Potato Farmer

I've already - somewhat boldly - written to a lot of people that I'm trying some beginner-gardening this year. Up to this point, it has been mostly pulling weeds and inserting a couple of herb plants. But, I was completely taken in by the children's book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots. Specifically, growing POTATOES in a tub. She makes it all sound so easy!!!!

Alistair graciously drilled holes in my feed tub from the Horse Store ;-).....

And this was a wonderfully, serendipitous moment: finding forgotten potatoes in the garage. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. I have no idea what they are called beyond "purple" and "yellow" -- but there they were, just waiting to be planted.

I think my favorite thing about this picture is the magnifying glass .....but a close second would be the gloves. The gloves were actually for ME. Any guesses why I needed disposable gloves?

Yes. Just following the instructions in the book. It really IS what you think.....and this was the smallest bag I could find. Believe me, I ASKED. So, I have 25 kilograms of Cow Dung, which I have generously offered to give away to all the gardeners I know. I think that just keeping the bag DRY has turned into the job of greatest importance. The bag tells me that it is, in fact, enough to fertilize at least one FIELD of potatoes.

Here are all my cut potato pieces .....& cow dung pellets spread amid the clumps. I covered each piece with an inch of soil and have been rewarded with the sprouts in the top photo. My book tells me that when the vines reach 5 to 6 inches, I need to put more dirt over each one to make a mound, leaving two inches of vine exposed. My book goes on to promise me that it's as simple as waiting for flowers, then shrively vines will tell me when it's time to harvest. That book is a smooth-talker, and I am falling for every word.

And on top of that, I still have 24.5 kilograms of Humusdünger. ;-)