Friday, May 7, 2010

One Potato. Two Potato.

Volunteer Yukon Gold potatoes are growing amongst the green bunching onions.  They need to be removed to allow for healthy tomato growth.  The bunching onions are planted in the tomato bed not only for eating but to encourage insects to scoot.DSC_1506_4162 The potatoes were an unsuccessful project planted last year.  Blight got the best of them after they were mounded.  These sprouts are the result of me not cleaning the bed out properly.DSC_1513_4169These weren’t the only volunteers in the bed.  Peas were also sprouting.  They had to go too.  Now the bed is ready for the tomatoes once Farmer MacGregor installs the tomato supports.  My supervisor approved of my work.  Validation is a good thing.DSC_1515_4171

7 comments:

lisa Paul said...

I'm getting nervous with your tales of garden diseases and pests. So far, i've had incredible beginners luck with a minimum of effort and virtually no knowledge. But probably because pests haven't had a chance to find my beds yet. Except for pesky ground squirrels and foxes.

Does it become harder and harder as the years go by using the same beds i.e with stuff building up?

PurestGreen said...

Love the last photo of "her highness" and the row o' spuds. Wonderful.

MAYBELLINE said...

*Lisa - some crops are heavier feeders than others so rotating helps keep the soil healthy. I like Louise Riotte's Carrots Love Tomatoes. She one old gal would like to have known.

*Purest - Licorice (aka the Queen of the Garden) has earned her position. She has gifted me many, many rodents (mice, rats, gophers, squirrels).

Glennis said...

I've never grown potatoes before - I'm not a good veggie gardener, I stick with flowers. But at a Mother's Day brunch today, another guest was telling how a potato that was planted for a kid's school project has endured now over 20 years, including escaping the pot and growing in the soil beneath where the pot lived for a while. She says they're really good to eat, too.

MAYBELLINE said...

*Aunt Snow - I believe next time I try---I won't try so hard.

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Yeah. It's hard to get all the potatoes out. Some always dodge the shovel in the fall.

I hope this year the weather is hot and dry enough to kill the blight. I can't handle another year like last year. Boo.

MAYBELLINE said...

* Kristin - Bakersfield has hot and dry covered. No problemo.