The last time I had a "real" vegetable garden was some 30 + years ago in Vermont. Since then it's been a few tomato plants here, a few there, loads of basil and parsley and weekly trips to the farmer's market. Don't get me wrong ... there is nothing wrong with that. I've loved nurturing my tomatoes every summer and I LOVE going to the farmer's market every Saturday morning, bringing home a supply of fresh from the garden produce. But I'm hugely excited to be back growing more than just the tomatoes. Yes, it's work and sometimes I get very tired of the whole thing, but all in all, I'm very excited to show you the first potatoes, carrots and beets from my garden, picked this morning. In my mind, these vegetables are medicine for the body and soul. Like cutting wood for your wood stove, vegetable gardening warms you twice ... once while you are planting the garden, then again when you eat the results.
I've been getting quite curious about those potatoes growing so quickly in those big black pots out back, so this morning I decided to tip one over to see what was going on in there. The plants in this pot were lovely pink "Desiree," potatoes. The plants were covered with lovely flowers, attracting lots of pollinators. It's been a long time since I've grown this stuff so I'm learning about growing food all over again.
What I learned this morning was that I could have let this pot go longer before harvesting the potatoes. There were loads of tiny pea and marble size spuds waiting for a chance to get bigger. I do love them when they are tiny but this year I'm looking for a little more bang for my buck. I planted 2 lbs. worth of seed potatoes in 8 pots. This pot yielded 1 and 1/4 lbs. of potatoes. And I think I could have done better than that. I will let the remaining pots go much longer and perhaps harvest from them as I need potatoes until the blossoms start to fade and it's time to pick them anyway.
I also realized that despite our abundant rainfall this spring, these pots, which are not "self-watering," need more attention from me when it comes to keeping them moist. The soil in the pot was quite dry and of a much finer texture than when I placed it on top of and around the growing plants. I could just envision those little taters consuming all of the nutrients in the soil, growing fatter and fatter, which of course they do! I placed the spent plants, soil and the mulch of now decaying straw on the compost pile.
The carrots and beets were also the first I've gathered this year and I look forward to many more. I will reseed those again in the late summer and hope for another round of root vegetables before the cold of winter sets in.
Oh, I still go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning. I buy things I'm not growing myself and I get inspired to try new things. I put in a few tomatillo plants which I've never grown before. My husband calls me obsessed, but he sure is enjoying the results!!
See what else is blooming now, here!
I've been getting quite curious about those potatoes growing so quickly in those big black pots out back, so this morning I decided to tip one over to see what was going on in there. The plants in this pot were lovely pink "Desiree," potatoes. The plants were covered with lovely flowers, attracting lots of pollinators. It's been a long time since I've grown this stuff so I'm learning about growing food all over again.
What I learned this morning was that I could have let this pot go longer before harvesting the potatoes. There were loads of tiny pea and marble size spuds waiting for a chance to get bigger. I do love them when they are tiny but this year I'm looking for a little more bang for my buck. I planted 2 lbs. worth of seed potatoes in 8 pots. This pot yielded 1 and 1/4 lbs. of potatoes. And I think I could have done better than that. I will let the remaining pots go much longer and perhaps harvest from them as I need potatoes until the blossoms start to fade and it's time to pick them anyway.
I also realized that despite our abundant rainfall this spring, these pots, which are not "self-watering," need more attention from me when it comes to keeping them moist. The soil in the pot was quite dry and of a much finer texture than when I placed it on top of and around the growing plants. I could just envision those little taters consuming all of the nutrients in the soil, growing fatter and fatter, which of course they do! I placed the spent plants, soil and the mulch of now decaying straw on the compost pile.
The carrots and beets were also the first I've gathered this year and I look forward to many more. I will reseed those again in the late summer and hope for another round of root vegetables before the cold of winter sets in.
Oh, I still go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning. I buy things I'm not growing myself and I get inspired to try new things. I put in a few tomatillo plants which I've never grown before. My husband calls me obsessed, but he sure is enjoying the results!!
See what else is blooming now, here!
Yum! My mother always grew these vegetables, but the first harvest was never this early in Manitoba! I wish I had more sun in our yard to have a vegetable patch. I do grow tomatoes in pots on the deck, plus a few herbs here and there.
Posted by: marja-leena | June 08, 2009 at 11:24 PM
beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Carla | June 09, 2009 at 10:53 AM