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. 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.These 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.

Long Live the Queen

The Queen of the Garden celebrated her 19th birthday on Cinco de Mayo.  She enjoyed all the treats she could eat then perched up on the steps to oversee her staff (me) work in the garden.  This is a routing (sans treats) she does most every evening.

Here’s what’s going on today:

The Malali Watermelon have sprouted (05/06/10).  They were planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

 Lemon Squash is planted adjacent to the watermelon.  It was also planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

Volunteer potatoes are sprouting amongst the green bunching onions.  They will be removed to make way for the tomatoes.  Potatoes and tomatoes do not grow well together because of the spread of blight.  So…the potatoes gotta go.

The lavender will probably be harvested Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, I do not know what variety of lavender I have.

The Red Flame Grape vine is getting a grip on the arbor.  Color and intensity was boosted to see the twining.

Yesterday, the potted citrus (lemon & mandarin) had all the pansies removed, soil fluffed, and were deeply irrigated.  Today, they look a bit better.  I’m confident the lemon will progress; but the prognosis for the mandarin isn’t good.

As the sun sets, the Queen gives her approval to her staff for a job well done then takes a nap because it’s so tiring being the Queen.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty.

Potato Brown Spot

I planted potatoes in February. They grew beautifully. I knew they should be mounded. I didn't want to put soil up on those beautiful greens. Mounding would help increase the size and quantity of potatoes produced. I mounded them last week. Now the beautiful greens have brown spots.

This looks like the brown spot fungus I regularly get on my roses. I treat those by spraying a 2:1 mixture of water and white vinegar on the affected area. Any fallen leaves are cleaned up quickly so the fungus doesn't spread. The potatoes got the same treatment this morning.

The problem could have been in the soil. I added some bagged soil when I mounded. It may have had the fungus that spread to the potatoes. Nonetheless, I hope I can nip this in the bud.

Potato Mounding

The potatoes went in February 21 (Red and Yukon Gold). I've never grown potatoes before - ever. The Sunset Western Garden Book is my Bible. I keep notes and plant tags along with 4 leaf clover from my lawn. I knew that mounding had to happen in order to harvest more potatoes. I didn't wanna. The greens looked too good. How could I bury the lush plants with more soil?

Reading a recent blog at A Sonoma Garden http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/ encouraged me to just do it. I did it. It's not nearly as bad psychologically as thinning seedlings. I also peeked under a Yukon and discovered plenty of potatoes. Dang - I hope this 1st attempt at potato farming is the start of a long, successful relationship.