Monday 5 April 2010

Potatoes all now in the ground


I probably shouldn't mention it but these are in fact last year's pictures - but there really isn't much difference except that the ground this year is somewhat wetter. Also the potatoes are in the next patch along from this one.



In fact - another difference is that I have done more maincrops this year, I'm not sure why. This means that although I have planted fewer altogether, they take up the same amount of space. If I can find somewhere to store them, and they store ok, it should work out quite well, because hopefully we will have lots to keep us going over the winter.

A bit of good news - finally the broad beans are up! In the picture above you can see last year's broad beans behind the potato patch - they were much more advanced after a milder winter. I think the purple sprouting brocolli may be nearly ready to eat as well, although I have been thinking that for several weeks now...

I used up about eight or nine sacks of home made compost in the potato trenches, and there are still several bags left. I am anxious to empty the bin that the rats have been in, so that I can move it back onto the mesh properly, keep the blighters out. It looks as if it will be ready quite soon, just need some warmer weather for a bit.

6 comments:

Soilman said...

That looks lovely and neat. Dead impressed.

Kella said...

I mean't to get mine in yesterday but had a lazy day in instead.

Jo said...

I was just going to say that your soil looks really dry. I was hoping to follow tradition and get mine in on Good Friday, but they're still not in yet, my soil is still far too wet to even dig. I'm hoping for a few days of dry weather so that it can dry out a bit.

Rhiannon said...

I wanted to say how I admired your potatoes wished mine looked so neat, I have over recent years put in some very curvy rows.
This year I still have my maincrop to go in - my husband is supposed to have dug the area for them, its currently half ready!

Damo said...

very tidy indeed, too wet for me yet, hoping for a dry week and get them in on Saturday.

Rachael said...

Thanks everyone - we are very lucky here to have such well drained soil which never gets waterlogged, although obviously it does have some disadvantages: turns to dust in dry weather, loses nutrients quickly, and isn't much good for brassicas.. I am hoping to get lots more outdoor seeds sown next week...