Papas

One of these years I'll get it right. I absolutely love growing potatoes. They are so darn easy...IF you do them right. I really wanted to grow them again this year because I loved watching Andy sneak them from our planter, boil them up and scarf them down. His face would glow with excitement and amazement that something so small could be so satisfying and delicious. 

We agreed to grow them in the large box this year. All I had to do was ask for advice, but we just went for it.  Potatoes should be planted in a sort of trench. When their leaves pop up, you bury them with soil and continue to bury them every time their leaves reach the surface. The tubers grow off that vine and the deeper you bury them the more they will produce. It will end up looking like a mound of dirt or a mini hillside of soil. Well, we scattered them in the planter and forgot all about that trench. The greens have surfaced and I continue to bury them, but I'm not sure how deep we will be able to go in our front yard. Any suggestions?  Ideas? ALL are welcome! 

Neighborhood Gardens

We passed these gardens on our walk to water the p-patch this afternoon. I'm always inspired by the planting others are doing. It's nice to see how our neighbors planned their gardens and what they have planted in them. 

Way to go Delridge!! 

The Delridge P-Patch

This spring Matilde's school was given a garden bed at the neighboring p-patch. (P-patches are lots in the city with numerous garden beds. Each bed is maintained by a different organization, person, or family. Some people grow to donate to food banks and some because they simply do not have the space at home.  We were actually on three different waitlists for years before we bought our farm.) Their garden plot is 200 sq ft AND it is less than a block away from the school.  

They expressed interest in growing edibles for their school, and I was really excited for them until I was told NO ONE in the school had any experience or knowledge of growing anything!  Somehow, I became their resident gardener. UH-OH!!  Since I will only be there another two months, I showed them a neat and free website (www.smartgardener.com) to help them plan, plant, care for, and harvest their goodies. 

Today, we were busy transplanting and planting. The kids in Matilde's class planted Yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, broccoli, radishes, and carrots. (I'm pretty sure each plant was trampled by at least one wild and crazy preschooler!) They were all over the moon to help out. I felt bad for the mom who sent her daughter to school in the fresh white pants today because they were completely brown by the time she lined up to walk back to the classroom. 

Aside from a few more veggies, I think we will be adding a digging space, a couple sunflowers, and a sign with the school's name. Any other ideas or suggestions? 

Empty Beds & I failed.

We've cleaned out the beds and will be weeding and composting and filling them again soon.  Planning for next year has begun since we slacked off on winter planting. 

This is what's left to compost of our fantastic green onion crop. Andy suggested green onion pesto. The girls love pesto, but I didn't think it sounded good. I made it anyway. I should have gone with my gut because it was not good! It could have been my oil choice or my nut choice, but it whatever it was, it was bitter.