Farmer Friday; Potatoes, Pak Choi and More

New Potatoes; White Creamers & All Blue

More potatoes this week, mostly White Creamers and All Blue. The main planting is fairly protected, inside a weld wire fence which is inside an electric fence. But some were planted in the front yard where the old pallet fence was falling down. And of course the dang javalina found their way in.

javalina destroy part of the potatoes

pallet fence in the works

So working on replacing the fence became a priority; there is still more to do, but I closed up the main gap the javalina were coming through.

that *was* about 30 lettuces just 2 weeks from cutting

So then the next day I discovered a squirrel  had eaten the next lettuce patch. To the ground. Barely even a stump left. I was not happy to say the least. And I have been watching for it to come back.

squirrel eaten tomato

To add insult to injury it also took off with the biggest green tomatoes.

baby beets

beets & potatoes for dinner!

The beets are starting to come in and they are so sweet and delicious! Roasted with a little olive oil and seasoning they are as sweet as candy. And all the colors are so pretty together.

Baby Pak Choi

The baby Pak Choi was starting to bolt, so pulled it all, 3 pounds from a small patch and all spoken for as soon as I let the word out.

time for the peas to be gone

The peas have given less and less the past couple of weeks. We've had some cooler weather so they aren't too sad looking yet, but they aren't producing enough to be worth the water. So out they are coming, to be replaced by cucumbers.

Farmer Friday: Potatoes & Squash

New Potatoes; White Creamers

All Blue potato

Yukon Gold

New Potatoes; almost 5 pounds

I love growing potatoes. They are a pretty easy crop, just remember that the new potatoes will grow above the piece that you planted. I try to plant mine about 9 inches deep and 9-12 inches apart depending on how big the plants will get. I have also grown potatoes in 5 gallon buckets. To do that I just put potting soil in the bottom third of the bucket and plant the seed potato. When it sprouts I add more soil, a little at a time, until the bucket is full. Keep it watered and when the plant dies back dump it out and pick up the potatoes. I usually get about 1-2 pounds from each bucket.

This year I didn't plant any buckets, I planted about 200 square feet of growing beds in potatoes. I planted All Red, All Blue, Yukon Gold, Belinda and White Creamers. Some take longer to finish than others, so I'll be digging potatoes for quite a while.

Biggest onion ever~ 1 # 8 oz

I grew a small bed of onions. In the past I haven't had the best luck with them since our soil is not the best. I was really impressed with the Barbossa and Granex varieties. I will plant a lot more this fall.

Baby Squash

Picked the first squash today; Gold Rush, Bennings Green Tint patty pan, yellow straight neck, Grey zucchini. Just a few were ready, but soon there will be a flood.

Flat & Curly Parsley, Lavender

Nanking cherries

I grew 9 Nanking cherry bushes from seed. They are 3 years old and fruiting. I'll be planting a lot more! They are a sweet / tart cherry and juicy, but not very big.

gopher snake getting a drink

close up gopher snake

I had something amazing happen one hot afternoon last week. I went to move the hose that was trickling on the squash plants and discovered this gopher snake getting a drink. Yep, it was actually drinking water right from the hose!

lambs quarters

A lot of lambs quarters are growing all over. Some people call them weeds, but they are actually good to  eat like spinach. And I feed a lot of them to the chickens.

Yep, as long as I have my garden!

Farmer Friday

yep there is a chicken on my back

One of the oldest chicks this year jumps up on my back any time I squat down in their pen. Buff Orpingtons, especially the male chicks are extra friendly. The girl chicks are more standoffish until they reach point of lay, then I am practically tripping over them whenever I go out to the pens.

Fresh cut herbs, flat and curly parsley, lavender, oregano

Getting ready for market tomorrow. Cut some bunches of herbs, flat Italian parsley, curly parsley, lavender and oregano.

new white potatoes

I poked around in the potato patch and found a few white potatoes to dig. This is the earliest I've ever had potatoes. The yellows, reds, blues and purples are not ready yet, but what fun when they are.

wild four o'clocks with tansy in front

The wild four o'clocks are really pretty; here they are almost over taking the bed of tansy.

The tomatoes are coming

first squash blossom

I should have zucchini for market by next week; earliest ever!

Sadly there is no lettuce this week. Any big enough to pick was too bitter because it's trying to go to seed. And the next succession planting was eaten by a rodent. There was a little chard and kale. I have more kale planted. More lettuce and more spinach this fall.

If the pack rats and rabbits hadn't eaten the plants I"d have cauliflower and broccoli.Maybe next year. But man will I have squash and potatoes!