Independence Day

What a great day! A day off in the middle of the week made for good fun and good farming. I finally harvested the onions; they are drying on the hammock. This system seemed to work pretty well last year, and we never got around to making something a bit less.....holey for this year, so hammock it is! I also harvested two types of garlic and shallots. One type of garlic made very small heads, so I think I will plant more of the second type next year. Then we biked to the Eno Festival for some food and music. We also learned that we can download plans for a screech owl house on the Piedmont Wildlife Center's website, so maybe we will try to attract a screech owl next spring. Then bike home and harvest POTATOES. If you have read previous posts, you know I love potatoes. I pretty near filled up a five gallon bucket of these wonderful things, even though all of my plants succumbed to a terrible disease this year. Secretly I am pleased that this means I get to procure all new seed potatoes next year. I like trying new things. Happy 4th, everyone!

Potato princesses dig!

Sunday, Alexis and I harvested 1/3 of the potatoes. Harvesting potatoes is great fun, even when it is 100 degrees. Which it was. But it is like a treasure hunt. Alexis even claims that she enjoyed it. Potatoes are the best!

Will canned 11 jars of potatoes and there are still more in the harvest bucket. Will says there are enough for 6 more quart sized cans.

Will helped me stake a bunch of the tomatoes on Sunday and we staked five more Tuesday evening after work. Twenty or so more and we will be done! And we will be drowning in tomatoes. They were so small and cute when they sprouted so I had to plant them all. And now I have a tomato jungle.

There are days when it seems like the bugs and weeds are winning. And then there are days like Sunday, when what appear to be dead potato plants covered in weeds yield up enough potatoes to keep us fed all winter long. Golden potatoes that appear like a prize as I swirl my hands through warm, dark dirt. I think that, aside from seeing baby seedlings appear in February, the gardening thing that makes me most feel like crying for the sheer amazingness of it all is the potato harvest.