Seeing our potatoes lively and thriving (albeit with a few bug holes - go away, potato beetles. I will squash you!) reassures me that life goes on despite economic hardship, shaky world relations, and other superfluous worries.
Dan, Myle, and fam have officially moved to the Little House, about four miles away from P.R. Hopefully that means they will be able to provide some water for our onions, who are in the new bed to the north, which is much grassier and lumpier than the potato bed. (That requires a truck first... Wanna donate a truck to the cause of non-wealthy [cuz we're not poor] Catholic families homesteading?)
Today we met at P.R. for some good, old-fashioned work. Our neighbor to the south (who likes to call James a city slicker) was happy to see us and is probably shocked at how much better our potatoes look compared to last year. The addition of a few tons of compost, a large tractor, some gypsum, and an awful lot of perseverance creates a recipe for much happier potatoes.
The garlic stems are thick and the leaves are tall. They look better than the garlic at our home in town, where the kids attempt to dig up my garlic any time I'm not looking. The tree onions are already setting bulblets, and some of the bulblets are trying to sprout. I'm unclear as to how that is really supposed to work, but they do look amazing. Again, that God is so good to provide us with some good things through the fruit of our labor (and sometimes, in spite of it), stills my worries.
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| Somebody likes to honk the horn. |
Even the trees we planted last year continue to grow as true survivalists... no additional water, weeding, or protection so far. They were watered by Dan and James for the first time today!
Until next time, remember, this is not paradise. It's Purgatory Ranch.
With such open dirt around the plants just asking for weeds to grow, how do you curb their growth? Other than getting on hands and knees and pulling, of course. ;) Do you just work the ground around the plants? Our potatoes ended up not growing, so in order to try to reduce weed production, I was thinking of getting a weed cloth to put over the ground. The garden looks great!
ReplyDeleteWe will eventually put mulch in between the rows, but at this point, a hoe makes quick work of emerging weeds. Last year, we only made it out a few times, and with a newborn, I was pretty worthless at weeding, but this year, we are coming once a week, and so the weeds don't get too big before we get to them.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any old sheets or other worn out, large pieces of fabric, weighting those down around the corners will also help suppress weeds.
Thanks, Katie! I didn't even think about using old large sheets.
ReplyDeleteOur #3 will be arriving in a matter of weeks, so I'm hoping I'll still be able to get out to the garden once in a while.