Seed Potatoes

Two varieties of potatoes will be coming out of the garden this year: Kennebec and Red Pontiac. Rather than growing potatoes from seed, which can be tricky, the usual way is to propagate them from seed potatoes. These are usually (but not always) smallish potatoes kept not for eating, but for planting. You buy them by the pound from feed and garden stores in the spring, then put them somewhere cool and dry (like a paper bag in the garage) where they can start to sprout.

May 5 - planting day! Normally I'd throw potatoes from the grocery store away if they looked like the picture above! But not these guys. The sprouts that emerge from the "eyes" of the potato are the beginnings of this year's plants. I've cut some of the larger ones into pieces, making sure there is at least one big clump of tubers or a few smaller ones per chunk.

There are many ways to grow potatoes (this article describes them pretty well), all suited to various types of gardens. I like the idea of growing potatoes in a bale of straw, or in a garbage bag, and some day I may try it - but for now I have a lot of room and no need to mess with container gardening. What I'm doing is a combination of hilling and mulching.

First I dug a long trench about 6 inches wide, 4 inches deep. I scooped out individual holes every 1-1/2 or 2 feet and plopped the potato chunks in with the sprouts facing up. I covered the potatoes with about 2 inches of soil, then filled in the trench with straw. This keeps water from evaporating too quickly, helping the plants off to a good start. It will also lighten the heavy soil later when I begin to hill the plants.

Two and a half weeks after planting, here's a stout looking plant poking out of the straw! Once the plants grow a few more inches, I will start bringing in the rest of the soil I dug out of the trench, and eventually create a small hill around the base of each plant. Potatoes will keep growing along the portion of the stem that is now buried! The plants are growing in heavy clay, so the straw mulch should help lighten up the dirt and give the potatoes room to expand.

Pole Beans

To support my pole beans I chose 6-foot-long bamboo poles and lashed them together with twine. I could easily have chosen 8 foot poles but a) there's a significant cost jump in that extra two feet and b) even though I'm tall I don't relish the thought of picking beans overhead.

So now my supports are standing in slightly raised hills about 6" high, with 4 beans planted around the base of each. The poles are slender enough that the wind should not catch them while they are bare, and by the time the plants are big enough to pose a problem I hope they will also be sturdy enough to keep the supports grounded.

You can see I didn't water the freshly planted beans much. It's supposed to rain tonight so this was just to firm up the soil in the meantime. I also have six more hills to prep and plant... as soon as I get some more poles!

Can't Wait for Radishes

Radishes are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Not only are they delicious but they come up so quickly, it satisfies my natural impatience. Here is my initial patch of radishes on May 10, and a close-up from the 18th. Another week and it'll be fresh radishes to snack on!

These guys have done so well on their own, with just a little water, I was reluctant to give them any help. Finally I broke down and weeded by hand. It's tedious work since the weeds are still pretty small, but now the radishes have less competition for nutrients.

The second sowing from May 15 is emerging as expected. Regular plantings spaced a week or so apart will mean a good supply all summer long!

Peas Growing Up

Sugar snap peas are on their way skyward!

Here they are on May 10, 19, and again today after weeding.

There is some discoloration due to a couple cold nights but they seem to be recovering well.

Heating up in the Cold Frame

Earlier this month I assembled two cold frames from a pair of old windows, some scrap wood, and straw bales. They're not pretty and I didn't document the process, but the result is happy heat-loving plants!

Here are the bell peppers with their glossy green leaves. They struggled to germinate under the fluorescent lights where I started them as seeds, but things are going much better now. The cold frame traps the heat from the sun during the day and keeps it nice and warm.

Here are the tomatillos I started from seed. They love the warmth, but the cold frame is nothing compared to the heat that comes in July and August. If it's anything like last year, the garden will be exploding with tomatillos!

Onions on the Rise

Onions that made it through the winter are doing just fine. No doubt some could be pulled and used as green onions, but I like watching 'em grow.

As for the onion sets new this year, they are sprouting lovely green stalks and making pretty lines in the drab dirt.

April Showers Bring May... Weeds

Lots of rain in April brought lots of weeds in May, particularly in the section we annexed from the hay field. So here we are re-tilling the garden! The total size here is 100 feet by 65 feet (I took this facing southwest), plenty of room to spread out.