Posts Tagged ‘potatoe’

Almost Mid-August Update

August 12th, 2009

corn plot tilled

I decided to abandon my corn plot since it was becoming over run with weeds and I planted the corn to late so it was had barely even grown (combine that with the fact I lost about half the corn seeds to a pocket gopher).  So I worked up the plot and seeded it to a mixture of annual rye grass and clover.  This is an experiment in cover cropping late in the season so we’ll see what happens.  So far there are signs of germination.

potatoes mulched

I added more mulch to the potatoes.  The tubers are starting to mature and I have pulled some to take to the market.  I had a small attack of the potatoe beetle but picked most of them off and pulled a couple of plants that were heavily infested.  I then searched and destroyed all the eggs I could find.  So far I haven’t seen a full out attack again but am definitely keeping a closer eye on the plants now.

summer squash plants

With the last few days of warm sunny weather the summer squash have started to take off.  I should have a respectable harvest for the up coming market.  Soon it will be time to start locking your doors …

mole trap

A couple of weeks ago the moles moved into the garden again.  I’ve been slowly trapping them all.  This guy evaded my attempts several times.

green beans

My beans are on the way.  I think I planted them just a little bit later then everyone else at the market since their beans were out last week already.  I’m not sure if mine will be big enough for this week even.  Prime picking will probably be a couple days after the market.

eggplant rows

There are eggplants coming and hopefully I will be able to harvest a couple of times before the season ends.  I planted three types Dusky, Hansel and Gretel.  The duskies have the first fruits but the hansel’s have a lot more blossoms and the gretels seem to be behind both of them.

tomatoes on vine

There are also tomatoes on the vines but they seem to be taking a long time to rippen.  So far there are no signs of red coming through.

If everything starts to fully mature in the next week or so harvesting everything is going to become a challenge.

Mulching

July 13th, 2009

potatoes mulch

tomatoe mulch

I acquired two large round bails of straw from a neighbour a couple of weeks ago and have slowly been mulching up all of my tomatoes, peppers and potatoes.  With my sandy soil the idea is to try and keep as much moisture in the ground as possible.  The mulch helps prevent evaporation helping keep a consistent soil moisture.  It also helps to reduce the weed problem (at least it is hiding them from site for the time being).  Last week saw a fair amount of rain and with the little sun that appeared after most of the plants now are flowering and showing their first fruits.

Planting Potatoes

May 26th, 2009

potatoe planting

I somewhat underestimated how long it would take me plant a couple hundred pounds of seed potatoes.  With the arrival of a two blade plow to the arsenal however, trenching was the solution.  The potatoe plot is in an area of the garden that previously did not have the soil broken in so there are massive root systems to deal with.  The plow manages to turn the roots over and also leave a deep enough trench to drop the potatoes into.