Garden 2022

Calypso Jones wrote:just got back from GHQ's  Let's call her Jane shall we?   Well anyway...she said come over for yukon potatoes.   She had to start digging NOW cause we've had so much rain that she was afraid they were going to rot in ground and some had in the low spots.  I helped her dig a whole row.  I pulled back the straw and pulled the tops out of the ground...she did the digging and we both threw them in the buckets...3 buckets worth.   THen we washed them.  With potatoes you dig them and before they dry  you wash most of the dirt off.  Then you lay them out to dry in a dry place where no rain can get to them and you do this overnight.   Tomorrow you leave them out in the sun to 'harden' or 'cure' whichever and then they're ready to store or use or both. I am dirty and sweaty and tired.  I wish i had a vodka lemonade but i'll settle for jasmine tea i s'pose.

How do you harvest your PO tay Toes Hawk?? 2?

Don't use straw or anything like that. Used to plant on big cane rows that are high hipped.. use a lister or middle-buster on a drawbar , positioned just below the grow line to open the rows and to not cut any potatoes.

Now those things I planted in those tubs.

I never thought about drilling holes in the tires for drainage. I didn't over water but it was so damn hot in April and May, the black tires absorbed too much heat and any water had no where to go and the reds in the tires rotted.

I had reds in 2 more of the cow lick tubs. Even with plenty fertizer and good drainage they were rather small. And not nearly as deep as I remember digging them in the field.

I planted some russets in an old washing machine tub with holes on the side. They did great! Made a lot and they were large!
Still , most of the taters were just below the surface.
No more tub taters for me. Gunna try something different next spring.

HawkTheSlayer wrote:Picked these by the shop this morning. They are Yuge!  LOL
I Highly recommend the Goliath hybrids. The ones  I have planted her by the deck ramp are even larger and have 30-40 of these large tomatoes per plant. That's not counting the little ones on top.

The Creoles and Celebrities look good too but not as many and very few approach this size.

Be careful that Dalek doesnt get down on ya tomaties

have had great success over the past 18 months with wicking beds.
They bypass the big problem I have with watering stuff regularly.
Esp in summer when stuff should be watered every 2 or 3 days !
With wicking beds, it is every 3 week.

Am preparing plastic buckets to grow in. Will modify them so they are wicking buckets. Each one is 20 litres, so easy to move and empty after every crop.

Calypso Jones wrote:just got back from GHQ's  Let's call her Jane shall we?   Well anyway...she said come over for yukon potatoes.   She had to start digging NOW cause we've had so much rain that she was afraid they were going to rot in ground and some had in the low spots.  I helped her dig a whole row.  I pulled back the straw and pulled the tops out of the ground...she did the digging and we both threw them in the buckets...3 buckets worth.   THen we washed them.  With potatoes you dig them and before they dry  you wash most of the dirt off.  Then you lay them out to dry in a dry place where no rain can get to them and you do this overnight.   Tomorrow you leave them out in the sun to 'harden' or 'cure' whichever and then they're ready to store or use or both. I am dirty and sweaty and tired.  I wish i had a vodka lemonade but i'll settle for jasmine tea i s'pose.

How do you harvest your PO tay Toes Hawk?? 2?

You do it pretty well the same as we. [Planting was: A bit of straw, some dirt, the tater, more straw, dirt; done.] By time we dug them up, most of the straw was disintegrated.
We did not wash them. We knocked off a good amount of the dirt as we harvested, then laid them out in the grass to dry, brushing off yet more dirt w/our hands, then stored them in the 'tater cabinet/ice box.

2cent wrote:

Calypso Jones wrote:Past two days i swear if we didn't have 4 inches of rain we missed a great opportunity.  Then yesterday evening more rain and high wind.  I haven't been on the front porch yet to see what's blown off.   I did go out and get in things that would be damaged from blowing rain and wind.

CHeck my planting ground which i call MIDDLE EARTH because it is in the middle of our field between me and daughter's house.   ALL potato plants are up.   and doing well.   I left everything uncovered last evening and all of it is still there and all alive.  Watermelon looks a little peak-ed but i think she'll come round.  

Baby house finch's still in the nest. cute little ugly heads stickin' up out the nest.  

"Middle Earth."  I love it.  Although you wrote that the weather was hairy, it still sounds so peaceful and charming at your home.
"Cute little ugly heads."  Describes those lil' buggers perfectly.  lol  We've house wrens and finches, but no house finches.  Boy, if it isn't easy to get attached to those ugly ducklings, eh?  
 
We've been having an overstock of rain here, ourselves.  First we couldn't get into the garden 'cuz it was too wet, and now I can't get that far.  I so wanted to have it looking good for when the daughter arrives tomorrow.  Then again, she did offer her help.

"Middle Earth."  I love it

Ifin yu wanna see middle earth you will need to come to NZ

Everyone knows that Middle Earth is in the Shires.

I'm pulling out some of my yellow/green squash and cukes for Squash vine borers.  I put the torn up plants in big plastic bags and leave them in the sun hoping to bake the little critters and then they're going away from here tomorrow.  that leaves me some squash and zucchini which i expect will expire in the next couple weeks.

 Watermelons and muskmelon doing fine.  milliondollar tomatoe plant...volunteer is doing great.  Loads of little tomatoes.  

BIGbig tomoatoes. I planted Shifflett and West Virginia mountaineers...and they are YUGE and UGLY..but they are the sweetest, tastiest tomatoes.    and they make great fried green tomatos too.

Peppers doing great but wind socked them last week.  They're producing.  Big, beautiful....that might be because of the cow Man Yure i put in the bed last year.     Funny thing on a few..i pulled them off and discarded.  Looks like a layer of dirt on them..... and it's not dirt. I  don't know......heat?? they're gone now. GHQ didn't know what it was either.

All in all, sounds like your garden's doing great, C.J. :thumbsup2:

It will be time to pl,ant the fall garden in about 2 weeks. Same cropos you would pl ant in the spring.

Then around mid Sept or late Sept/oct, the winter greens like mustard, turnips, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, tendergreens, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Parsley does well in the winter here, too.

I"m doing only cabbage, broccoli and may do that parsley too. THanks for the idea.