...Digging out all of the potatoes. In an unusual burst of energy this morning - brought on, no doubt, by the gorgeous weather today! - I decided I was really bored with the potatoes, so I pulled them all up. They've been in the ground for months now, have been constantly attacked by 28-spotted ladybirds and wilt from all the wet weather we've had, so it was time to go. They'd start to wilt and rot in all the rain, then we'd have a burst on sunshine and they'd all sprout again! So I'd leave them in and they'd look great for a while - and then they'd be attacked by the 28-spotted ladybirds and look dreadful again. I harvested a small basket full from about 10 plants, and most of them are teeny tiny taters, although there are enough lovely looking decent-sized kipflers for a nice meal, yum. Not worth the space they take up though really, I could have grown a stack of cut-and-come-again salad ingredients and a couple more cherry tomatoes in the same space - something I will have to consider more closely in my limited vegie gardening space in future.
...Being enormously impressed by the amount (and size!) of the earthworms in the potato bed.
... Also pulling out the silverbeet (swiss chard). They are affected by something that looks like rust, so it was time to go for them as well. A pity as I quite like it in the vegetarian lasagne I make, but I will definitely put in some more seedlings (perhaps only two or three this time though, not nine, LOL) which should be big enough to eat again come April.
...Being thankful that DH survived his maiden voyage on the new e-bike to work yesterday! It was the first day that the weather looked favourable since he'd got it back after being repaired (on his first practice run a pedal fell off and one of the cogs broke!) - neither of us wanted him cycling in the wet weather on unfamilar roads and cycleways just yet. His verdict - despite running out of battery half way home - was that it was Good Fun :-D
Making: A list of seeds and seedlings I want to get for my autumn vegie plantings. It includes leeks and more carrots so far. I want to plant cauliflower and broccoli but am reluctant after seeing how much room they took up in the garden last year. The space-to-yield ratio has to higher than that with my limited space I think.
Picking: ... The first zucchini from the second lot of seedlings I planted out. I still have a couple of bags of grated zukes in the freezer from my last lot of plants, yikes! Next year I will have a better idea of when to plant out new seedlings so that I have a succession of new, vigorous plants over summer, which will better withstand the humidity. When they start to look a bit a sad I can pull out the first one and have the second one coming on and starting to flower. In another couple of years I might even manage to organise a short break between them fruiting so that we aren't overwhelmed with them! So much to learn.
Dinner: Homemade pizza.
Reading: Peak Everything, Richard Heinberg.
Utilities for February:
Gas: 33 MJ/day. Goal (90% reduction) = 19MJ/day. Actual use 83% less than Aussie average.
Water: 327.8 L/day. Goal = 120L/ day. Actual use 73% less than average.
Electricity: 13.1 kWh/day. Goal 5.8 kWh/day. Actual use 59% less than average.
Garbage: 2.6 kg/week. Goal 2.3kg/ week. Actual 89% less than average.
Recycling: 3 kg/ week. Goal 0.75 kg/week. Actual 60% less than average.
Contemplating: ... What I will/ won't plant again in my small vegie garden. Where to plant my apple trees - I was going to plant them along the back fence of my house (replacing an ornamental Mock Orange hedge), but they've been sitting there in pots for some weeks now and are starting to look like they aren't receiving enough sun :-( So back to the drawing board.
... Getting out the solar oven tomorrow!! Shock horror, the forecast is for more sunshine.
5 comments:
We got three potato salads from six plants, but they are the only thing that would grow at all in winter in the spot we had them. So I'm calling it a win, and will do it again, they keep the weeds from sprouting. I pulled them all up to make room for summer stuff, but they've started sprouting already. I don't think you ever really pull up all the potatoes.
Hi Kate, mmmmmm potato salad, my favourite. We are having one tonight with our spuds too, yum. I'm thinking of growing them in "cages" next year to limit the amount of space they take up - the home grown kipflers we've had so far have been sensational. Cheers, Julie
Hi Crazy Mumma,
Great to hear you guys are finally getting some more sun.
I am expecting that potatoes are going to be pretty low on my must grow list for next year as well unless my cultivated space suddenly improves.
Kind Regards
Belinda
I forgot to mention, my Dad grew up in potato growing country, so he finds my inner city potato patch highly entertaining. It's about 2m x 2.5m, between my kitchen window and next door's. It's in shade for much of the day, I only hope that the brick walls keep it a bit warmer than the more exposed parts of the garden.
Hi Belinda, I've heard great stories of people getting huge spud harvests from small (1m x 1m) potato "cages", so I will have a go at that next year I think - I might have to decomission one of the compost bins to do so though! We thoroughly enjoyed a potato salad last night so I think I'd like to have a go at a cage.
Hi Kate, LOL at your Dad laughing at your spuds! I hope your patch gets enough warmth to get another good harvest :-)
Cheers, Julie
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