Rain Rain Goin' Away and Naughty Garden Tools

It must be the rain, again. In looking over a few months posts here, I see that rain always sends me running for a coffee cup picture that includes a comfortable chair and reading material. It's raining today.
Shrug.

We had a gentle 1/2" over night, with probably another 1/2" today, interspersed with some non-rain, and even a few days of sun. Overall, great growing weather, and the weed-carpet we call a lawn needs chopping down. [*Update: By the end of the storm we had over 4"]

We have been talking about putting in a perennial clover instead of a grass lawn. Certain varieties do well with low water situations, it can be mowed to be acceptable for play, but the clover is said to push out the weeds.

It would also not be an accident that such would be an excellent nitrogen fixer to bolster the soil, and could be turned under as an excellent green manure if one wanted to plant a food crop on part of the lawn area.

And I was just thinking about that today, actually.

We have an area of the front / side yard that I would like to till up and plant in potatoes. Turns out potatoes are stupid easy to grow, produce a big crop of usable food, and are kind of fun to harvest.

Meanwhile, although passers-by will pick our raspberries that grow along the fence, there is nothing to pick from a potato plant.

Of course, to do this fun thing, I would not want to have to prep all that ground by hand. Oh I *could* and I *should* but I have found a naughty toy that I would really like to have. (Its naughty because is it gasoline powered. Sigh.)

Actually found it years ago, but never had a need. Could use it now, though. (Hint hint). Its called a Mantis Tiller. Just the right size for our yard (narrow) and just enough more powerful than my middle-aged physique to make it an ideal tool. Of course the fact that it is gasoline powered is a serious negative, but at the moment I could get over that for the sake of the potatoes.

Big Purple Potatoes Please, With A Side of Horse Trough Salad

R ain is on the way again; the second or third storm in a row since last post. Couple of days of modest rain, followed by clear, cool, sometimes quite cold weather. March has seen a lot of frost -- and a couple of agriculturally significant frosts overnight too.

Last fall's potatoes are begging to be dug, but I am looking for a several day stretch of dry for that. We should, if the cycles continue, have fine 'tater diggin' weather by the end of the week. Will have to get Kathryn and Spencer to help with the digging; although they know where their food comes from, it never hurts to get your fingers in the ground and really know.

This afternoon's lunch is a giant purple potato. I didn't take a picture of it, I guess I was just hungry. We planted baby purple potatoes from Organic Express last year when they sprouted. This year's purple crop was a volunteer from a missed spud from last year! Although usually sold as small, "new" potatoes, this one was the size of a medium baker -- and went quite well for lunch baked, with just a little butter.

Although the purple color makes me expect a berry flavor, they are quite mild, and buttery even without butter, and mash pretty well, but keep shape when steamed.

Main crop are some red potatoes that went off last fall -- so we planted them rather then composting them. The vines are looking wilty (probably due to the frost) and I would like to get the red crop up and a new crop in the ground pretty quick.

Wouldn't mind finding some more of the Russian fingerlings we planted last year either. Yummy steamed; do well in soups and stews.

The rest of lunch consisted of a salad of corn salad, escarole, and a couple of leaves off of an immature head of romaine lettuce -- plucked from the backyard. These, like the potatoes, were planted last fall. Too late to mature for late fall, but such that they are ready to eat right now, when everything else is just going in the ground. (Yay!)

Hard lesson: Corn Salad needs to be eaten young. We have two large plants, but the large leaves are just too tough for salad enjoyment. Today I thined the box a little and pulled the whole plant. I need to see if I can harvest the outer leaves while they are still young, and keep the plants producing young leaves for awhile.

Squash into the ground after this weekend; seedlings have a pair of leaves after the seed leaves, and I have been reacclimating them outside during the day for the last day or so.

Bush peas planted last week in one of two big pots, and a tomato cage placed over it; learned the lesson last time that peas do better when planted heavily, and taking up some ground. Something we are loathe to do with our small vegie space. Maybe some of that lawn will go this summer after all.

The basil seedlings are *tiny* and I am jealous (a little) of our neighbor, Jill, who started her basil back in the late fall, and had sprouts by mid December. Ah well, perhaps we will still have later summer pesto under the moontree.

Sunny Weekend, more rain

Friday's ran brought another 1/2 or so to the backyard, Saturday was clear and Sunny, Sunday likewise.

Everything is budding. The grapes that have never produced fruit are planning to primp and show and tease as leafs begin to show. The fig that no one really likes to eat is throwing up green leafs and tiny fruit, the first of both of the spring.

The loquat has new growth and fruit on the way; the berries are showing new growth buds, and the first stirrings in the apples and oak are showing.

In the window, basil is sprouting and yellow squash and zucchini. Another week or two and they can all move outside.

We may have pumpkins on the way, as some pumpkin seeds that were left after the worms in the bin ate the pumpkins from last Halloween have sprouted. Two or three seem to be surviving the transplant to the barrel where nothing grows. (Sigh.) Last year's pumpkins there grew, flowered, but never set fruit. Sigh again.

Will have to eliminate or fix a lot of food crops this summer. (1) growing spaces that are not working or have the wrong crop for the condition (2) food crops we don't eat and (3) food crops that stubbornly refuse to produce -- such as our stuck grape vines.

A black thumb weekend, it seems!

More Rain, More Sun, More Food

More rain overnight, starting about 4:o0 AM; it woke me up, as the house was very quiet and the pitter pit pat of new raindrops set off the "parent sense" as a wrong noise.

Nothing wrong, just another fun rain. The last rain was followed by a day or two of warm sun; the plants are loving it. Today, more rain, with part sun for Saturday, sunny Sunday and more rain by Tuesday.

This keeps up, we will have a great spring crop, so more planting is in the works.

The broccoli has about petered-out; there are abundant lush greens, though, and I find on the web that the more tender, younger leaves are edible. May have to try them. I've never been one for limp piles of green stuff, but sometimes spinach or Chinese cabbage is good in a stir-fry, so maybe we'll try some of the leaves there.

It was suggested that broccoli leaves crushed up make a spray to keep down certain weeds, but I haven't been able to confirm that -- and seems unlikely for an edible leaf.

Meanwhile, the potatoes are going great guns. Last fall I planted a number of red potatoes that had sprouted in the kitchen, and the plot is bulging with potatoes. Alas, I wish I had held out and planted the Russian finger-lings or some of the richer golds out there, but these were what went off and volunteered to be seed.

New garlic in, and already 2 inches up; need to add some more garlic to the bed and some serious nutrition -- worm compost, some home-grown compost, and maybe even a little commercial steer manure for good measure. Garlic is said to really take it out of the soil.

Also planted a few red onion sets couple weeks ago and those, too, are pushing up. Only about half of the planter is planted, though. This weekend will have to prep and plant the rest of the spring garden. Provided the sun really does come out.