May Garden Update

We've just had a spell of very nice weather and the garden is all the better for it.  Things are sprouting.  Things are growing.  Things are getting away from me!  As in weeds...

The hummingbirds are at the feeder in full force - in fact one evening we thought there might be as many as 30 all vying for a spot on a perch - but who could count! Now that there are lots of flowers in the garden, competition isn't quite so fierce.  On the deck, my herb pots are doing nicely.

I've even used some of the oregano, chives and tarragon!  All of the parsley seedlings have made it - and I transplanted a lot since parsley doesn't like being moved.

The two cherry tomatoes have been very happy under their hot caps, which I've removed on nice days and replaced at night.  They're bigger than their mates in the potting shed and will soon have grown too much for their hot caps.

In the potting shed, the tomatoes are also growing well.  We are expecting some cool rainy weather for a couple of days, but after that, I might plant them in the garden, protected, of course, with hot caps.

Fruit trees are in full flower and the mason bees are doing their jobs pollinating.  I was worried that there wouldn't be many bees this spring after a bird pierced nearly every straw looking for meals.  We have plenty of bees to go around, however,  and nearly all the holes are full.  This year when the bees have finished I'll turn their houses sideways so they will be left alone.

Lettuces, snow peas, gai lan, radishes - all are doing well and we'll be eating radishes with our next salad.  I've planted sunflowers in the zags this year and all are up.

The Pacific Russet potatoes in one of the new 4x4 beds have been hilled up once and today I added a good 4" of chopped maple leaves.

In the potato grow bags, the German Butter potatoes are sprouting and soon will have more soil added.

And our favourite rose, Abraham Darby, which was transplanted last year to its new location has never looked so good!  All in all, spring is progressing well.

Potato Grow Bag Experiment Part 2

Today I bought the potatoes for my potato grow bags.  I managed to find German Butter Potatoes which are a delicious yellow potato - just perfect for potato salads.  Most of the resources I consulted regarding potato grow bags suggested 4 or 5 potatoes per bag but that sounds like a lot to me.

I planted 3 potatoes per bag.  As they're small, I didn't cut them; just planted them whole with the strongest spouts at the top about 6" deep, then smoothed the soil over the top.  When they get about 6" high above the soil, I'll start adding more material to the bags.

Then I checked out the first potatoes I planted in one of the 4x4 concrete beds and they're up!

And just because it's spring and it's a beautiful day outside, I snapped some of my favourite narcissus flowers.  I thought they were called Grandma's Hat, but after looking them up, I've no idea what they are.  But they're definitely beautiful!

Potato Grow Bag Experiment - Part 1

First, my apologies because this post will have a LOT of pictures!

My daughter expressed an interest in growing potatoes in 5 gallon pails.  I'd heard of growing potatoes in tires, paper bags and plastic garbage bags but pails didn't sound like an answer to me so I did a little online research.  I came across a site that described making potato grow bags from landscape cloth.  And I just happen to have rolls of landscape cloth, so I decided to give it a try.  The remains of one roll gave me enough material to make 8 bags.  4 I kept and the other 4 I'll give to my daughter and daughter-in-law.  It's pretty easy!

My landscape cloth came in rolls 36" wide.  I cut 48" lengths and sliced them in half down the length yielding 2 strips 18" x 48".  Next up comes the sewing machine, but it's so simple a rank beginner can do it.  Just be sure to use polyester thread so that the stitching won't rot.

First, stitch the ends together in a half-inch seam with the shiny side of the fabric inside.  The pictures are taken from the back of the sewing machine so you can see the result and I used yellow thread on the last bag so the stitching would show in the picture.  It helps to go back over your stitching at the beginning and ends of a line so that the stitching doesn't unravel.

Next, fold the seam to one side and stitch it down.  This reinforces the seam.

Finally, on the bottom of the bag, fold the bag in half and make two 3" darts on each bottom corner, then fold the other way and make two more 3" darts - you will now have a dart at each corner.  This allows your bag to "sit".

Your finished bag will have an open square in the bottom.  Okay - bag done - time to set it up in the garden!

The spot I chose is below a small step, not in the way of any cedar roots and receives lots of sunshine.  It was on a slope, so I had to cut away the top of the slope, leaving the sod just below the cut portion to level it out.  Next I placed cardboard to keep the weeds and grass down.  I'll later cover it with some kind of mulch so it looks a little better.  Thick layers of newspaper would work just as well, but we'd just taken our newspaper pile to the recycling depot.

The bags were set in place, each anchored with a small rock to keep the breeze from blowing them away and holes cut in the cardboard to match the holes in the bottom of the bags.  I folded over the tops for now.

Each bag received 2 shovels of compost.

Finally each bag got 2 shovels of garden soil.  I moved the soil around so that the bags were steady.  The tops are still folded over so there's room for more soil.  Now I need potatoes!

To be continued!