Garden Woes & Rewards

The Farmer's Almanac said this is the best time to plant potatoes -- I never met a potato that I did not like.  So, I got busy preparing the soil and the potatoes.

I bought some red seed potatoes a few weeks back and the instructions said to place the potatoes in a window that gets quite a bit of sun for a couple of weeks to encourage the eyes to bud.  Next, cut the potatoes into pieces but be sure each piece has two eyes.  Air harden the outer layer for a couple of days to prevent disease.

Dust the pieces with sulphur just before planting. Sulphur helps to prevent the potato from being attacked by fungi.

I combined two single rows into one approximately 4 feet wide.  The red crate is my stool and the blue container is my trash barrel.  Recycle, recycle, recycle.  :D



I topped off the new row with 3 or 4 inches of  Lady Bug's  mixture of Rose Magic soil and Revitilizer compost.

Dig an 8-inch deep trench, place the pieces about 12 inches apart, mark the spot with a stick, cover and water.  Rows should be about 15 inches apart.  Since these potatoes are planted in Texas, cover with about 3-6 inches of a hay mulch to keep the potatoes cool as the weather gets hotter.  Hay is one thing in abundance around here and will mulch the potatoes soon.

This is the asparagus bed, which, if you noticed, is just beyond the potato bed.  Originally, I wanted to dig an asparagus bed in another part of the garden, but the tiller would not stay running.  The asparagus needed to get in the ground, so I made do with what was quickest to prepare by combining two single rows at the far end of the first two rows as you walk into the big garden.  Then, as mentioned above, I made a little walkway and combined the rest of the first two single rows for the potatoes.

Now to the woe part.  After the potatoes were planted and watered, I decided I'd better find out companion plants to both the potatoes and the asparagus.  The companion planting guide also tells which plants to keep apart, i.e., in this case do not plant asparagus and potatoes together.  Aaaaargh! 

What to do?  Move the asparagus or the potatoes?  I have a commitment tomorrow, Friday, and cannot prepare another bed until Saturday.  Meantime, I've got to get the tiller running or buy a new one.  The asparagus are moving even though I see little asparaguses peeking out from the straw. 

BTW, I'm waiting for the reward part.  lol  But, be assured that I will not make the same mistake twice.  I'll check the companion chart before picking up a shovel, rake, or put a seed or plant into the ground.  It's called learning as you go along. 

Until next time, God bless.