The heat hits hard by mid day so the cool mornings are when I have to try to get shit done. First thing yesterday I was yanking rutabaga out of the ground, hacking the tops off and tossing them roots in the basket.
Then it was time for the beats. The rutabaga greens had too many bugs but I was able to pull the centers of the beet greens and got them (1.25 pounds) in a bag and into the cooler.
I have two types of beet, flat of Egypt and Chioggia.
The tops came off the beets and into the basket they went.
I washed both baskets on the deck but found the rutabaga roots were too much and they had bad sections of the skin that had to come off. Each basket got put into a bag which went to the cooler and was left open to breath. 6.25 pounds of beets and 8.5 pounds of rutabaga.
At 11am the PDC was on but while I was looking for the feed I found Mun Utd was playing their first friendly of the season and in true Utd fashion they lost at the last second. Seems like a VERY telling omen...
Then the PDC came on but I had to be out in the garden still. My screw up with the plastic and the cabbage had to be dealt with so I went and cut the plastic by every cabbage spot so I could pull the plastic from around them.
This allowed me to pull the plastic back and begin digging the potatoes.
I moved the irrigation line and shoved my hand into the end of the row and came up with a potato and a rubber boa. I was super stoked to find the boa as it looked nice and healthy like it has been eating VERY well. I moved it a few rows away to the beans and set it in one of the holes and it slithered off.
First tub of spuds went to the deck and got washed then dried, about 16 pounds.
I took a break to eat and watch darts for a bit and the boys headed out to play in the water. They started with balloons but soon had the sprinkler on the hose, set beneath the trampoline, and they were having a blast.
In a bit of a surprise Luke Littler got whooped by MVG.
I spent a bout 10 minutes at the board and after a short warm up got dialed in nicely. I worked my way to this 126.
Then 3 minutes later this 133.
And 3 minutes later I was trying for the triple bull. All in all a really nice session at the board.
Back in the garden I pulled more potato plants and lifted the plastic to find a snake skin.
I dug another 3rd of the row and came out with about 20 pounds in the basket.
They got washed then dried on the cardboard on the deck. I sort them into tiny, new, and normal once dried then they go to a big box in the house.
The last of the row, all 34 feet of it, got dug after 4pm and they got washed and dried like the others. The total for the day was 55.5 pounds but add 5 pounds I picked earlier and I got 60 pounds from 34 feet which is 1.75 pounds per foot. If that rate keeps I will end up with about 1300 pounds of potatoes when done. @generikat was curious about my output under the plastic so here's tagging her for some data.
2 more cucumbers were ready to pick.
I have a couple flow frames with honey in them and the bees had found them under the carport and were massing them. I moved the frames out by the tree away from the house.
The garden got shaded late in the day and I got a bunch of weeds pulled from a few of the rows which all went to the sheep.
One of the sweet basil plants was ready to cut so I hacked the top off and took it in the house to hang and dry.
Out to soak a bit earlier and got almost an hour.
The potato harvest continues this morning, then mid day the boys have dentist appointments, the PDC continues but I will miss it, we go back to the 100F+ days for a while, and I have to figure out dinner for this evening.
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| 2024 Y/E Hive Goals | Goal | Current | +/- Goal | +/Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 30,000 | 27,051 | +536 | 66 |
| HBD Savings | 4,030 | 3,173 | / | 9 |
| Hive Posting Streak Days | 1,681 | 1,513 | / | 3 |
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I'm so glad you tagged me! And what a glorious pile of potatoes your plants yielded! I have to admit I got a bit distracted by your little boa friend, the only wildlife I have seen around here was the LIVE mouse our cat Jojo decided to bring in the house and slap into my boot...sigh...
That said, can't wait to see what I dig out from under the landscape barrier this year in potato-land, the weeding chore reduction alone has made the method most enjoyable!
Thanks again!
!PIZZA
I remembered as I was washing spuds on the deck and made sure to edit in the tag. The cover seems to provide a few distinct advantages: less weeds, no direct sun contact on 99% of the potatoes, and improved moisture retention. I am finding that my soil compacts pretty hard beneath the plants so the spuds tend to grow up rather than down. I'm curious to see your output.
I have a slew of rubber boas around my farm which makes me very happy. They probably hate it when I find them and drag them into the light since they are nocturnal, lol.
Nostr#proofofshare
That's awesome 👍
You harvested a lot of potatoes
They look fresh
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(1/15) @generikat tipped @flemingfarm
Wow! you are so good! =) Amazing!