We got our first veggies in! Last night, after Samuel hit the sack, Dave and I planted our seed potatoes and onion sets. I'd heard different dates to have these cold-weather-growers planted, so hopefully we've gotten them in the ground early enough that they'll actually produce enough to matter. When planting potatoes using the square foot method you only plant one seed potato per square. We took about 6 inches of soil out of each square and placed the seed potatoes in --thanks to Becca's dad for those!!--and then barely covered them with a layer of soil. As they grow, we'll keep covering them with more and more dirt; this is supposed to help them develop a strong root system and produce more potatoes. I'm not sure how many potatoes we'll get from each square (we planted 6 squares in all) but I'm hoping it's more than 1! The onions only produce one per plant so we planted 9 onions per square; 3 squares total.
I've been so excited all day about the new stuff in the ground. I think I have been outside 3 times during the day to "check" on them. I know before I get out there that nothing could have possibly grown overnight but I don't want to miss anything!!
OK. Here's what you do: go to Walmart and buy a cheap security camera system, focus the camera in on those spud-squares, kick back on the couch, and just check from your laptop now and then for any sprouting activity. You could also place the baby monitor out there right next to the spud-squares, crank the volume, and listen for any tell-tale signs of spuds lurching up through the earth. Or . . . you could just go out there three or four times a day and stare at the squares--like you have been doing.
ReplyDeletehahaha - it's like a real-life farmville! ;D
ReplyDeleteHA! It is real-life farmville!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really easy to grow potatoes in containers. In fact, they are easier to grow and produce more potatoes in containers than in the ground.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I have read. Are you doing the same thing?
ReplyDeleteI planted potatoes in garbage cans this year. I have ten plants between three 55 gallon cans. This is the first time I've ever had a garden so this is all new to me, but it is working great so far and using the cans is a great space saver for small gardens and no digging the potatoes at the end of the season, just dump them out.
ReplyDeletehttp://familybacktoourroots.blogspot.com/
~Anna