Luck of the Irish tis Planting Potatoes!

  

'Tis the luck of the Irish and season for planting potatoes lads! 

Most wise gardeners know to have your potatoes in the ground before March 17th, St Patrick's Day.  In our area my wise father-in-law says to plant a little earlier. We had a good rain last week so it  was time to let the planting begin!

The first step after preparing the soil by plowing or tilling up the soil. is to make your rows. You can read official row building guidelines in my previous blog on planting onions. You just make the rows further apart for potato planting!

After your row is dug, about 6 inches deep, you carefully plant the potato seeds with the eyes up and about 10 inches apart. If you have never seen potato seeds--they are just cut up potatoes basically. You just want each piece to have and eye or sprout on it.  These eyes sprout and make the roots and the leaves of the plant. Potatoes are a root plant and the actual fruit grows underground. Each eye will make several potatoes if the growing season is filled with good things like rain, sunshine and etc.

And then you cover the little spuds up for a little nap! Soon they will burst forth from the ground praising God and growing and blowing like little weeds. Underneath that soil though things will be really taking root! (pun intended)

Then you use a good measure and move over and start your next row. In this garden a good measure is a precise hoe handle, about 4 feet.

You can plant a bunch and then store the  potatoes in a root cellar aka as tornado shelter or fraidy hole or just any cool spot and they will keep for many weeks.  In about 90 days or so we should be digging tators! Yes we will post a few pictures of this event!

I threw this picture in just to show how country gardeners recycle. Organic scraps are just thrown out in the garden for recycling. Here we have egg shells, orange peels, maybe a carrot and maybe a tomato. It is really good for the soil. 

As always, thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to get yourself a big 'o dose of country sunshine today!

Planting Onions!

I know it has been far to long and I am truly sorry. My only excuse is I have had a Senior in high school, and three other Senior citizens who have been keeping busy.  I know I should still have found time for you but all I can say is...PLEASE Forgive me!

Any good farm has to have a garden. Well it is planting time here in our errant climate. Even with our exceptional drought we still plant and hope and pray there will be enough moisture to keep it alive, growing and producing. 

An expert or at least very experienced gardener starts with a straight line! We (actually my father-in-law) is a rustic farmer and you use whatever is laying around. In this case the board laying there sunbathing is the perfect width for distance between onion rows. The post and blue string make the row straight. There is another post at the other end of the row and pulled tight. 

This is a baby onion. These come in a bunch of usually a hundred. They are usually a little dirty and wilted when you buy them so soak them in a little water.

Each onion gets its own little hole for a home! The hole are dug quite nicely by your fingers. 






Then you cover it up and tuck it in for the growing season!

You plant your row of seasoning giants along side your row marker--the blue string. The blue string by the way is left over from baling hay.  Recycling was invented by farm people.  Nothing is ever wasted! 


              

                                                                                                                               



Onions are a bulb type plant and the fruit grows underground so you want to stagger the planting so the onion can expand and make a nice size bulb.  You can see they make kind of a zigzag pattern.

And when they are all in the ground, they need water and sunshine and a little night time rest to grow. Sounds like taking care of our children.

Wow look how quick that onion grew!!! Just kidding, that is a turnip left over from the fall garden. 







Spring is coming! These ducks are slowly flying back north to their summer home. Thanks for taking me back after my long heinous from reporting. Wishing you large doses of spring sunshine!