are Ripening!

Dogwoods, devilish pea-stealing thieves, potatoes, and weeds...a garden update

Brocoli & Lettuce Seedlings
now in the coldframes

Walked out to garden yesterday morning and lo and behold, some evil creature (rabbit, deer, vole, troll,  garden gnome?) had consumed 95% of my pea seedlings.  Sadly we will harvest no peas from the garden this year.  However, having no time to mourn, we moved the cold frames to this bed and planted planted out our tiny brocoli and lettuce seedlings just in time for a major thunder storm.  They were snug and cozy while the storm raged about them.   Hopefully they will not suffer the same terrible fate as our lovely little pea plants. 

Before the storm hit, we were working like crazy to prepare more planting beds and did manage to get a nice bed created for the five yellow raspberry plants we received from Norse Farms in the mail two days ago.  I hope they flourish in their lovely new space.

Potatoes poking through the soil

More good news.  The potatoes are up and the onions we planted seem to be thriving.  We did lose about ten of the yellow onions; however, all the purple onions seem to be growing well.  The potato, strawberry, and onion/herb beds were all weeded.

There is much, much more to do.  But the garden looks happy after its manicure.







I saved the best for last...check out the Dogwood - now in full bloom.

Stay tuned, the Iris and Viburnums and roses will bloom next.

Peas, Potatoes, and more snow...

Peas and potatoes went into the ground late Saturday afternoon...on Monday we woke up to a lovely snowfall...today the sun is out and snow is melted.  Crazy March weather.