the last of my father's day 2010 2 X 12s have become the third raised bed intended to allow a three year rotation of potatoes...according to steven brush there are local andean agricultures that use a seven year rotation which includes a fallow period for the fields...i don't think i have that much space to work with and the reading i've done tells me that if i am careful about cleaning tools and which beds i step in in which order i have a fairly good chance of avoiding a build-up of insect parasites or diseases that potatoes are sensitive to....hope so..i will simply have to watch what i do...the seed potatoes arrived on april second last year so i wanted to have the bed ready, particularly since next friday is the day i plan to unmulch the garden on campus...didn't want that and the construction of a bed on my plate for the same weekend...things are moving along plant-wise as well...two of the three elephant garlic plants are up ( middle photo)...i will be unmulching the yams in that bed soon as well...although they come out of dormancy rather later in april...not a huge issue just yet...the elephant garlic doesn't care about the mulch...obviously...some of the tomato plants have four leaves so soon it will be off the heat mat and into peat pots for them to be hardened-off and planted after mother's day...finally i have a dozen apple trees in various stages of development from seedlings to about five inches tall under the light...the one in the photos is about two months old and seems to be a pretty hale little critter...if they all do well ( and i believe i have four more germinating but not ready to be potted yet) i will be looking for homes for some...i can support a couple of them and will pass some out to relatives ( mom's back yard is a prime candidate)...the others may go begging for a home...so far so good this year...some set-backs and the winter season is hanging on a bit...that will pass...looking forward to asparagus and jerusalem artichokes ( speaking of which i believe i will be digging some up tomorrow for lunch...need to conclude the storage experiment SOON)...still geeked about a new season.
No comments:
Post a Comment