Planting

 March 14, we began the process of planting out at Purgatory Ranch.  First, this required mowing.

 Since we're adding a new bed this year, James mowed the entire triangle.  Dust was flying, but we tried to keep top soil loss to a minimum.

 That was it for the evening, especially after the brakes locked up on our trailer and caught fire just as we reached home.

 March 15, James organized a delivery of 8 tons (maybe more) of composted cow manure.  He then proceeded to till our  beds.  Meanwhile, I made a trip or two home and cut potatoes.  And cut potatoes. Did I mention we purchased 140 pounds of potatoes this year?

 We brought fishing wire and yarn to mark our rows, keeping me from my inability to plant anything in a straight line.

 50 pounds of potatoes later (Yukon gold in the south bed and Viking plus leftover Yukon in the north bed) meant we were out of space with only 1/3 of our crop planted.  Aiyiyi.

 There was a little mishap with a shovel as well!  (You know us... there's always a mishap.)

Weather brought excitement in the form of hail, high winds, and 1.5" of rain, which we definitely needed.  It also enforced no more planting for most of spring break, as it was too wet.

More potatoes (most of the remaining) were planting at Secondhand Ranch on the 20th.  From the south, we planted 12 rows: (1-2) Kennebec, (3-4) eastern half Kennebec, western half Red Lasota, a new variety for us, (5-6) Red Norland, (7-8) western tip R. Norland, mainly Russet Burbank, east tip Dakota, and finally 9-12 was all Dakota Crisp.  All told, we planted 25 pounds each of Kennebec, Yukon Gold, Red Norland, Dakota Crisp, and Purple Viking.  We also planted 10 pounds of Russet Burbank and 5 of Red Lasota.

Finally, we were able to plant out 14 bundles of onions on the 22nd.  With 6 bundles of Candy, 2 of Red Candy, 2 Texas SuperSweet, 2 Southern Belle, and 2 Vidalia, it was a busy time.  For record keeping purposes, we planted east to west in this order: (1) Vidalia, (2) Red Candy, (3) Texas Supersweet, (4-5) Southern Belle, (6-11) Candy, and (12-13) Red Candy.

To wrap up our planting, James eked out a few rows of All Blue at Yahweh Jireh Acres as well as a few rows of remaining Dakota Crisp.

Whew!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.