Potatoes and . . .

A week of interesting happenings ended with us finally being able to prepare the garden for potatoes and get them planted. The beginning of the week was really last Friday evening, after we posted our first blog post. We had planted three new fruit trees first thing that morning - a Green Gage plum, and two apples - Macintosh and Granny Smith. When putting the chickens in the chicken house, we decided to take a walk to see the rest of the orchard, and it was a good thing we did. A deer had decided to lunch on the Granny! We quickly surrounded each new tree with some fencing, so at least they are okay, but we don't have the fencing completely secure yet. More on that later.


We had a colder than average week, but at least it didn't freeze. We like to check NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) for weather information, and discovered that they had other information for gardeners. One we really appreciated was their recommendations for fertilizer to protect our environment all the way from here to coral reefs. Chicken poop is at the top of their list! Humus is right behind! That seemed so funny, yet so nice, to know how our little chicken/egg/poop producers can help to save the planet.

In order to diversify, we planted four kinds of potatoes. If we're planning to eat all this good stuff, after all, who wants to eat the same old thing all the time? Monocultures are for industrial farmers, and we want to stay away from that as far as we can get. We hand-dug the bed because the soil is still pretty damp. Trista's son Adam even had fun getting in on the act with his little trowel! There was a nice breeze, so while we had lunch the soil had a chance to dry out a little, and we could get on with planting. We checked the recommendations from our local university, which suggested planting them 4 to 6 inches deep and about 1 foot apart in the row, with three feet between rows. Okay, we're all set.

All Blue potatoes went in first. We chose them because they aren't just pretty, they are supposed to have a higher vitamin and mineral content. We might as well be healthy along with all this diversity, right? Next we planted All Red. I think we might have a patriotic theme going here. The remaining potatoes we planted are the familiar Yukon Golds and last in was German Butterball.

We are harvesting rhubarb and chives right now. Permanent plantings are sure nice this time of year. The rhubarb will go into a pie, and the chives are going to have a starring role in some of Trista's lovely bread. Recipes will be coming soon!